Val Sebald is an author who comes to the Island to retreat from life and land. There he lives among the islanders and his favorite women, the heroines of various maritime novels. His relations with actual women from his past are reduced to messages in bottles that he ceremonially throws into the water. Val brings the real and imaginary people together into a place he is comfortable with, while his real life also becomes more and more one with the sea and the underwater world.
The story about a class of star-boys who travel with their research spaceship to "Outdoor School" to see life on Earth. Since they wear "snurke" - a kind of shiny badges, they are invisible to Earthlings. But the star-boy Gubang's desire to meet the Earthlings in personal is so strong that he can not resist. He befriends a girl named Maya and gives her "snurko" so that she could see him. This causes severe complications both on Earth and in spaceship. Of course, everything finishes with a happy end.
Comedy about a group of musicians who are sent to play to villagers and workers to raise morale during a 5 year plan. The trouble is they prefer to play jazz and boogie music to the traditional folk songs, and each time they try their jazz they are reprimanded by the local party secretary.