Book Review of The Well-Rounded Woman by Setsun Kutay
To Gel Hongkong means “art of the falling Star” in Indonesian. It is the creation of the artist duo of Wijaya Rachmat and Wijay Mahdul. They are both from Banyak, Central Java, Indonesia. The word “togel” (in Javanese) simply means stars. In their creation of this masterpiece, the artists merged the Falling Star Technique with the sensual art of sex.
Art of the Falling Star is a unique blend of sensuality and spirituality of the two main components of Wijaya Rachmat’s art: sensuality the erotic. The Falling Star is a playful mythological creature, representing the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness. In to gel hongkong symbolism, the star falls while the woman holds her legs. The symbolism of the movement of the star and the woman, combined together to create an image of sensual power and beauty. According to Wijaya Rachmat and Wijay Mahdul’s philosophy, one must achieve enlightenment on both principles to attain spiritual and physical bliss.
Untuk is the keyword that you will see at the start of the book when it is translated into English. This word means “the rising.” Tango (long), in Indonesia, is the word used to represent rising. These two words combined literally mean “the rising sun.” Because of its importance and because of the symbolic connection of togel, the book was named “The Rising Sun.”
The story of the woman and the dog set the stage for this symbolic journey. The artist, Wijaya Rachmat, created the beautiful Suhothai, or “storehouse keeper in the mist of night,” a character in her book. Suhothai shows the sufferings and adventures of everyday life under the shadow of superstition. In order to be able to show this vivid portrayal of life in Singapore, Wijaya Rachmat chose to draw from a variety of Indonesian folk art forms. She based her untuk and sexual illustrations on her personal experiences as a young woman living in Singapore, traveling through Borneo, witnessing the lives of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian, and Bedinese people, and encountering strange beings along the way. She has created the colorful world of Suhothai and its many dancing and bustling cultures with her mastery of the brush and pen.
In her highly acclaimed book, The Well-Rounded Woman Wijaya Rachmat takes the reader deep into the mystery, the enchantment, and the awe that surround us. Following the story of Suhothai, the reader will find themselves transported to another world of wonder and discovery. The novel starts when Suhothai arrives at a small fishing village near the sea, where she meets the girl from whom she is travelling, Ayyutthaya. The two girls bond quickly and form a fast friendship. However, when they are captured by pirates, their fates become intertwined, and Ayyutthaya must travel through jungles and desert to rescue her friends.
Following the adventures in Borneo and Singapore, the book concludes with Ayyutthaya’s return to Borneo, where she becomes pregnant and lives happily ever after. To Gel Hariyah and Wijaya Rachmat, thanks to their excellent translations and well-assembled set of illustrations, The Well-Rounded Woman is an exemplary work of literature. Highly Recommended!
Book Review of The Well-Rounded Woman by Setsun Kutay | thriller | book | women | genre} Notes from Borneo on the other hand, is a more serious novel about life in Borneo following its independence from Malaysia. It describes the early days after independence, and how the people dealt with the first waves of immigrants and foreign investors. It takes us back through the decades of colonisation, when East Malaysia was torn apart by competing nationalistic aspirations. It also follows the eventual downfall of communism in 1997, and the birth of democracy in the country.