P.A. Daum lived and worked in nineteenth-century Batavia (present-day Jakarta) as a journalist, newspaper editor and novelist. Between 1883 and 1894 he published ten novels, initially as serials in his own newspaper. His writing was inspired by the ideas of Emile Zola and the stories of Rudyard Kipling (which he translated into Dutch). Under their influence, Daum became the first naturalist novelist in Dutch literature, writing about everyday life in the tropical decor of colonial Java.


Daum’s novels paint a harshly realistic and often unflattering portrait of the Europeans lording it over the colonial society of the Dutch East Indies in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the good old days known as tempo dulu. There are many ‘ups’ to life in the Indies — the luxurious lifestyle of pampered colonialists; the incredible fortunes that sugar and tobacco planters could make; the gambling, drinking and womanizing in the clubs. But there are as many depressing ‘downs’ — the monotony of life in the interior; the isolation, despair and demoralization of these colonials; their eccentricity, madness and degeneration, and their pervasive sense of disillusionment.


Daum’s Ups and Downs was first published as a serial in 1890. Two years later it came out in book form, in two volumes, of which only the first has been translated into English. It evokes the social world of the rich Dutch landowners and businessmen, their wives and families, their affairs, gossip and taboos. The novel fittingly ends with its protagonist’s descent into depression and eventual suicide.

He had prepared everything.

His letters to the kongsi with his final accounts, calculations and statements; his letter to Rose, simple with a casual word of apology and a reference to fatalism; and one to his lawyer for the settlement of his affairs.

He had put everything in order and written it all in his room during the evenings, by the pleasant light of the big office lamp over his large old-fashioned desk. It was so peaceful and quiet! A powerful feeling of rest and relaxation came over him, as if a hand that usually held him fast had opened and let him go, giving him a feeling of wonderful relief.

He had fixed a date. Rose would deliver her second child, which would go well according to all calculations. Her mother, of course, would come to «take care» of the housekeeping in the beginning, and then a date would be set for Mrs. Uhlstra’s return. Rose would be better then, and when that day came, it was his. (p. 188, tr. D. & E. Sturtevant)