How I came to know about Sandokan.

My copy of Sandokan from the Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia (ITBM) has arrived—I’ve read the book and enjoyed it. I’m usually not fond of pirates but this time I’m seeing things from another point of view and that is from the pirates’.

In this story, the fearful Sandokan, known as Harimau Malaysia (Tiger of Malaysia) is a famous and powerful pirate. He is the leader of the Mompracem pack. Together with his good friend, a Portuguese man named Yanez de Gomera, they set out to rescue the ill-fated Tremal-Naik.

Tremal-Naik was framed for something he did not do and was exiled and imprisoned. Kammamuri, the servant of Tremal-Naik, when captured by Sandokan gains the pirate's admiration for his bravery in fighting like a hero. Sandokan decided to spare him and soon finds out about his problem and decides to help him. They are now up against the powerful James Brooke, king of Sarawak, who abhors pirates and makes it his mission to kill each and everyone of them.

The novel has a good plot and is exciting to read. The Malay translation by Zaleha Abidin is well done. Apart from the few typos and errors in the book, everything is great!

Here's what my Italian friend, Clelia F., said about Sandokan and its creator Emilio Salgari:

Per me Sandokan è il pirata-principe-tigre della Malesia di Salgari, scrittore di libri per ragazzi che pur non essendo un viaggiatore aveva tanta fantasia da sfiorare la realtà, compreso il nome "quasi-vero" a questo punto del suo personaggio-clou.

In English: For me Sandokan is the pirate-prince-Tiger of Malaysia created by Salgari, a writer of children's books who although had not been a traveler he had a lot of imagination to touch reality, including the "quasi-real" name.

It is a wonderful thing that I found out about a famous character written by an Italian author with a story set in Sarawak, Malaysia, through my Italian friends.