Ups & Downs of Life in the Indies

by P.A. Daum

On the steamy island of Java are two adjacent plantations, one run by the Uhlstra family and the other by Geber, a bachelor who wants to cash in his investment in order to return to Europe by selling his plantation to his neighbor. But the gruesome murder of his estate manager Josef and the torching of Josef's house, followed by the arrival of troops to guard it, drastically reduce the plantation's value. The spiraling series of events that follows leads, ultimately, to tragedy.

Genres: Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Paulus Adrianus (Paul Adriaan) Daum, publicerend als P.A. Daum of onder het pseudoniem Maurits, was een Nederlandse journalist, toneelschrijver en romanschrijver. Zijn meest gelezen werken zijn de romans Uit de suiker in de tabak en Goena-Goena.

Reviews

[Ad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by one of the most realistic colonial authors of his time, this naturalistic novel presents a vivid portrait of colonial life on the island of Java in the late nineteenth-century. P.A. Daum (1850-98) was editor of popular newspaper in central Java. In 1883 he began to write novels under the pseudonym "Maurits" and serialized them in his paper. Over a ten year period he produced ten novels, all of them written in unadorned style and concerned with the vicissitudes of Dutch colonial life. His work is known for its direct style, sense of humor, and psychological portraiture. He is a perceptive observer with an eye for detail and a fine ear for the rhythms of speech in the East Indies.

On the steamy island of Java are two adjacent plantations, one run by the Uhlstra family and the other by Geber, a bachelor who wants to cash in his investment in order to return to Europe by selling his plantation to his neighbor. But the gruesome murder of his estate manager Josef and the torching of Josef's house, followed by the arrival of troops to guard it, drastically reduce the plantation's value. The spiraling series of events that follows leads ultimately to tragedy.

[Mikael · Rating 3 out of 5]

em beekman the editor of this series said in his intro that pa daum wrote many books and in many of them he used/imitated the mongrel dutch of the indies the spelling the structure the vocab everything but this book is the most conventional out of them all when it comes to language and is the one he chose to translate because all the others would be lost in traduction etc but man if only i could read dutch!