Child of All Nations (Buru Quartet) [Paperback]

Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Author), Max Lane (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Buru Quartet | Publication Date: May 1, 1996

Pramoedya Ananta Toer has been compared to John Steinbeck (The Washington Post), Nadine Gordimer (The Nation), and Charles Dickens (Publishers Weekly). He shares with Naguib Mahfouz the ability to "achieve what few writers today are able to accomplish: drawing the reader, body and soul, into another world" (Seattle Times). But the Chicago Tribune's comparison to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is particularly apt. Not only is Pramoedya a writer of staggering depth and power, he is also one of his country's most suppressed dissidents. All his work is banned in his native Indonesia; students have been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges stemming from an arrest for selling his books. In Child of All Nations, the reader is immediately swept up by a story that is profoundly feminist, devastatingly anticolonialist - and full of heartbreak, suspense, love, and fury. Pramoedya immerses the reader in a world that is astonishing in its vividness: the cultural whirlpool that was the Dutch East Indies of the 1890s. A story of awakening, it follows Minke, the main character of This Earth of Mankind, as he struggles to overcome the injustice all around him. Pramoedya's full literary genius is evident in the brilliant characters that populate this world: Minke's fragile Mixed-Race wife; a young Chinese revolutionary; an embattled Javanese peasant and his impoverished family; the French painter Jean Marais, to name just a few. Child of all Nations is the second in the series of four novels often called the Buru tetralogy. Many of the characters from This Earth of Mankind (the first volume) return to stunning effect in Child of All Nations. But this is a novel that can also be read entirely on its own.The Buru tetralogy was composed orally on Buru Island during the first half of the author's fourteen-year imprisonment without trial. Writing or reading anything but religious texts was strictly forbidden. Pramoedya would tell each installment to the people with whom he shared h

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The imperialistic injustices of the 19th century have become the firmly institutionalized injustices of the 20th century in many countries, as evidenced by the fact that Pramoedya wrote this novel while imprisoned in Indonesia because he was considered a subversive writer. The work, the second volume of a quartet called the "Buru Tetralogy," speaks convincingly for itself. The balanced and enchanted life of natives in the Dutch East Indies of the 1890s is disrupted as they are set against one another and destroyed by the Dutch. As Minke, the main character of This Earth of Mankind ( LJ 10/1/93), struggles to reclaim a dignified identity amid the confusion, we can feel the universal plight of the oppressed anywhere, whether caused by governments, terrorists, or technology. If this seems a bold claim for a novel, it is because Child is the kind of work that upholds the drastically important tradition of literature's attempt to create empathy. A moving work and a valuable cultural artifact. Recommended for general collections.
- Brian Geary, West Seneca, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Toer delivers the second volume of his Buru Tetralogy with devastating effect. Continuing with the characters of This Earth of Mankind (1991), the story focuses on Minke, a young, European-schooled Javanese writer--an "educated native"--fighting for his rights in the Dutch East Indies at the turn of the century. Minke is in the process of recovering from the death of his wife, who was murdered by Dutch colonials, and trying to assert his voice and the voices of his people. Everywhere he turns, the colonial forces and the all-powerful sugar companies build walls against his words. He struggles over which language to write in and which plights to address--there are so many languages, so many castes, and so many problems. In the end, Minke and his beloved mother-in-law are still trapped within their society but have gained a greater understanding of the possibilities of independence and stronger voices with which to shout. Ironically, this novel--and all of Toer's work--is banned in his native Malaysia. David Cline --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140256334
• ISBN-13: 978-0140256338
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indonesia, not Malaysia, May 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Child of All Nations (Buru Quartet) (Paperback)

I want to correct a serious error in the last sentence of the first review posted on this page. It says that Toer's books "are banned in his native MALAYSIA." This is not the correct country. Toer is a native of INDONESIA, and the Buru quartet chronicles the emotional, political and social emergence of that nation. I met the author when I had the opportunity to translate for him during his trip to the US in 1999 -- I strongly feel that he would want people to know that his country is Indonesia!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly this earth of mankind, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Child of All Nations (Buru Quartet) (Paperback)

This follow-on tale from This Earth of Mankind has some interesting stories woven throughout -- for instance the tale of the young maiden who willingly contracts smallpox to avoid a life of shame as a concubine. However, the book lacks the momentum (and uniqueness) of his first novel. It also lacks subtlty and tends to be somewhat preachy. In this book the reader gets beaten over the head mercilessly in contrast to the gentle pats from This Earth. It just wasn't as fun. That said, it still has some interesting angles on a life and culture so very foreign to a turn-of-the-21st century American. And it has some poignant fragments, particularly those insights on the life of Minke's strong-willed concubine mother-in-law. It's still worth reading even though it's not of This Earth. I'm looking forward to Footsteps.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone interested in colonial history, June 9, 1999

By 

Prijono Hardjowirogo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of All Nations (Buru Quartet) (Paperback)

Pramoedya's ability to illustrate the conflicts among the pure Javanese natives, half-breed Indos, and the Dutch colonialist masters is nothing short of phenomenal. The rights of the natives proved to be meaningless when it came face to face against the greeds of the colonial masters.