I was looking to expand my reading horizons by tasting fiction from around the world and this book from Indonesia, with its unusual title and all the praise heaped upon its author, was an easy pick.
“Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” is, superficially, the story of a man who is struck by erectile dysfunction in his adolescence due to a traumatic experience, how his entire course of life is shaped by the disorder. On a deeper level, it is the story of a tough, rough life where violence and corruption are inextricably mixed with love and honour. It reads like pulp fiction while containing elements of magical realism. The tale is told in short, crisp segments in a language that is brutal in its simplicity. The violence – among men, by men and against women, and by a woman against men – has been described graphically and is not for the fainthearted. And the descriptions of the protagonist’s condition, which is the basic premise of the novel, may put off some readers; even I was doubting initially whether I will finish it. However, none of it – both the violence and the impotence – feel forced. The characters are hard-hitting, literally, and the action – several fights and a hair-raising truck chase – is thrilling. The hero’s, and his well-wishers’, attempts to cure him of his malady are both amusing and sad. The translation by Annie Tucker is so good it does not affect the experience in any way.
“Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” is a raw, violent slice of life that is unlike any book I have read so far, and I am impressed enough to read more by Eka Kurniawan.
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The publisher’s blurb for this novel goes like this:

Told in short, cinematic bursts, Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is gloriously pulpy. Ajo Kawir, a lower-class Javanese teenage boy excited about sex, likes to spy on fellow villagers in flagrante, but one night he ends up witnessing the savage rape of a beautiful crazy woman. Deeply traumatised, he becomes impotent, turns to fighting as a way to vent his frustrations.
Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash shows Eka Kurniawan in a gritty, comic, pungent mode that fans of Quentin Tarantino will appreciate. But even with its liberal peppering of fights, high-speed car chases, and ladies heaving with desire, the novel continues to explore Kurniawan’s familiar themes of female agency in a violent and corrupt male world.

Clearly, I was out of my comfort zone. I had to Google Quentin Tarantino because the only thing I knew about him was that he made the sort of films that don’t interest me. And for those of my readers who are equally disinterested in Hollywood film, this is what I found:

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (b.1963) is an American film director, writer, and actor. His films are characterized by nonlinear storylines, satirical subject matter, an aestheticization of violence, extended scenes of dialogue, ensemble casts consisting of established and lesser-known performers, references to popular culture, soundtracks primarily containing songs and score pieces from the 1960s to the 1980s, and features of neo-noir film. He is widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. (Wikipedia, viewed 12/10/17, lightly edited to get rid of links).

I looked up neo-noir too, and found that it involves the blurring of the lines between good and bad and right and wrong, and a motif of revenge, paranoia, and alienation, among other borrowed ‘sensibilities‘.
Uh huh…
But contrary to expectations, I enjoyed Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash. While it’s not in the same league as Beauty is a Wound which was nominated for the Man Booker International (see my review) it turned out to be good entertainment and thought-provoking as well. It’s disconcerting at first to be confronted by such a politically-incorrect view of masculinity: its male characters are preoccupied with sex; they talk about women in a foul way; they value women solely by their appearance; and they see violence as the way to solve problems because you prove that you are a man by fighting.
However, Kurniawan inverts these tropes in unexpected ways.

To see the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/10/13/vengeance-is-mine-all-others-pay-cash-by-eka... ( )