In The Time Of Madness

I've been a fan of journalist/author Richard Lloyd Parry since reading his two fascinating books based on reporting in Japan, People Who Eat Darkness and Ghosts of the Tsunami. So I was waiting for a return to Indonesia to read his first book, In The Time Of Madness (2008), and since I am visiting Lombok and Jakarta this time I have read it for background information. It is a fascinating book about chaotic times, 1997-1999 that chronicle the fall of President Suharto. This took place during my early years in Japan so I can remember some of the events, but I had no idea it was so violent and destructive. Parry divides the book into three sections: "Something Close to Shame: Boreno 1997-1999," "The Radiant Light: Java 1998," and "The Shark cage: East Timor 1998-1999." In "Something Close to Shame" Parry reports how in 1997, and again in 1999 small events of violence by the Madurese led to unrest and vengeful murders of the Madurese. These violet attacks often were by ritualistic beheadings, and although initially very hard to prove, the removal and eating of hearts, and even cannibalistic eating or corpses. In 1997, it was only the Dayak people, but in 1999 it was the Malay. The official line is that there was some racial clashes and a small number of people were killed. The real figures were more likely to be in the thousands. Then in "The Radiant Light" Parry reports on the events leading up to, the actual process, and the after effects of the resignation of President Suharto. The story is depicted by violence, confusion, conspiracy theories, and the societal effects of the resignation. In the final section Parry reports on the UN backed vote between autonomy under Indonesian rule and independence from Indonesia as promoted by President Habibie, that was unpopular among the military generals who cut their teeth in East Timor during the 27 years of occupation with battles against. During all of these travails we get the reporter's perspective and it was only during the reporting in East Timor that Parry feared for his life as as a colleague was gunned down inthe violence by the Indonesia military and the militia that they backed. It was an intense period in which Parry reported-so different form the work he was doing in Japan on several levels-which is probably what attracted him to reporting in Indonesia where he was on vacation when deiced to investigate the story rather than return to Japan to marry his girlfriend. A fascinating and well-informed story of a country in crisis with lush narrative details that are representative of all of Parry's works.