Olenka
Budi Darma author Tiffany Tsao translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Publishing:21st Jan '27
£14.99
This title is due to be published on 21st January, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
The first English language translation of a prize-winning novel set in the American Midwest by Indonesia's celebrated writer of absurdist realism
In Bloomington, Indiana, Fanton Drummond’s life changes when he encounters Olenka Danton in an elevator. Infatuated at first sight, Fanton begins to see Olenka everywhere, from bus stops and parks to the imagined settings of his mind’s eye. Soon they begin an affair, and Fanton steps deeper into Olenka’s mysterious world. But one day, Olenka vanishes. Fanton’s subsequent search for Olenka becomes an existential journey filled with tragicomic twists and introspective musings on the meaning of life, all through which Fanton realizes that he knows little about Olenka, and even less about himself.
"Imagine a supercollider into which a series of seemingly disparate elements are placed: a knowing look at the world of literary magazines in the late 1970s; a narrator’s unexpected romantic pursuits; a collection of found photographs; and the inspirational sports drama Breaking Away. Olenka somehow combines all of these into a structurally sound whole while also adding some formally impressive aspects into the mix. It’s like nothing else you’ll read this year." — Tobias Carroll, Words Without Borders
"This playful novel twists and turns like a Rubik’s cube." — Publishers Weekly
ISBN: 9780143138532
Dimensions: 198mm x 130mm x 15mm
Weight: 224g
320 pages