Review on the Novel "Siti Rayati" by Moh. Sanoesi

The novel Siti Rayati by Moh. Sanoesi was originally written in Sundanese, which then translated into English by Wendy Mukherjee. According to her, this short novel is still one of the masterpieces in Sundanese literature, as stated in her introduction part of this book.



As for the novel itself, in my opinion, it is certainly a good novel to read, even though I really could not say that I truly liked it. For one thing, essentially, I feel the storyline was a bit too much like a Cinderella story. While what happened to Patimah – her getting raped and abused by a Dutch employer – was plausible, what happened to her abandoned half-breed daughter, Siti Royati was not so. Despite her appearance which the author described as fair-skinned and looked very much just like a Dutch girl or a foreign girl, it seemed she was being treated quite equally by the native around her. Perhaps it had to do with the fact she was raised by the Regent and his wife, and thus people were either too respect him or fear him to insult his daughter’s unusual appearance. What made me think of Cinderella while reading this was the fact that Siti Royati got everything a girl would ever want: she was a girl of high status (even though she was adopted), she was beautiful, smart and intelligent, and from how the author described her, she was also kind-hearted; in short, she was a perfect woman. And yet despite all her perfection, she chose to work in a post office and as a freelance journalist for a Malayan newspaper, instead of just getting married or doing what other women her age did at the time. Her choice must have been influenced by the education she received, considering she did get proper education in formal schools even though unfortunately she didn’t finish her latest school.

Another point that I find a little weird – if not cliché – by the end of the story, she was finally reunited with her birth-mother, Patimah, whom she brought with her as a servant after van der Gouds family left for Netherland. After Patimah told Gan Titi her story, she practically welcomed her mother warmly, without even questioning anything. Perhaps she was just too happy that she finally found her real mother, but I still found it a little too easy, perhaps, for the lack of better word, and for me it left much to be desired.

All in all, considering the time this novel was written in, I do think this is quite a good novel. Although in my humble opinion, I think if this novel was longer and the re-union of Patimah and Gan Titi was explained a bit further, it would be better because then the pace would not feel too rushed.