BOOK REPORT: This Earth of Mankind (The Buru Quartet Book #1) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Title:                                This Earth of Mankind

Author:                             Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Original Copyright :       1975

Translator :                     Max Lane

Translation Copyright:  1990

My Rating:     4 out of 5 stars  ( powerful )

Back Cover Description

Minke is a young Javanese student of great intelligence, sensitivity and ambition. Living equally among the colonists and colonized of late nineteen-century Java, he battles against the confines of colonial strictures.  The son of a noble Javanese, he moves easily among the Dutch and their ideas and language bu is prevented from enjoying their rights. He also falls desperately in love with the beautiful Indo-European Annelies, and it is through her and her extraordinary family that Minke finds the strength to embrace his world- the world of Indonesia -- and all its beauty and possibility , brutality and anger.

This remarkable tale, the first in the Buru Quartet, was originally recited orally by Indonesian political prisoner Pramoedya Ananta Toer to his fellow cellmates in daily installments.

My Thoughts

I always find books that provide a glimpse into other cultures interesting, especially non-European cultures, and This Earth of Mankind was no different.  I can't say I knew much about Indonesia beyond where it was on a map, that is made up of thousands of islands, and that it is predominantly Muslim.  I didn't even realize that Indonesia was under Dutch colonial rule for close to  three-hundred and fifty years, ending just AFTER World War II.  This Earth of Mankind is the first of four books in the "Buru Quartet" and takes place in the late 1890's when the age of Indonesian enlightenment as Toer called it was in its infancy.

Throughout the book, I was overwhelmed by the complexity of social rankings at play in Dutch Indies.  There were "pure-blood" Europeans who were at the top of the totem pole, "Indos" which are mixed race, then "Natives", then the Malay and Chinese immigrants at the bottom.  Just as I thought I would get a handle of the general social dynamics another layer would be added.   

Our main character, Minke, is a Native who is the grandson of  a high-level native government official.  This entitles Minke to be one of the few natives which may attend a European school to get a European education.  Minke is trying to be a progressive, forward thinking Javanese native caught between two worlds.  The European teachers see him has stepping stone to a self sustaining Indonesia, however, to the Dutch government officials he is no better than any other native.  To his own people he is an outcast as they see him abandoning their native culture to become one of "them".

P.A. Toer puts This Earth of Mankind's  foundation in Minke's alien social status and pairs him up with his love interest, an Indo girl named Annelies.  Toer glues together a wonderful story of the tangled web of a budding love between Minke and Annelies, the daughter of a strong-willed, self educated native concubine who is determined to make something of her life, and her drunken absentee Dutch official father.  Weave in her jealous sibling Robert, Minke's own strict family,  a french painter with one leg, and a man only known as "Fatso" and This Earth of Mankind becomes a great, readable, and eye-opening novel.

Even though this book didn't end on the highest of notes, it did end with hope.  I will definitely be picking up the remaining books of this series to follow Minke on his road to enlightenment.

BOOK REPORT: The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell

Title:                           The Sparrow

Author:                        Mary Doria Russell

Copyright Date:         1997

My Rating:     4 out of 5 stars  ( interesting)

Back-cover Description

There isn't a true back-cover description, but a collection of review quotes which give the outline of the story.  I've removed the opinion sections of the review quotes.

"If you have to send a group of people to a newly discovered planet to contact a totally unknown species, whom would you choose? How about four Jesuit priests, a young astronomer, a physician, her engineer husband, and a child prostitute turned computer expert? That's who Mary Doria Russell sends in her new novel, The Sparrow. This motley combination of agnostics, true believers, and misfits becomes the first to explore the Alpha Centuri world of Rakhat with both enlightening and disastrous results ... < review wrap-up > "

"<intro to review> Father Emilio Sandoz [is] the only survivor of a Jesuit mission to the planet of Rakhat, 'a soul ... looking for God.' We first meet him in Italy ... sullen and bitter.... But he was not always this way, as we learn through flashbacks that tell the story of the ill-fated trip.. < review wrap-up>"

My Thoughts

The Sparrow was an interesting book in both story and construction.  The storyline kept me engaged with a good mixture of well-developed characters, meaningful dialog, well-timed drama and just a bit of suspense.  

I was most impressed with the anthropological aspects of the alien creatures in The Sparrow.   The same attention to detail provided for the human characters was also applied to the aliens and their world. The only issue I had was the seemingly shoe-horned in personality flaws of the aliens to set up the climax, but it was fairly easy to look over that and appreciate Mary Doria Russell's alien Rakhat. 

Mary Doria Russell builds the elaborate story from both ends, constantly swinging from the year 2016 before the mission started and characters are introduced, to 40 earth years later in the aftermath. Each time the pendulum swung,  it would inch its way towards the climax of the story which occurs roughly halfway through if told chronologically.  Although much is known about the tragic outcome of the mission to Rakhat, Father Sandoz's physical and mental state only help to provide mystery and suspense to the story of the trip to the planet with three suns.  

I would categorize this book as theological science-fiction, however, the theology isn't preachy.  The character's individual faiths are used as a lens through which we see them, but it isn't imposing, which I liked. There are occasional interesting theological debates between the characters, and not just between the atheist and the priest, but even between characters of the "same faith".  However, these debates are not the central narrative motivator. 

However, The Sparrow isn't without flaws. I did find some of the characters shallow in construction.  In general, the Jesuit Priests had character and depth, especially Sandoz.  Mary Doria Russell obviously put a lot of thought and detail into each characters lives, which made two of the characters stick out from the rest; the idealistic genius married couple.  The wife is both a cultural anthropologist and medical doctor and the husband is a retired engineer who can build anything.  They live in an ideal equal-footing marriage in which each is one-hundred percent supportive of every twinkle in their morally superior thoughts, words and deeds.  The couple was welcoming, warm, and happy to entertain any and all guests, and can make anyone laugh at any time.  I wanted to strangle them at times. Did I mention they were the atheist/agnostics of the group? I couldn't help but think they were written that way to help balance the theological debates about the goodness of man and the role in which religion plays in keeping humans from turning into violent hedonists. 

Character flaws aside, The Sparrow was a really good book with only a few minor glitches that prevent this from being rated higher.  I would recommend this to most anyone looking for and entertaining read with some human depth.