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    The Rainbow Troops: A Novel
    The Rainbow Troops: A Novel
    The Rainbow Troops: A Novel
    Ebook312 pages5 hours

    The Rainbow Troops: A Novel

    By Andrea Hirata

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    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 friends—a group nicknamed the Rainbow Troops—face 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateFeb 5, 2013
    ISBN9780374709402
    The Rainbow Troops: A Novel
    Author

    Andrea Hirata

    ANDREA HIRATA was born on the island of Belitong, Indonesia, in 1982. Most recently, he was a fellow of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. He graduated cum laude in economics from Universitas Indonesia and received a European Union scholarship to attend the Université Paris-Sorbonne and Sheffield Hallam University

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    Reviews for The Rainbow Troops

    4.5/5

    15 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      hi all, who can help me and send me the pdf file of this book, cause i can't read it all time on net....i really want to complete it. thanks
    • 5/5
      From the very first day of their educational lives this small group of children were struggling to obtain what is for many a basic human right, an education. An opportunity that was almost lost to them even before it began, the sacrifices, struggles and successes these children encountered are recounted to us through the eyes of Ikal. At the hands of a man who dedicated his life to teaching and a young girl who was determined to teach so that others may succeed, Ikal and his friends are able to experience what so many of their family members and fellow countrymen were not able to, the joy of learning. The Rainbow Troops are a group of children who learnt how empowering an education was to self-development. These were children with nothing and with no chance of a future, but who through an education dared to dream of a better life. Through their struggles is gained a new appreciation for the opportunities that most people take for granted, a childhood with a chance to learn, play and grow. A touching story that will lead you through the good times and the hard times of a life lived in poverty, struggling for understanding and never giving up.
    • 4/5
      Picked this book up while browsing in a Malaysian bookstore - so surprised that I hadn't heard of it before - I'd say it was the perfect novel for Malaysian teens and ought to find its way into classrooms across the country. It is a charming tale, by turns funny and very touching, of a class of students at an Islamic school on a small Malaysian island, succeeding against all odds ... for a while at least, until abject poverty kicks in and thwarts all aspirations. The main message is about the importance of education and how it needs to be available to all. Gave it 4 rather than 5 stars because I personally found it a little too simple, and I want more complexity and challenge in my reads. (I could better imagine a younger self reading it.) Reminded me of R.K. Narayan's stories.
    • 3/5
      This book was enjoyable (up to a point) Although the characters were delightfully drawn I found the story a little far fetched and I think the book suffered in translation from the original Indonesian. It started off well but seemed to "peter out" in the last chapters. The writer only told us of the outcome for some of the characters and we did not get to find out how he himself became successful given that he was a mediocre student and came from such a poor family.
    • 4/5
      The story of a group of classmates at a very poor school in Indonesia, their difficulties, their successes, the role of the surrounding society on them, the role of chance. It is moving and enlightening.
    • 5/5
      The Rainbow Troops is a remarkable debut novel by a young man who once promised his schoolteacher he would write a book in her honor. Inspired by Hirata's own childhood experiences on the tiny, isolated island of Belitong, on the east coast of Sumatra, this is the poignant story of ten young children from among the islands poorest families, and their struggle to gain the education they are guaranteed under Indonesian law.On his first day at Belitong's only free school, Muhammadiyah Elementary, Ikal breathes a sigh of relief when the tenth child the school needs to remain operational appears at enrollment at the last minute, saving him from being sent to work as a helper at the grocery market or a coolie (labourer) for the miners or fishermen to supplement his family's meagre income. As he takes his seat in the ramshackle building which contains not much more than a chalkboard and a few desks and chairs he marvels at the opportunity he has been given, ignoring the leaking roof, "...a roof with leaks so large that students see planes flying in the sky and have to hold umbrellas while studying on rainy days", crumbling concrete floors and missing wall planks. In front of Ikal stands fifteen year old Bus Mus, the new class teacher, and school supervisor, Pak Harfan. Beside him sits nine other children, the Rainbow Troops.Though simply written, this is an inspiring tale of struggle against adversity told with warmth, humour and tenderness. The children, the Rainbow Troops, will capture your heart as Ikal shares their stories, recounting his friends achievements, triumphs and tragedies as they struggle to claim their right to an education. There is Lintang who leaves his home at dawn to pedal the 40km to school each day, dodging crocodiles and wading through flood waters, never missing a day, Mahar whose imagination entertains them all with stories and Haran who sits, smiling happily, in class even though he doesn't understand a word. learning what becomes of these ten (later 11) children is both heartbreaking and revealing.The Rainbow Troops is also a story of quiet rebellion. Belitong lies in the shadow of the giant PN tin mining company who, with government approval, strip the land of its riches while caring nothing for its native citizens. Muhammadiyah Elementary educates its students with few resources, it's teachers are unpaid and it is constantly threatened with closure but it fights the injustice with everything it has.It is impossible to read The Rainbow Troops and not be moved by such an incredible story that is more fact than fiction. With memorable characters, irresistible charm and touching simplicity, this is a story that reminds us to appreciate what we have but also to strive for what we want most. This is a story the world should know.'Laskar Pelangi' was a phenomenal success when published in Indonesia in 2005, an immediate bestseller, spawning a TV series and film. This is the first of four novels Hirata has penned in the interim, and the first to be translated into English, now on the cusp of global release.

    Book preview

    The Rainbow Troops - Andrea Hirata

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