books @ cc.

Writings on International Film Art
by Bert Cardullo (2004)

A collection of selected Cardullo’s essays previously published in quarterlies, In Search of Cinema is divided into three parts: 1) Focus on Iranian Cinema, 2) Europe, the Americas and Beyond (concentrating on recent, “less well-known” cinemas from the continents) and 3) Form, Genre, Oeuvre and Other Arts.

by Susan Sontag (1967)

A collection of selected Sontag’s essays, published between 1962 and 1965, Against Interpretation cover a range of subjects that today might feel rather outdated and canonical in its fare (Camus, Sartre, Genet, Weil, Sarraute, Pavese, Artaud, Lukacs, Levi-Strauss, Ionesco, Hochhut, Brecht, Beckett, Weiss, Bresson, Antonioni, Godard, Resnais, etc). But it would also be unfair to dismiss the essays as mere historical witnesses to the evolution of an influential tastemaker.

Menjadi Mahasiswa di Uni Soviet
by Koesalah Soebagyo Toer (2003)

A collection of vignettes about his study in the former USSR, Kampus Kabelnaya is divided into two parts: the first written as a recollection, the second more of diary entry-like short pieces, written during Toer’s study. Most of the pieces in the first part are longer, carefully-thought of (taking age into consideration), while the second has the youthful (if sometimes naive) romanticism.

Non-Fiction 1922-1986
by Jorge Luis Borges

This is a collection of more than 150 non-fiction pieces (critical essays, movie & book reviews, prologues, introductions) grouped chronologically from his earlier (disowned) writings to the year of his death in 1986. Some of these pieces have also appeared in Labyrinths. Most are short, with longer pieces dedicated to certain subjects well-associated with Borges (The Thousand and One Night, time, dreams, labyrinth…).

trans. Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Socialist Realism Literature
by Eka Kurniawan (1999)

Initially written a thesis for his philosophy degree in Universitas Gadjah Mada, Eka, evidently deferential to Pramoedya but at the same time also critically sensible, offers a comprehensive basic text on (as the title suggests) Pramoedya Ananta Toer and (his role in) the growth of Socialistic Realism in relation to the global movement as well as local figures/parties. Covering general as well as specific historical facts with lucid clarity, the book assumes little familiarity with Indonesian history and is accessible to general readers.

by Umberto Eco (2005)

A collection of mostly reworked lectures and conference papers, sometimes introductions, On Literature discusses Eco’s influences (Borges, Joyce), canon names of literature (Cervantes, Wilde, Holmes, Marx, Thomas Aquinas (whom he wrote his doctorate thesis on, published as The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas)), and personal experiences and opinions of his writing career (How I Write, Intertextual Irony and Levels of Reading), while in The Power of Falsehood, readers of Baudalino will find the author’s short comment on Prester John (among other discussion on the engineering force of ‘falsehood’).

by Umar Kayam (2005)

A selection of Kayam’s non-academic, non-specialised writings (mostly essays and reportage) from 1969 to 1999, some short, some spanning a few pages, published in one book posthumously. Written in colloquial style with plenty of flippant wisecracks (at the same time caustic criticism), Kayam writes on numerous subjects, from air-conditioned taxis, TIM, art his visit to Russia, pilgrimage to Mecca, film, literature, art, nepotism, and many more.