Minke is a young Javanese student of great intelligence, sensitivy and ambition. Living equally among the colonists and colonized of 19th-century Java, he battles against the confines of colonial strictures. It is his love for Annelies that enables him to find the strength to embrace his world.

This remarkable tale, the first in the Buru Quartet. Was originally recited orally by Indonesia political prisoner Pramoedya Ananta Toer to his fellow in daily installments.