This Earth of Mankind

This is an Indonesian classic, and it's about time I read this!

Having already already watched the 2019 film adaptation featuring Iqbaal Ramadhan an Mawar Eva De Jongh, I'm already familiar with the storyline. However, reading the book was an even better experience because I got to really immerse myself in the story, including all the details that were left out in the film.

I thought the book was great. At its core, it's a political novel, and it serves as a great insight into what life might have been like as a Native in the Dutch East Indies back in the late 1800s. It's quite interesting because as I'm reading this in the 21st century, I realize that my life is vastly different from life back then (e.g. the Dutch no longer rule in the East Indies and Indonesia has become an independent country), and yet, in many ways life is still the same (e.g. the Western world still “rules” Asia and the repercussions of colonialism are still felt).

The main character, Mike, is a Native. Yet unlike most Natives, he lives a very privileged life and attends HBS (Hogere Burgerschool), an elite school even for Europeans and Indos. In a way, he's straddled between two worlds: Natives and Europeans, and doesn't quite fit in either. As someone who is Indonesian but has lived in “Western world” for the past 10 years now, I could really relate to this aspect of the story.

One of my favorite characters in the story is Nyai Ontosoroh, the concubine of a wealthy Dutch man. The fact that most Native women at that time did not receive an education, combined with the fact that as a concubine she constantly faced shame and ridicule makes it even more incredible that throughout the book she continuously shows how smart, wise and strong she is. This makes it even more annoying how Nyai Ontosoroh's own daughter, Annelies Mellema is depicted as such a weak woman. In fact, she's described as a “doll” multiple times throughout the book. I just don't get it.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to pick up the next one!