The Rainbow Troops (Laskar Pelangi) was first published about 20 years ago in Indonesia, where it soon became an absolute bestseller. The book, very loosely based on Andrea Hirata’s own childhood, is set on Belitong Island, where the people are poor, but the surrounds are rich in tin. Most children in the region struggle to obtain an education, but the young Malay boy Ikal and his friends do have one option open to them; a small Muhammadiya (Islamic) school run by an early teacher, Pak Harfan, and a fifteen year old girl who works part time as a seamstress, Bu Mus.
Keeping the school operational is no small thing. The greatest issue is enrollment; if the school drops below ten students, the government will be forced to close it. Money is not exactly flowing to pay these teachers or purchase supplies, and many of the children’s parents work as fishermen or coolies who would rather their older children work to support the household.
On the first day of school, only nine children are present, and both students and their teachers alike are feeling tense. Then, at the last moment, a cheerful older boy named Harun arrives at the school and fulfills the enrollment count. Harun, who has Down Syndrome, quickly becomes a beloved member of the school—one of the Rainbow Troops who will fight for their community. The most immediate crisis affecting their schooling has been averted; sadly it will not be the only one.
The style of the book was not at all what I expected. The story is told in a very episodic fashion—a set of vignettes about the students’ lives over the years, similar to the one above. The narrative follows Ikal as he witnesses his peers dealing with social and economic hardships. Hirata’s writing style (as it comes across in translation) is short, punchy, and not overly technical, which makes it very easy to read. The children are all, for the most part, very sweet-natured, charming, and oddly wise beyond their years, while their teachers are portrayed in a very idealized fashion, both selfless and kind. Ikal’s narration spends most of its time tied to the immediate present, where he watches as events unfold with the eyes of a child. But sometimes, he provides the reader with additional information that helps give context to a number of cultural or economic issues that the children face. It’s extremely useful if you know little of Malay culture, the nature of Islamic schools, or local mineral deposits, but these details are not something an eight, nine, or even ten year old Ikal would be expected to know. (His friend Lintang? That’s a different matter.)
I was initially slightly put off by some of these choices: this extra exposition from an oddly omnipotent child narrator, the characters drawn from only the broadest of brushstrokes, and the oddly low-stakes and low-tension storytelling? The Rainbow Troops was giving me the same kind of vibes I got from many of the books we used to get assigned in early high school that I was convinced were written specifically for high school-aged students to pull apart and study.
Then it occurred to me: of course. This was probably what Hirata was aiming for the entire time. Paired with both its very easy-to-read prose and straightforward political messaging, Hirata has written a novel about the right of every child to receive an education in such a way that it can be taught in schools, thus reinforcing to school-aged children their right to an education. I think this is why some of the choices rubbed me the wrong way; I’m an older reader—you can have more trust in me to understand subtlety!—but for younger readers or less seasoned readers? It’s probably targeted perfectly.
But don’t let that put you off, The Rainbow Troops is still a lovely story of quiet, hopeful rebellion that is very worth checking out. Yes, it’s not subtle with its messaging, but that’s not always a bad thing.
On a more personal note: Because of the rather simple prose in this book, I thought it might be an excellent novel to attempt in the original language. I’ve tried a few other novels in the Indonesian language, and I have to say, I’m not quite at the level where I can easily read them yet.
But I’ll be damned; all my usual methods for buying books in Indonesian have failed me here. I just cannot get ahold of the original? Translations in five other languages, sure, but not the original text?
I am baffled.
For cbr17bingo, this is school. Another nice and obvious one.
And another Bingo on the vertical.