The Rainbow Troops

[Laskar Pelangi]
Year: 
2005
Type: 
Public: 
Publisher: 
FSG Adult
Year of publication: 
2014
Pages: 
304
Moral assessment: 
Type: Literature
Nothing inappropriate.
Some morally inappropriate content.
Contains significant sections contrary to faith or morals.
Contains some lurid passages, or presents a general ideological framework that could confuse those without much Christian formation.
Contains several lurid passages, or presents an ideological framework that is contrary or foreign to Christian values.
Explicitly contradicts Catholic faith or morals, or is directed against the Church and its institutions.
Literary quality: 
Recommendable: 
Transmits values: 
Sexual content: 
Violent content: 
Vulgar or obscene language: 
Ideas that contradict Church teaching: 
The rating of the different categories comes from the opinion of Delibris' collaborators

The "Rainbow Troop" is a group of 10 children who study in a poor school in a remote village in Indonesia. The main character, who is the autobiographical narrator, and his friend stand out in the story. The latter is small in stature, but very intelligent. He has to travel several kilometers every day, and he is the one who saves the prestige of the school in an annual inter-school competition. The government wants to close the school and the inspector who visits it does nothing but look for excuses. The love of the old teacher for teaching and of the new assistant - a young girl who is just starting out - is what keeps the school going.

The different ways of being of each pupil are very well characterized. There is no lack of mischief, more or less dramatic or funny episodes, adolescent infatuation, allusions to the attempt to live a Muslim faith integrated into the customs of those peoples, the social problem of the companies that have no qualms about destroying the environment in search of the precious tin... Sometimes nostalgic, sometimes dramatic, but very human. The eagerness to learn in spite of the difficulties stands out.

 

Author: Rafael Jiménez Asenjo, Spain
Update on: Feb 2021