This Earth of Mankind

Pramoedya Ananta Toer—a famous Indonesian editor, essayist, and social activist—wrote This Earth of Mankind (1980)—the first book of his series The Buru Quartet—while imprisoned in the Buru Concentration Camp following a military coup that overthrew Sukarno, the first democratically elected president of Indonesia. Incarcerated for 14 years and denied access to writing materials, Toer memorized the books of his series and recited them to his fellow inmates each day until his release in 1979. The novel, set in Java in 1898, follows the first-person perspective of 18-year-old Minke, an exceptionally bright Native Javanese boy who enrolls in an exclusive prep school for Dutch students. As his graduation date approaches, a series of events causes him to wrestle with whether his allegiance lies with his native Java or with the Dutch who educated him. Meanwhile, Minke falls in love with a girl named Annelies, whose mother is a concubine who desires a better fate for her daughter in a world riven by racial division and rampant misogyny. All the factors Toer writes about are those he faced as he lived through the turbulent decades of transition in Indonesia. Toer’s books, though banned in his home country, have been international bestsellers. His accolades include the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, the Fund for Free Expression Award, the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize, and the Pablo Neruda Award for the Buru Quartet.