Olenka - by Budi Darma (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A new English translation of an existential tale of obsession by Indonesia's celebrated writer of absurdist realism

A Penguin Classic

In Bloomington, Indiana, Fanton Drummond's life changes when he encounters Olenka Danton in an elevator. Infatuated at first sight, Fanton begins to see Olenka everywhere, from bus stops and parks to the imagined settings of his mind's eye. Soon they begin an affair, and Fanton steps deeper into Olenka's mysterious world. But one day, Olenka vanishes. Fanton's subsequent search for Olenka becomes an existential journey filled with tragicomic twists and introspective musings on the meaning of life, all through which Fanton realizes that he knows little about Olenka, and even less about himself.

With prose characteristic of Albert Camus by way of David Lynch, Budi Darma foregrounds the absurd monotony of everyday life--and the meaninglessness it masks. Newly translated into English by PEN Translation Prize winner Tiffany Tsao, the novel, layered with literary and visual references, blurs realism and absurdism, fact and fiction, tragic and comic, to probe the human condition and pinpoint our common plight.

Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Review Quotes

"Imagine a supercollider into which a series of seemingly disparate elements are placed: a knowing look at the world of literary magazines in the late 1970s; a narrator's unexpected romantic pursuits; a collection of found photographs; and the inspirational sports drama Breaking Away. Olenka somehow combines all of these into a structurally sound whole while also adding some formally impressive aspects into the mix. It's like nothing else you'll read this year." -- Tobias Carroll, Words Without Borders

"This playful novel twists and turns like a Rubik's cube." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Budi Darma was a novelist, short-story-writer, and literary critic. Budi Darma received several national literary awards and his international honors include the Southeast Asian Writers Award (or S.E.A. Write Award) and the Mastera Literary Award. He held a PhD in English literature from the University of Bloomington, Indiana, and was a professor at the State University of Surabaya.

Tiffany Tsao (translator and introducer) is a literary translator and writer. Her translations have been awarded the PEN Presents and PEN Translates prizes. She has translated numerous Indonesian works, has written about literature in translation for Electric Literature, and is the author of The Majesties (2020), the forthcoming But Won't I Miss Me (2026), and the Oddfits series. She holds a PhD in English literature from UC-Berkeley.