The Year of Living Dangerously (novel)

The Year of Living Dangerously
First edition
AuthorChristopher Koch
Cover artistDavid Lancashire (jacket designer)
LanguageEnglish
GenreAdventure novel
PublisherNelson, Michael Joseph
Publication date
1978
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages296
ISBN9780732296483

The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1978 novel by Christopher Koch in which an Australian journalist, a Chinese-Australian photojournalist and a British diplomat interact in Indonesia in the summer and autumn of 1965. Set primarily in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, it also describes a partly fictionalized version of the events leading up to the coup attempt by the Communist Party of Indonesia on September 30, 1965.

The novel's title refers to the Italian phrase vivere pericoloso. It is roughly translated into English as "living dangerously". Indonesian President Sukarno used the phrase for the title of his Independence Day speech of 17 August 1945.[1]

  1. ^ Vernay, p. 71.