Child of All Nations (Buru Quartet , Vol 2)

Rating:
Summary: Pleasing
Review: "Child of All Nations" is excellent reading for those interested in history, more specifically, the history of the Dutch East Indies. The reason I gave this novel four stars, however, and not five is because with all the historical references in the novel, it masks the underlying plot and also does not allow the reader to connect personally with the characters. The writing style in this novel, like it's predisessor,"This Earth of Mankind," is impressional, and moving.The message in the story is also very moving. The novel makes you think and helps the reader come to understand humanity more effeciently than they did before reading the novel. This set of novels (The Buru Quartet) are a comprised collection of intellectually stimulating and touching peice of literature.

Rating:
Summary: Pleasing
Review: "Child of All Nations" is excellent reading for those interested in history, more specifically, the history of the Dutch East Indies. The reason I gave this novel four stars, however, and not five is because with all the historical references in the novel, it masks the underlying plot and also does not allow the reader to connect personally with the characters. The writing style in this novel, like it's predisessor,"This Earth of Mankind," is impressional, and moving.The message in the story is also very moving. The novel makes you think and helps the reader come to understand humanity more effeciently than they did before reading the novel. This set of novels (The Buru Quartet) are a comprised collection of intellectually stimulating and touching peice of literature.

Rating:
Summary: Insight into A troubling time
Review: I love this book. The language, struggles and emotional conflicts allow the reader to visualize the time and be move by the story page by page. Pramoedya Ananta Toer is a great writer and I would recommend him to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly this earth of mankind
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Thank's Jody
Review: Sorry, being so late, but you've done the job. The writer of this book, twice nominator for Nobel Prize, the victim of Buru exilement--without trial, the so called communist by Soeharto regime--but widely known as humanist is an Indonesian. So, read geography. Read history. I am--uhmmm--insulted, (a little bit) by such LITTLE ignorance.

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly this earth of mankind
Review: 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.