The Freshness of the Spoken Word

Minke, Pramoedya Ananta Toer's young narrator and alter-ego in This Earth of Mankind, cannot get his mind off Annelies Mellema. He remembers the first time he saw her:

"In front of us stood a girl, white-skinned, refined, European face, hair and eyes of a Native. And those eyes, those shining eyes! ('Like a pair of morning stars,' I called them in my notes.)"

Toer writes through the dreams and explanations of Minke, describing the jealous fits of Annelies's brother Robert, the resolute pride of her mother the Nyai (a Dutchman's brilliant concubine), and the machete-swinging brute force of their bodyguard Darsam.

Annelies, often quiet amidst this turmoil, remains the pivot of the work, a living symbol of Indonesia. She's an enigmatic blend of Native and European influences, admired by all and destroyed by all, confused and enfeebled.

Annelies is Minke's dangerous obsession, just as Indonesia is Toer's.

Toer is among the most important dissident authors of the 20th century. Imprisoned by the Dutch and Indonesian governments and still under city arrest in Jakarta, his large literary output includes novels, non-fiction, and translations of authors such as Steinbeck and Tolstoy.

This Earth of Mankind, Toer's second novel to be released in the United States, is the first in a series of four banished novels which are just now beginning to achieve recognition in the world literary market.

The novel was conceived while Toer was held prisoner at Indonesia's Buru Island Prison Camp. In these conditions, Toer was deprived of reading and writing materials, so he spoke his work aloud to fellow inmates in 1973, keeping it fresh in his mind until he could write it down in 1975.

Perhaps this explains why the book retains the freshness of the spoken word and is extremely accessible. It reads quickly and describes native practice and custom in simple terms. Australian translator Max Lane provides a convenient glossary of frequently used Indonesian words, but one can understand the book without referring to it.

Unfortunately, accessibility has its cost: often it seems that Minke and Annelies are 20th century characters, rather than products of the 19th century Javanese/Dutch world that Toer tries so hard to capture.

For instance, even though Minke is aware of the pull of old custom, he is a wholly modern figure. Upon meeting the Nyai--a woman stigmatized in Indonesian society--he wonders, "Should I offer my hand as to a European woman, or should I treat her as a Native woman and ignore her?"

Despite his uncertainties, he ends up moving into the Nyai's house and sleeping in the same room with Annelies--before their marriage. Through his connection with the Mellema family, Minke removes himself from Javanese culture and from Dutch domination.

In the end, though, accessibility is the factor that makes Toer's novel so engaging--his characters' overwhelming humanity and beauty make the book impossible to put down. And the vividness of his description of Indonesian society in transformation creates a political atmosphere that is fascinating.