The Black Lake

This book was recommended to me by a Dutchie — apparently it's commonly assigned as reading material for children in the Dutch education system.

I really enjoyed this book, it's short, captivating, and gives you a glimpse of what life was like in the Dutch East Indies. It may not be an easy read though, as it explores some difficult topics: racism, and colonialism. As an Indonesian, I thought it was interesting how the book was written from the perspective of a Dutch person (and also written by a Dutch author, albeit one who grew up in Batavia during the colonial times). The main protagonist (the unnamed Dutch boy) seemed to be unaware of all the things happening around him with regards to the revolution and fight for independence, and I think it would have been interesting to read about the story from the perspective of Oeroeg, the native boy whom he befriends.

Not sure if this book is for everyone; it might be confusing to readers who don't know much about the colonial history of Indonesia and The Netherlands, but overall, I liked it.