Vicki Baum's evocative historical novel recounts the lives of peasants and nobles in colonial Bali, reared against a backdrop of bloodshed and cultural invasion. Dutch imperialism brings upheaval and revolution to the beautiful island, and the Balinese rebel in what would become a powerful and poignant example of symbolic resistance. A Tale from Bali culminates with the historic Battle of Badung, in which thousands of Balinese soldiers, clothed in white and armed only with daggers, threw themselves upon the merciless efficiency of the Dutch guns.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Vicki Baum, best known as the author of Grand Hotel and The Weeping Wood, first visited Bali in 1935.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simple Stories Converge in a Kingdom's Darkest Hour,
By Renee Thorpe (Karangasem, Bali) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Tale from Bali (Paperback)
Slightly dry but straightforward writing builds a fine drama about Bali's puputan (the horrific mass suicide of the royal court before a full assembly of attacking Dutch troops).The novel's characters are nicely painted through their thoughts and deeds; Baum does not rely on elaborate physical description. In the style of Grand Hotel (which later spawned the genre of human interest disaster movies), the novel's characters are only human, poignant in their foibles. Among them are the pretty little dancer Lambon, her selfish but likeable brother Pak, the proud entertainer Raka, the bored Dutch bureaucrat Boomsmer. There is royalty and slavery and peasants and mystics: Baliphiles will love this re-release of a classic. The book never belittles the Balinese with colonialist tactics, and Baum compiled the story from the meticulous notes left to her by Dr. Fabius (longterm resident of Bali). It is a fine story about human error, human virtue. A bit fat and unwieldy, this paperback would be better read BEFORE you hit the road for Bali. Other good Bali reads: Island of Bali (Covarrubias) and Bali Behind the Seen (Cork).
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
addendum to my earlier review,
By Renee Thorpe (Karangasem, Bali) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Tale from Bali (Paperback)
Just wanted to add that my previous review has an error. In it, I credit a "Dr. Fabius" with supplying author Vicki Baum with invaluable cultural notes on the Balinese. Actually, as Adrian Vickers points out in his marvelous book, Bali: A Paradise Created (also available here through Amazon), Dr. Fabius is simply a pseudonym for the phenomenally influential German artist and long-term Bali resident Walter Spies. This oddity is probably of little consequence to one's enjoyment of the novel by Vicki Baum. However, it is food for thought; Spies had a singular interpretation of what was the essence of Balinese culture. Artistocratic, gay, and cultured, Spies had firm ideas about what the Balinese needed from the outside world. In a position of ambassador between Balinese royalty and western glitterati, his guests included Baum, the electrifying Margaret Mead and Charlie Chaplin, and through these contacts he did much towards what he thought was best for Bali. He was a highly influential afficianado of Balinese art and music. Vickers suggests that as Spies would patronize one artist and ignore another, he was very strongly shaping the culture of Bali. It would have been in Spies' interest, also, to show Bali and its colonizers in a certain light. Baum produced a novel that highlights Spies' general views, interestingly very much like those of today's usual western visitor to Bali. So this novel is a significant part of the image we have, today, of Bali and its people.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book ever read,
By
This review is from: A Tale from Bali (Paperback)
Given this book at the age of 16, I was traumatised by the realisation of how one culture can be so unsympathetic of another...nevertheless it it still stands as the best book I have read in the last 45 years..
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
WHEN I got home from the little Government hospital, where I had spent the whole morning attending to various cases of fever, severe bamboo cuts and tropical ulcers, I found a bicycle leaning against the wall at my gate. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
wairingin tree, holy kris, old tjokorda, chewing sirih, new sawah, coral temple, new kain, sirih pouch, white kain, rice temple, gamelan players, bald where, heat sickness, temple gateway, house altar, great sickness, white cock, adorned with flowers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Taman Sari, Ida Katut, Njo Tok Suey, Ida Bagus Rai, Agung Bima, Kwe Tik Tjiang, Lieutenant Dekker, Great Mountain, Temple of the Dead, South Bali, General Veldte, Singa Braga, Council of India, New Year, Tian Siap, Dutch Government, Sri Kumala, Herr Resident, Pak's Srawah, Pastor Schimmelpennick New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
WHEN I got home from the little Government hospital, where I had spent the whole morning attending to various cases of fever, severe bamboo cuts and tropical ulcers, I found a bicycle leaning against the wall at my gate. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
wairingin tree, holy kris, old tjokorda, chewing sirih, new sawah, coral temple, new kain, sirih pouch, white kain, rice temple, gamelan players, bald where, heat sickness, temple gateway, house altar, great sickness, white cock, adorned with flowers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Taman Sari, Ida Katut, Njo Tok Suey, Ida Bagus Rai, Agung Bima, Kwe Tik Tjiang, Lieutenant Dekker, Great Mountain, Temple of the Dead, South Bali, General Veldte, Singa Braga, Council of India, New Year, Tian Siap, Dutch Government, Sri Kumala, Herr Resident, Pak's Srawah, Pastor Schimmelpennick New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
19
books
cite this book:
See all 19 books citing this book
- Colin McPhee: Composer in Two Worlds (Music in American Life) by Carol J. Oja on 4 pages
- Michelin NEOS Guide Indonesia, 1e (NEOS Guide) by Michelin Travel Publications on page 109, and page 366
- The Rough Guides to Bali and Lombok (Rough Guide to Bali & Lombok) by Lesley Reader on page 146, and page 498
- Dancing Out of Bali (Periplus Classics Series) by John Coast in Front Matter
- Midnight Shadows by Garrett Kam in Front Matter
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