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The Rainbow Troops
The Rainbow Troops: A Novel | Andrea Hirata
6 posts | 9 read | 4 to read
Published in Indonesia in 2005, The Rainbow Troops, Andrea Hirata's closely autobiographical debut novel, sold more than five million copies, shattering records. Now it promises to captivate audiences around the globe. Ikal is a student at the poorest village school on the Indonesian island of Belitong, where graduating from sixth grade is considered a remarkable achievement. His school is under constant threat of closure. In fact, Ikal and his friendsa group nicknamed the Rainbow Troopsface threats from every angle: skeptical government officials, greedy corporations hardly distinguishable from the colonialism they've replaced, deepening poverty and crumbling infrastructure, and their own low self-confidence. But the students also have hope, which comes in the form of two extraordinary teachers, and Ikal's education in and out of the classroom is an uplifting one. We root for him and his friends as they defy the island's powerful tin mine officials. We meet his first love, the unseen girl who sells chalk from behind a shop screen, whose pretty hands capture Ikal's heart. We cheer for Lintang, the class's barefoot math genius, as he bests the students of the mining corporation's school in an academic challenge. Above all, we gain an intimate acquaintance with the customs and people of the world's largest Muslim society. This is classic storytelling in the spirit of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner: an engrossing depiction of a milieu we have never encountered before, bursting with charm and verve.
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GatheringBooks
The Rainbow Troops | Andrea Hirata
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Pickpick

#AboutABook Day 31: #FavoriteOfJuly - read while I was in Indonesia earlier this month. The bittersweet ending smacks of the bitter realities most brilliant people have to contend with: the need to survive in the here-and-now taking precedence over unrealistic dreams or lofty aspirations. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-qAU

Eggs Excellent 👌🏼 2mo
47 likes1 comment
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GatheringBooks
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Pickpick

#AboutABook Day 16: This is almost a #Memoir of sorts by Indonesian author Andrea Hirata. I read this while I was in Bandung a few weeks ago and enjoyed it tremendously. Here is my full review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-qAU

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 💙💙💙 3mo
Eggs Excellent 👌🏼 3mo
38 likes2 comments
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GatheringBooks
The Rainbow Troops | Andrea Hirata
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OriginalCyn620 👍🏻📚👍🏻 4y
45 likes1 comment
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Bookish_Bane
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Disclaimer: Not an mibf book haul.
Hahhaha, accumulated books from August and September. Anyway, so stoke to read Rainbow Troops by @hirataandrea 💙

P.S Is it too late for me to collect Diary of A Whimpy Kid books? I hope not. Hahhaha, also, @titawitty journal is a must have. 🤣

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Ellen_C
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Mehso-so

Not so much a novel as a memoir about the author's childhood on Belitong Island, Sumatra, Indonesia. Many fascinating vignettes about growing poor in a country rich in mineral assets, and the effect that social and economic stratification has on education. What's in this book is good, but feels incomplete given it is supposed to be a novel. https://cannonballread.com/2017/07/indonesian-best-seller-about-poverty-educatio...

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zurazureen
Laskar Pelangi | Andrea Hirata
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Pickpick

pure and delightful childhood memories and the ugly truth about how education is actually a privilege in the poor area in Indonesia.