The Mute's Soliloquy

In 1965, Pramoedya Ananta Toer was a hero of the Indonesian revolution and widely regarded as one of the best writers the country had ever produced. That year, however, as Indonesia embarked on a period of intense social unrest, Pramoedya and tens of thousands of others were detained and eventually exiled to the remote island of Buru. Imprisoned on Buru for eleven years without trial or formal accusation, Pramoedya and his fellow prisoners were forced to clear dense tracts of jungle, build camps, and forage for food. They died by the hundreds of starvation, brutality, and disease. Whether he is narrating the story of a fellow prisoner, remembering the dead and the missing, discussing what is means to be a citizen, or giving advise to his children in letters he knew they would never receive, Pramoedya's courage, integrity, and commitment to social justice are in powerful evidence.