Book "Tafsir Keris/ Kris: An Interpretation"
 

I was proposed this book written by Toni Junus which looks interesting but is expensive and I wonder if any member already purchased or saw it and can give us his opinion or first impression about it.
Thank you and best regards
Jean

Jean, I have not seen this book, but I do correspond spasmodically with a gentleman who contributed to it. According to him it contains a substantial part that deals with the way keris were understood from a spiritual and magical point of view in Solo a couple of generations past.

Tony Junus himself I also know only by reputation, and that reputation is a good one. He is a serious man who is trying to do his best to support keris culture, under relatively difficult conditions.

The $100 price tag is a bit of a stumbling block, and I will be waiting until I get to Solo in January and have a look at it before I buy, however, on balance it might be a good gamble. A very respected senior member of the international keris community has spoken to me in positive terms of both the book, and its writer.

Hello Alan,
Thank you for your advice and I will order the book then. The proposed price in Europe is in excess of $150 so I will try to find a cheaper alternative...
Best regards
Jean

Book prices are funny things Jean. I've bought really magnificent books taken from remainders counters for only a few dollars, but I have also paid very high prices for books that I needed. Probably the most expensive book I ever paid for was Pigeaud's " Java in the 14th Century". I paid well over $150 , and that was only in late fees paid to the University of NSW. I didn't even get to own the book. $150, plus the borrowing fee and no book on the shelf to show for it definitely makes that my most expensive purchase.

When it comes right down to it, what you buy when you buy a book is knowledge. Whether one regards a book as expensive or not probably depends upon how one values the information it contains.

Tafsir Keris
 

I just start reading the book now (not finished yet).
According to me it is a good book, specially the first part. Very much good and large illustrations from old Kerisses, but also from recently made Kerisses. For what I have read sofar I like the content. You are very welcom to take a look at this book. Best regards, Patrick

I have this book and I love it! I may be biased because one of my collection is featured there, but in my opinion, this is a breakthrough book in Indonesian standard. Rarely before did a writer with Toni Junus' academic capacity courageously and openly cover the mystical - cultural aspects of the Javanese keris - which we all know are inseparable from Kejawen thinking. This book is overdue as a literary effort to bring into public awareness certain "kerisology" records that might otherwise vanish due to pressures from the shifting of society values in Indonesia. Among other "sensitive" subjects discussed in the book, it also quotes esoteric information such as an ancient prayer to greet various spiritual rulers of Java as well as mantras to recite when making a keris.

Toni Junus took a bold step by writing such a book and IMHO, he deserves support.

Just passing some info about the book: They have about 100 extra copies of "Tafsir Keris" in English only (instead of Indonesian-English side-by-side), but this version will bear the logo of an Indonesian institution (who had ordered the book as souvenir, perhaps?). They are thinking about selling this book for cheaper, perhaps about 80 USD.

Post your reply here if you're interested. I will arrange for you to contact the publisher if there is sufficient response.

I would be interested, thank you!

Regards,

Detlef

Gentlemen, until now this thread has side-stepped commerce, but now with talk about prices and arranging purchases it is clearly crossing that line. Please open a thread in swap about this and allow this thread to continue solely as a place to discuss the merits of the work.

Oops. Sorry about that. I never sold a single keris before in my life, plus I had the intention of arranging all the interested folks to contact the publisher directly without me getting a single dime, so I failed to recognize that I had steered the discussion toward commercial interest.

Hello Neo,

No problem: Forum rules have been tightened to the point that mere announcements of books with any link to the publishing house (or any other distributor) have been construed as "commercial" interest that needs to be taken to the swap forum. However, folks cannot reply to swap postings...

It would be great though if you could lend your helping hand to interested folks contacting you by PM (hoping that your mailbox doesn't get flooded).

Regards,
Kai

Forum rules have not been "tightened", these rules have been in place on this forum since day one. Links to where to buy aren't "construed" as commercial, they are commercial, period. Folks are as capable to respond to a Swap notice about this as they are any Swap notice, either through PM or an email address provided by the OP. There is no need for any other discussion on a Swap post. I once again suggest that Neo place a Swap notice on his kind offer. Nothing new here. Standard policy. Discussion of this book doesn't need to take place in Swap. That hopefully can continue to happen here. :shrug: :)

Sorry also from me, I should have known it better! :o

Hope Neo will post his kind offer again by one of the swap forums.

No worries...let's continue to discuss the book, not sales...or forum policy for that matter... ;)