Containing stories from the Revolution Era, Dari Ave Maria Hingga Jalan Lain ke Roma is divided chronologically into three sections: The Age of Japan, Scribbles from the Underground, and After August 17, 1945. From this slim volume, we can see the evolution of Idrus’ style from romantic to his famous satirical style which has not been widely embraced among his contemporaries. Sharp, agile, and brusque, Idrus mocks Japan, and overturns the “sanctity” of heroic revolution. Here we find a very famous novella mocking the big event “Heroes’ Day” in our city, and even used it as the title, Surabaya. In contrast the the usual romanticised, heroic November 10, Idrus sardonically portrays the youths as cowboys and bandits, walking with their chest swelled, revolver and dagger at their waist.

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