The Black Lake

This book is a slow burn. It has stayed in my mind, and the more I think about it the better it seems. It's a sort of parable: the Dutch narrator, who relates his memories of the Indonesian best friend of his boyhood, Oeroeg, could stand in for all colonists in his lack of self-awareness, his insouciance, his inability to recognize or comprehend the differences in social status between the two of them. Oeroeg, burning with an anger that the narrator fails to recognize, could represent all Indonesians, or indeed all colonized people. The course of events, as the narrator bumbles through his friendship, smashing Oeroeg's life apart and taking no responsibility for the events or Oeroeg's resulting anger and alienation, feels inevitable; show more the only person surprised is the narrator himself. It's beautifully understated. Haasse makes us work a little for our understanding of her themes, even to the point of wondering whether what I got from the book is really what she meant. I think it is. I think this short novel is crafted with such subtle genius that Haasse guides us smoothly to her intended conclusions while allowing us to believe we've come to them on our own.

This is a condensed version of a longer review on my blog, Around the World in 2000 Books. show less

READ IN DUTCH

12 nov 2009
Ik was vanmiddag ziek thuis en besloot toen om Oeroeg, van de actie Nederland Leest, maar eens te gaan lezen. Het boek is heel dun, zo'n 100 pagina's, en dat verklaart waarschijnlijk waarom het zo populair is bij middelbare scholieren. Ik heb met dit boek mijn middag opgefleurd. Het verhaal gaat over een Nederlandse jongen in Indonesie, ten tijde van Nederlands-Indie, die opgroeit met zijn Indonesische vriend Oeroeg, een vriendschap die mij deed denken aan de Vliegeraar. In het begin moest ik even wennen aan haar schrijfstijl en sommige zinnen even opnieuw lezen om ze goed mee te krijgen. Na een aantal pagina's ging dat al een stuk makkelijker en vanaf toen vond ik dat het makkelijk wegleest. Het vriendschap in show more het verhaal is gedoemd te mislukken, zo laat de eerste zin van het boek 'Oeroeg was mijn vriend.' al zien. Desondanks is het interessant om te lezen hoe het zich precies ontwikkeld en je voelt hoe de vriendschap langzaam maar zeker ten onder gaat. Het einde van het verhaal vond ik misschien een beetje te ver gezocht - hoe groot is de kans dat hij hem net daar tegenkomt? -, maar het is wel een mooi einde voor het boek. Misschien een beetje opmerkelijk, maar toen ik op TV zag dat het eerste boek van Nederland Leest werd uitgereikt, had ik het mijne al bijna een week daarvoor gekregen tijdens mijn Nederlands proefwerk?! show less

A short account of two boys growing up in colonial Indonesia. Told from the perspective of the naive Dutch boy as he grows apart from his Indonesian friend, mirroring the separation of Indonesia in the early stages of its independence movment. Sparsely written, the few pages cover manage to cover many years and well evoke the heat of both place and simmering social tensions.

Originally published in Haasse’s native Dutch as Oeroeg in 1948, this novel has classic status in the Netherlands but seems to be comparatively unknown among English-speaking readers. Without knowing any of that, I bought it three years ago in a translation by Ina Rilke and have only just got round to reading it, discovering a short but poignant novel that explores the consequences of Dutch colonialism in what is now Indonesia. Haasse herself was born in Batavia (now Jakarta) and so her tale has a ring of authenticity about it, as it follows the friendship of two boys: one the son of a wealthy Dutch plantation owner in Java; the other, the son of the estate’s Indonesian manager...

For the full review, please see my blog:
show more target="_top">https://theidlewoman.net/2018/03/25/the-black-lake-hella-haasse/ show less

The story of a Dutch boy, born on a tea plantation on Java, and his friendship with the son of one of Indonesian staff. The book tells the story of them growing up together, from the point of view of the Dutch boy. He doesn't realize how different society, both the white and Indonesian, treats them. They go to separate schools, have different career options, and slowly grow apart. They relate to each other less and less, while in the background Indonesians want to become independent from the Dutch. Short but very nice book.

This novella conveys the carefree days of friendship between a Dutch boy, based in Java with his family, and his childhood friend, Oeroeg, a native of the island. (Java is one of the larger islands of Indonesia.) As children, the boys revel in the rich forests and vast lakes daily but, as they mature, the gulf between them widens as a result of their distinct backgrounds – one is the son of a land owner; the other the son of a servant. A fairly good read.

This novel is narrated by a son of a Dutch tea plantation owner in Java, whose friendship with the son of the family's native servants, Oeroeg, is the defining feature of his childhood and youth. Novella-length, this was a quick read.