What do you think?
Rate this book
Monkeys in the dark
D'Alpuget, Blanche.~ MONKEYS IN THE DARK..~ Sydney & Aurora Press,, 1980.~ Hardcover. Near fine in a fine dustjacket ( inscription.). Sydney & Aurora Press,, 1980.. Near fine in a fine dustjacket ( inscription.). First printing. Australian author's first novel, set in Indonesia in 1966. SIGNED on the title page and dated in the year of publication. Striking dustjacket illustration by Donald Friend.
175 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Blanche d'Alpuget
29 books10 followersBlanche d’Alpuget has returned to fiction with the publication of ‘The Young Lion’, the first novel in a compelling new series about the House of Plantagenet, the mightiest royal dynasty in English history.
An acclaimed novelist, biographer and essayist Blanche has won numerous literary awards including the prestigious Australasian Prize for Commonwealth Literature in 1987. Her previous novels include Monkeys in the Dark (1980); Turtle Beach (1981) which won the Age book award in 1981; Winter in Jerusalem (1986) and White Eye (1993). Turtle Beach became a successful feature film in 1992 and all her novels have been translated into other languages. Her non-fiction books include Mediator: a biography of Sir Richard Kirby (1977) and Robert J Hawke: a biography (1982). Her essays include Lust (1993) and On Longing (2008).
An acclaimed novelist, biographer and essayist Blanche has won numerous literary awards including the prestigious Australasian Prize for Commonwealth Literature in 1987. Her previous novels include Monkeys in the Dark (1980); Turtle Beach (1981) which won the Age book award in 1981; Winter in Jerusalem (1986) and White Eye (1993). Turtle Beach became a successful feature film in 1992 and all her novels have been translated into other languages. Her non-fiction books include Mediator: a biography of Sir Richard Kirby (1977) and Robert J Hawke: a biography (1982). Her essays include Lust (1993) and On Longing (2008).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 28, 2024
A charming work of fiction set in late Sukarno Indonesia. Thrillingly explores love in the Australian embassy sect, and Ms D'alpuget skilfully cultivated the mood and environment of heady, topical mystique that fits alongside the storyline splendidly. The book naturally is a product of its time and as a historical source, one couldn't rely on it.
November 17, 2023
A surprisingly good political intrigue, set in 1965 in Sukarno's Indonesia.
December 20, 2020
Accidentally found this book at a second-hand bookshop (Elizabeth's Bookshop) in Fremantle, WA. It was pure luck that I came across this brilliant novel written by an Australian journalist when I was writing a family novel with similar historical background. It took me about a month to finish this rather slim publication since the narration was so intricate and rigid with detailed historical and cultural facts (true or imagined).
Many of the Indonesia's problems back then (poverty, criminality, state violence) in the deteriorating Jakarta are made intensely realistic, and that's why this novel is just nostalgic. The street names, the food (homemade or street ones), the slang, the terms (e.g. surat djalan, bantji), the nicknames (e.g. Babe for Sukarno), the festivities, the embassy parties - all reminded me of the Indonesia's "good" old days. And Alex was trapped in all of that chaotic world because of her clandestine affair with the fugitive poet Maruli Hutabarat. Despite her own people's warnings, she fell helplessly in love with him and kept seeing him in secret.
Meanwhile, as event after event unhinged, Alex began to see Djakarta and Indonesians with different lenses. Alex was exposed to the inappropriate behaviors of her own lot - arrogant Western expatriates who held lavish parties and muddled with the local politics for their own gain - as well as the craftiness of local people who posed as her helpers, and well, Maruli himself. During her stay in Djakarta, she was robbed, got deceived, and eventually used by Maruli as a cash cow to pay for his visa and passport to get out of the country. As a naive young woman who has never dealt with political figures in a highly political country, she was caught up in a city and nation that was too disorderly to navigate. In the end, she was forced to grow up and lose her innocence, and learned to trust her cousin-turned-lover Anthony Sinclaire, a playboy with a cunning streak but someone who has truly cherished Alex for a long time (a bit of a surprising ending, but somehow quite predictable since a figure like Maruli would never give up his cause just for the sake of a foreign young woman).
This was definitely a masterpiece written by such talented writer-journalist D'Alpuget, who could easily weave the historical intrigues into the personal stories of these Australian expatriates at the embassy. Reading it was such a worthwhile, eye-opening, and nostalgic journey for me as someone belonging to the generation of postmemory, as I have seen this period depicted in old movies but have never had the chance to live in it myself. From this book (and therefore D'Alpuget herself), I also learned how to insert Indonesian terms in my English narrative without being overbearingly "foreign" to Western audiences, and still be informative as well as engaging.
Many of the Indonesia's problems back then (poverty, criminality, state violence) in the deteriorating Jakarta are made intensely realistic, and that's why this novel is just nostalgic. The street names, the food (homemade or street ones), the slang, the terms (e.g. surat djalan, bantji), the nicknames (e.g. Babe for Sukarno), the festivities, the embassy parties - all reminded me of the Indonesia's "good" old days. And Alex was trapped in all of that chaotic world because of her clandestine affair with the fugitive poet Maruli Hutabarat. Despite her own people's warnings, she fell helplessly in love with him and kept seeing him in secret.
Meanwhile, as event after event unhinged, Alex began to see Djakarta and Indonesians with different lenses. Alex was exposed to the inappropriate behaviors of her own lot - arrogant Western expatriates who held lavish parties and muddled with the local politics for their own gain - as well as the craftiness of local people who posed as her helpers, and well, Maruli himself. During her stay in Djakarta, she was robbed, got deceived, and eventually used by Maruli as a cash cow to pay for his visa and passport to get out of the country. As a naive young woman who has never dealt with political figures in a highly political country, she was caught up in a city and nation that was too disorderly to navigate. In the end, she was forced to grow up and lose her innocence, and learned to trust her cousin-turned-lover Anthony Sinclaire, a playboy with a cunning streak but someone who has truly cherished Alex for a long time (a bit of a surprising ending, but somehow quite predictable since a figure like Maruli would never give up his cause just for the sake of a foreign young woman).
This was definitely a masterpiece written by such talented writer-journalist D'Alpuget, who could easily weave the historical intrigues into the personal stories of these Australian expatriates at the embassy. Reading it was such a worthwhile, eye-opening, and nostalgic journey for me as someone belonging to the generation of postmemory, as I have seen this period depicted in old movies but have never had the chance to live in it myself. From this book (and therefore D'Alpuget herself), I also learned how to insert Indonesian terms in my English narrative without being overbearingly "foreign" to Western audiences, and still be informative as well as engaging.
Read
August 5, 2011Brought back memories!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews