Voltaire "Candide"

Voltaire "Candide, or Optimism" (French: Candide, ou l'Optimisme) - 1759

For the Classics Spin #35, we received #2 and this was my novel.

An interesting take on the Age of Enlightenment.

Candide is a young guy who lives in Germany. He falls in love with a girl but is prevented from marrying her because of her parents. He learns the philosophy "All is for the Best" and travels around the world with this belief.

He probably encounters as many troubles as Homer's Odysseus in the "Odyssey" and solves them almost with the same vigour.

The novel promises to be funny and indeed it is. I have laughed quite a few times during the reading. How can a book be funny and philosophical at the same time? I'm not surprised Voltaire is still such a renowned author even more than two centuries later. I am really happy #2 was pulled for this challenge because I really enjoyed the story.

This novel reminded me a little of Eichendorff's "Life of a Good For Nothing", although it should be the other way around since this one was written earlier. Other than the German novel, I could see more philosophy in this book.

From the back cover:

"Candide tells of the hilarious adventures of the naïve Candide, who doggedly believes that 'all is for the best' even when faced with injustice, suffering, and despair. Controversial and entertaining, Candide is a book that is vitally relevant today in our world pervaded by - as Candide would say - 'the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well.'"

Menasse, Robert "The Capital"

Menasse, Robert "The Capital" (German: Die Hauptstadt) - 2017

I have lived in Brussels forty years ago and met my husband there. We have been back there at least once every year, most often more times. However, when my son found a job there, I realized that I have read very little about Belgium and nothing about Brussels itself. So, I went and searched some literature. This one received the German Book Prize in 2017 and was praised internationally. It is mentioned that it is the first book where Brussels is called the European capital. We have always called it that.

The book tells us about several officials from the Department of Culture and their jobs. The characters are as international as any of the offices of the European Union, they are from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, and the UK.

There is also a crime story for those who love that in a book. To be honest, I have no idea why that is needed for the story especially since it doesn't really have anything to do with the main story. The protagonists are mainly officials who work for the EU and try to accomplish something, mostly their promotion. We meet bureaucrats, experts, lobbyists … It shows how the different interests within the EU have to be considered for many events, laws, regulations. Not an easy task as we all know. Yet, we all benefit from our countries being a member of this large union - even if some don't want to see that.

One of the stories within this chunky book is the plan to celebrate the 50 year anniversary with a big jubilee project and how to arrange this so that everyone is happy about the outcome. We see the difficulty of reaching a European consensus and still have every state participate in the result.

Oh, and there is a pig. One of the introductions to the book is: "The threads come together in Brussels - and a pig runs through the streets." Again, not really necessary for the story.

But what makes this story worth reading is the message it brings us about the European Union. It is one of the most important organizations we have ever been part of. It has united many countries that were enemies before, brought us not only prosperity but peace for the longest time anyone can ever remember. Just for that, I think this book is significant.

From the back cover:

"Brussels. A panorama of tragic heroes, manipulative losers, involuntary accomplices. In his new novel, Robert Menasse spans a narrative arc between the times, the nations, the inevitable and the irony of fate, between petty bureaucracy and big emotions.

Fenia Xenapoulou is facing a career setback. She has been 'promoted' to the Department of Culture by the Directorate General - no budget, no power, no reputation. So the 'Big Jubilee Project' comes just at the right time for her: she is to revamp the boring image of the European Commission. Her Austrian personal assistant Martin Susmann suggests proclaiming Auschwitz as the birthplace of the European Commission. Fenia is thrilled, but she didn't take the other European nations into account. Austria: a Polish camp could not be misused to question the Austrian nation. Poland: Auschwitz is a German problem. Germany: Islam, by now a part of Germany, had nothing to do with Auschwitz. What's more, Fenia can't count on David de Vriend, one of the last living witnesses, any longer: he runs to the metro station Maalbeek at the wrong time.

Inspector Brunfaut is in a difficult situation as well. He is supposed to leave a murder case covered up at the highest level at rest. But luckily he is friends with the chief computer scientists of the Brussels Police Department, who can gain access to the secret files of the public prosecutor's office. Matek, the Polish hitman, knows nothing of this when he makes his escape. But he does know that he shot the wrong guy. That’s not nothing to Matek. He would rather have become ordained a priest; the fact that he had to follow his father's and grandfather's footsteps in becoming a 'soldier of Christ', doesn’t really make him happy. And yes, there are others who are unhappy as well: the pig farmers who take to the streets with pitchforks in protest of the existing trade restrictions blocking the profitable export of pigs' ears to China."

't Hart, Maarten "The raging of the whole world"

't Hart, Maarten "The fury/rage/raging of the whole world" (Dutch: Het woeden der gehele wereld) - 1993

The title translates as "The fury/rage/raging of the whole world" and is derived from the text of the poem "Au bord de l'eau" by Sully Prudhomme, set to music by Gabriel Fauré.

I don't often review books that have not been translated into English. Why this one wasn't? I have no idea! But I read it as part of the Xanadu Reading Challenge 2021: a book in a language with which you are familiar, but don’t read in very often, if at all. I dug through my TBR pile for Dutch books and there was this one, presenting itself: Read Me, Read Me, Read Me! So I did.

This is a very well written novel with a lot of humour in it but also a lot of understanding for the people of the time, the people that were hunted by the Nazis (including a lot of Dutch people who stood by) as well as those that were "on the wrong side" or just "wrong", as he calls them or as they are called in the Netherlands. Whilst the story doesn't take place during WWII, the events in this novel are sequences thereof. As a lot of the stories of the second half of the last century are. Especially the Dutch ones.

Alexander, the protagonist, tells his life story from the perspective of a 50-year-old. He tells about his youth in a small town as the son of a rag dealer whose main goal in life was saving. His big love is music and he manages, despite many obstacles, to make it his profession. When he is twelve, he witnesses a murder and the fear to be killed by the same person accompanies him for the rest of his life. Of course, he tries to find out who is behind all this and that's what this book is about, mainly. But it also is about music and life in a small town and growing up and and and.

I was more than positively surprised about this book because I read another book by the same author (The Sundial) and was totally bored. That's probably the reason I had this one on my TBR pile for so long because I didn't fancy reading another novel by the same author. My, was I wrong!

From the back cover (translated from Dutch):

"Het woeden der gehele wereld/The Rage of the Whole World focuses on the eventful youth of Alexander Goudveyl. The history of Alexander's youth in the fifties and sixties is also the history of a murder case that has never been resolved: in 1956, just before Christmas in Maassluis, a police officer was shot dead in broad daylight.

Het woeden der gehele wereld/The Rage of the Whole World is an exciting novel that grips the reader until the last page. An international bestseller that was awarded the Gouden Strop in 1994."

The Gouden Strop (i.e. 'Golden Noose') is a Dutch prize for the best crime novel, awarded annually.

Booth, Cathleen "Mercy & Grace on the Camino de Santiago"

Booth, Cathleen "Mercy & Grace on the Camino de Santiago" - 2020

"Sometimes it’s doing the thing that terrifies you that really helps you grow."

Before I begin with the review and you wonder why I'm so fascinated by this story, the author is a friend of mine. (Although, having said that, you probably won't wonder because she is a great storyteller.) For years, we've been attending the same church and since our birthdays are only a couple of days apart, we've been enjoying a coffee or lunch together in between. I have taught not just her daughter Madeleine in RE but also the other girls that walked the Camino with them. And my whole family knows all of the "Eleven Amigos", as the group called themselves (great name, by the way) and their families. They are some of the loveliest people I have ever met in my life and reading about their experience was so wonderful for me. Thank you, Cathleen, for including me in this trip in this unique way. I know I can't give you enough credit with my humble review but I hope it will instigate a few people to read the book.

And here I am right in the middle of it. I am sure anyone who reads this book must feel the same, whether you know the pilgrims or not. I knew Cathleen could write since she had written a personal blog for years (much more personal than my book blog).

In her prologue, she tells us how the idea started, how she wanted to go but was too afraid. I totally understand, I would have been, as well. Actually, I am, that's why I never went even though I know a lot of people who did. But with my back problems, I couldn't even do a quarter let alone half the walks they did, even without a backpack or "mochila". No, that train has left.

But here I am with Cathleen and her friends, listening to (or rather reading about) them as they plan and prepare their trip, as they meet to drive to the airport, as they join the next members somewhere between here and Santander. We hear about the first dinner, the first night in one of the albergues, the first breakfast. They leave the hostel every morning and walk for a while before settling down for breakfast in one of the many cafés along the way.

Their walks tend to be between twenty and thirty kilometres. Hats off, Cathleen and friends. Even though you seem to be at the end of your tether from time to time, you soldier on and don't lose sight of your goal. Together you are strong. I am also grateful that Cathleen belongs to the slower part of the group because that's where I always end up. Makes it more authentic for me.

They meet a lot of lovely people along the way. I have always heard that from anyone who walked the Camino. If you're on that way, everyone is your friend. How lovely to tackle this in such a wonderful community.

There are many wonderful stories in the book about companionship, soul-searching, finding your way to yourself and to God but there are also some hilarious stories, as well. No wonder, when Cathleen and Lila (the friend who invited her to the trip) are together. I remember having been told many of them eye-to-eye, so reading about them makes it almost as if they were here.

I know all the kids have made it into adulthood and listening to their parents they have become just as wonderful adults as they were children. Well done, everyone.

But thank you, Cathleen, for this wonderful report about your Camino. We all can learn from your big heart.

You can find more information (and more pictures) on her website.

I always enjoy reading about other parts of the world and get to know them but I also love reading about the parts that I know. And here, not only did I know all the members of the group, I also know the area where Cathleen lived (as we can see in her pictures in "Training Days", I was also there when our friend Maria showed her pictures in church which was when many of us heard from someone who had experienced the pilgrim themselves.

I also loved that Jim Forrest, another author I highly admire, wrote the introduction.

I have read another book about someone on the Camino de Santiago, German humourist Hape Kerkeling. Also, a great story about someone whose life changed after doing this spiritual journey.
Kerkeling, Hape "I'm off then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago" (German: Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg). I think, the fact that his account has been translated into English says it all.

From the back cover:

"'Sometimes it’s doing the thing that terrifies you that really helps you grow.'
These words, spoken in love by a friend, motivated 300-pound Cathleen Booth off her couch and onto the Camino de Santiago. Cathleen’s physical limitations quickly shattered any illusions of self-sufficiency and pride. On a muddy mountainside in Spain - at her most vulnerable - Cathleen would experience from her friend a self-sacrificial love that would ultimately change her from the inside out. Equal parts humor, humility, and heart, Mercy & Grace on the Camino de Santiago invites the reader on a deeply intimate and human spiritual journey."

And if you want to know about Cathleen's sense of humour, Mercy and Grace is what she called her walking boots.

Benali, Abdelkader "Wedding by the Sea"

Benali, Abdelkader "Wedding by the Sea" (Dutch: Bruiloft aan zee) - 1996

A weird book. I chose it because it's written by a Dutch author with Moroccan origin and I thought it might be interesting. He received the Best Literary Debut Prize in the Netherlands for this and was shortlisted for the Libris Literatuur Prijs which is like the Booker Prize.

Anyway, the story itself is interesting but the author swerves from one topic to another without any lines that you can follow. I thought it might be more a story of Moroccans in the Netherlands rather than what it was, someone growing up in the Netherlands seeing life in Morocco from the outside. Again, not a bad subject but the author didn't manage to capture me. A confusing story with an even more confusing end.

From the back cover:

"Twenty-year-old Lamarat Minar returns home from Holland to a deserted seaside village in Morocco for his sister Rebekka's wedding. During the festivities, he discovers that the groom has made his escape - to the local brothel, 'Lolita'.

Lamarat is given the task of retrieving Mosa, the reluctant husband-to-be, and returning him to his waiting bride. With the help of know-all taxi driver Chalid, and after many U-turns, detours and hairpin bends, Lamarat finds Mosa, and drags hm back to the village by the sea where Rebekka is waiting to administer a sweet and gruesome revenge …"

Boom, Corrie "The Hiding Place"

Boom, Corrie ten with Sherrill, John and Elizabeth "The Hiding Place. The Triumphant Story of Corrie Ten Boom" (De Schuilplaats) - 1972

If you have read Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl", you should also read this book. It's the story of a family who was hiding people like the Frank family and what happened to them.

How someone can watch these atrocities - both on the side of the enemy and of those of your own people - and still stay so positive, believe there is a meaning to all this ... that's beyond me. I am grateful that these kind of people exist and would hope that I'd react the same way when I would have to make the decision.

In any case, the ten Boom family was part of the Dutch Underground. They hid anyone who needed help, mostly Jews, and helped them leaving the country.

I especially liked the father who was such a model for his family. Here is a quote that shows it all:
"Father held the baby close, his white beard brushed its cheek, looking into the little face with eyes as blue and innocent as the baby's own. At last he looked up at the pastor. 'You say we could lose our lives for this child. I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family.'"

Another quote I would like to talk about:
"Strangely enough, it was not the Germans or the Japanese that people had most trouble forgiving; it was their fellow Dutchmen who had sided with the enemy."
I do understand that. A lot of the Germans or Japanese had no choice but these people had betrayed their own. Mind you, after having lived in the Netherlands for almost nineteen years now, I disagree that they were all so forgiving of the Germans, there are plenty around who still haven't forgotten.

It was quite interesting to see how they built the hiding place, how they managed to put another room into a house without anyone noticing.

Granted, the book is quite religious, Corrie ten Boom and her family were Calvinists and belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church which was very strict and very conservative. But that was part of their reason for doing what they did. In any case, the book is totally worth reading.

From the back cover:

"Corrie ten Boom stood naked with her older sister Betsie, watching a concentration camp matron beating a prisoner.' Oh, the poor woman,' Corrie cried. 'Yes. May God forgive her,' Betsie replied. And, once again, Corrie realized that it was for the souls of the brutal Nazi guards that her sister prayed. Here is a book aglow with the glory of God and the courage of a quiet Christian spinster whose life was transformed by it. A story of Christ's message and the courageous woman who listened and lived to pass it along -- with joy and triumph!"

McLeod, Cynthia "The Cost of Sugar"

McLeod, Cynthia "The Cost of Sugar" (Dutch: Hoe duur was de suiker) - 1987

Cynthia McLeod is probably not much known internationally but her books have been translated into English. Being born in Paramaribo, Suriname, she writes in Duch.

This story tells us all about life in that country in the 18th century. It starts with Elza and Sarith, two half-sisters who have grown up with all the comfort and convenience of slave holders from that time. But we don't just get to know the slave holders, we also get a good glimpse of the slaves and how they live together with their masters, some kind, others not so much. A lot of the plantation owners are Jewish and that is also causes problems. And then there are the Dutch who come to settle in the country.

The big question is not how much do people pay for the sugar in Europe, the question is how much did it cost to produce that sugar, how many lives are wasted in order for us to have sweet dishes. I think this is a question we still have to ask ourselves whenever we buy something cheap from other countries where workers are exploited so we can have a good life. And then there is the still existing question why some people think they are worth more or they are more intelligent because their skin is a little lighter than that of others. Those are the ones that are the less intelligent ones.

A lively, thrilling story, fascinating, sad and enthralling. I did enjoy reading this.

I read this book in the original Dutch language.

From the back cover:
"The Cost of Sugar is the historical story of Jewish family planters and their slaves in Suriname. Now a major motion picture, The Cost of Sugar gives an engrossing account of eighteenth century Suriname at the time when the country was ruled by the Dutch. The hypocrisies behind the veneer of a respectable colonial life are revealed through the eyes of two Jewish step sisters, Elza and Sarith, descendants of the settlers of New Jerusalem of the River' known today as Jodensavanne. Their pampered existences become intertwined with the fate of the plantations as the slaves decide to fight against the violent repression they have endured for too long... Cynthia McLeod presents a frank exposé of life in a Dutch colony when sugar was king and demanded the consummate allegiance of all - colonists and slaves - regardless of the tragic consequence."

Glasfurd, Guinevere "The Words in my Hand"

Glasfurd, Guinevere "The Words in my Hand" - 2016

A novel about the mother of René Descartes' daughter, a Dutch maid in the 17th century. Not badly written but also not really that challenging. I may have read too many books about this time so that there wasn't much that was new to me or it might just not have been the goal of the author to tell us about that kind of topic.

In any case, I didn't enjoy this very much. I meant to suggest it to my book club because we always look for stories about the Netherlands, contemporary or historical, but I know a few better ones that gives us more to talk about.

From the back cover:
"The Words in My Hand is the reimagined true story of Helena Jans, a Dutch maid in 17th century Amsterdam working for an English bookseller. One day a mysterious and reclusive lodger arrives - the Monsieur - who turns out to be René Descartes.
At first encounter the maid and the philosopher seem to have little in common, yet Helena yearns for knowledge and literacy - wanting to write so badly that she uses beetroot for ink and her body as paper.
And the philosopher, for all his learning, finds that it is Helena who reveals the surprise in the everyday world that surrounds him, as gradually their relationship deepens in a surprising story of love and learning."

Koch, Herman "The Dinner"

Koch, Herman "The Dinner" (Dutch: Het Diner) - 2009

Our latest book club read, a story about two couples going for dinner but everything seems to go wrong.

While this is a good book to discuss, I didn't actually enjoy it a lot. I didn't like any of the characters, well, I felt a little sorry for the wives but no, I really didn't like any of them. They were not just shallow, they were calculating, only out for their own gain. Another member said she got so angry but we did agree that it was a good book to talk about.

I enjoyed the description of the waiter, of the whole "star restaurant". I have been to a few restaurants like that myself where you seem to pay for the whole plate and therefore don't get much on it ... but everything is somehow "special". I rather go to a nice little restaurant that still cooks everything from fresh ingredients but also makes sure their customers don't leave their place with a hollow stomach.

I found the characters racist or fascist or whatever you might call people who just dislike someone for having less money than they do, Just the type of people I would not want to call my friends. Whatever happens, I don't want to spoil it for anyone like this, I would not do "anything" for my children out of love, I would like to keep them out of trouble before something happens.

The question is, do we want to live in a society determined by these kind of people?

The book has been made into a movie. I'm not sure whether I want to watch it.

We discussed this in our book club in November 2017.

From the back cover:

"A summer's evening in Amsterdam and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant. Between mouthfuls of food and over the delicate scraping of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of politeness - the banality of work, the triviality of holidays.

But the empty words hide a terrible conflict and, with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened... Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. Together, the boys have committed a horrifying act, caught on camera, and their grainy images have been beamed into living rooms across the nation; despite a police manhunt, the boys remain unidentified - by everyone except their parents.

As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children and, as civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love."

Laker, Rosalind "The Golden Tulip" - 1989

Laker, Rosalind "The Golden Tulip" - 1989

The members of our book club wanted to read something about the Netherlands, so I suggested this one that I had recently found.

Francesca is the daughter of a late 17th century Amsterdam painter and an aspiring painter herself. She begins an apprenticeship with a not so famous painter, later better known: Johannes Vermeer.

I had never heard of Rosalind Laker but when I checked what she had written, I wasn't surprised, most of the titles of her books sound like "threepenny novels" or rather chick lit to me.

However, this was a pleasant enough story about how life was in the 17th century, especially for women. Add a little bit of Dutch history, a little bit of art, and you have a story.

Not a bad story, certainly a book that can initiate a lot of talk.

We discussed this in our book club in March 2017.

From the back cover: "Francesca’s father is a well-known painter in the bustling port city of Amsterdam; he is also a gambler. Though their household is in economic chaos, thankfully the lessons she learned in his studio have prepared her to study with Johannes Vermeer, the master of Delft.

When she arrives to begin her apprenticeship, Francesca is stunned to find rules, written in her father’s hand, insisting that she give up the freedoms she once enjoyed at home- including her friendship with Pieter van Doorne, a tulip merchant. Unaware of a terrible bargain her father has made against her future, Francesca pursues her growing affection for Pieter even as she learns to paint like Vermeer, in layers of light. As her talent blooms, 'tulip mania' sweeps the land, and fortunes are being made on a single bulb. What seems like a boon for Pieter instead reveals the extent of the betrayal of Francesca’s father. And as the two learn the true nature of the obstacles in their path, a patron of Francesca’s father determines to do anything in his power to ensure she stays within the limits that have been set for her.

The Golden Tulip brings one of the most exciting periods of Dutch history alive, creating a page-turning novel that is as vivid and unforgettable as a Vermeer painting."

Other books I read on the same subject:

Chevalier, Tracy "Girl with a Pearl Earring" - 1999
Dash, Mike "Tulipomania: The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused" - 2000
Marini, Lorenzo "The Man of the Tulips" (Italian: L'uomo dei tulipani) - 2002
Moggach, Deborah "Tulip Fever" - 1999
Pavord, Anna "The Tulip" - 2004
Vreeland, Susan "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" 1999

Marini, Lorenzo "The Man of the Tulips"

Marini, Lorenzo "The Man of the Tulips" (Italian: L'uomo dei tulipani) - 2002

An interesting story about a flower painter in Amsterdam in the 17th century. The story itself is a love story but it also tells us a lot about life in the Netherlands at the time, the love and craziness for tulips about which I already read in Deborah Moggach's "Tulip Fever", "The Tulip" by Anna Pavord and another one by Mike Dash, Mike "Tulipomania: The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused".

Granted, they give you more information but if you want a book that doesn't concentrate fully on the tulips and the tulip craze but also read about the life in Amsterdam at the time, this might be a little easier to read than the two latter ones. "Tulip Fever" is also a novel.

From the back cover:

"The Man of the Tulips is a story lived four hundred years ago that could be lived again tomorrow in sixteenth century Holland, where a series of stories cross each other’s path and destiny, where in a century of observation, a group of characters, strange and eccentric, a parody of our amplified human defects, live their own adventures."

Multatuli "Max Havelaar"

Multatuli (Eduard Douwes Dekker) "Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company" (Dutch: Max Havelaar of de koffiveilingen der Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappy) - 1859

Eduard Douwes Dekker aka Multatuli should probably be called the Dutch Charles Dickens. At least, he's from the same era and is just as popular in the Netherlands as Dickens is in the United Kingdom.
His book seemed to have opened the eyes of many Dutch people at the time as to what colonialism really meant. "Max Havelaar" is also called "the book that killed colonialism" and was chosen as the most important book in Dutch literature in 2002.

There are other lists around in the meantime where it is still number three, following "The Discovery of Heaven" by Harry Mulisch and "The House of the Mosque" by Kader Abdolah, two very influential and important works I highly recommend.

The book is translated (not just) into English but I read it in the original Dutch. In any case, I think it still has a message for us today, it is as important now as it was then. It's subtitle "Or the Coffee Auctions of a Dutch Trading Company," does not really say a lot more about the book than just the plain title because it is a lot more about the life in Indonesia both for the local people as well as the colonialists back then than about the trading itself. It is a work about the oppression of Europeans over other nations, you can compare it to what we have done in Africa or even to slavery. The natives had no rights whatsoever and only worked to keep their own lives so they could create more money for their "masters". All sounds very familiar.

The author got his contemporaries thinking about what colonialism really meant. And he still has a voice today. Well done. Definitely a book worth picking up.

From the back cover:

"When Max Havelaar was first published in Holland in 1860, it ignited a major political and social brouhaha. The novel, written by a former official of the Dutch East Indian Civil Service under the pen name Multatuli, exposed the massive corruption and cruelty rife in the Dutch colony of Java. Max Havelaar is an undeniably autobiographical novel; like his hero, Multatuli--the pseudonym for Eduard Douwes Dekker--was an Assistant Resident of Lebak in Java; like Havelaar in the novel, he resigned his position when his accusations of corruption and abuse were disregarded by higher authorities, resulting in years of poverty for both author and fictional hero. Max Havelaar is told from several different perspectives; the reader first meets an Amsterdam coffee dealer named Droogstoppel, a man so obsessed with coffee that his every thought and action is governed by it. Droogstoppel has come by a manuscript from an old schoolmate who, down on his luck, has asked him to get it published. The schoolmate is Havelaar, and the manuscript relates his experiences as an idealistic and generous young civil servant who tries to protect the poor and bring justice to the powerless.

The central part of the novel details conditions in Java, particularly Havelaar's efforts to correct injustices in the face of a corrupt government system. That his efforts will prove futile soon becomes apparent, and there is something almost Greek in the inevitability of Havelaar's declining fortunes. Despite its tragic themes, Max Havelaar is savagely funny, particularly the chapters narrated by Droogstoppel, a character unmatched for his veniality, narrow-mindedness, or singular lack of understanding or imagination. Though Multatuli's masterpiece is nearly 150 years old, it wears its age well, and Roy Edwards's excellent translation offers English-speaking readers a wonderful opportunity to experience one of the Netherlands's great literary classics."

Burton, Jessie "The Miniaturist" - 2014

Burton, Jessie "The Miniaturist" - 2014

Fascinating story, gripping story. If you believe in magic, you should read this book. If you do not believe in magic but like historical fiction, you should also read this book. This is a great combination of both.

A novel about a family in the 17th century, a rich family in Amsterdam, a poor girl from the countryside who marries into the rich family. Having grown up in a village, I know women like Nella, the wife in the house has nothing to say, first there is the mother, then the sister and if and when they die before the wife, it's the kids.

But that is not the major part of the story, the book is full of secrets. I guessed the first secret quite early and knew there were more to come even before the first one was revealed. But it took me a little longer to guess what would happen next.

The author was inspired by the doll's house of a real life Petronella Oortman, a real life doll's house that can be visited in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. For a view of the house, click here.

But this is the only resemblance to our protagonist, the name and the fact that she owned a doll's house.

And this is what first drew me to the book, the doll's house. I saw the cover, read the description (which I always think is very important) and my decision was made. I wanted to read this novel.

Anyway, we meet a lot of interesting characters in the story, they have all been painted very well, the author has a great talent to describe the people outside and inside. And you almost feel like you live among them, you can see the streets of Amsterdam how they must have looked like more than 300 years ago.

I really liked this book. It is an easy read but still contains a lot of information, it is a mystery but has a great historical background.

I felt the whole time that this story should have been written in Dutch, I even caught myself rethinking the sentences in Dutch. This has never happened to me before which is probably a sign of how well the author managed to draw me into the story.

This is Jessie Burton's first novel. I am sure I will read her next one, should she decide to carry on writing. I hope so and wish her good luck.

We discussed this in our book club in March 2016.

From the back cover:

"On an autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives at a grand house in Amsterdam to begin her new life as the wife of wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. Though curiously distant, he presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift; a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations ring eerily true. 

As Nella uncovers the secrets of her new household, she realises the escalating dangers they face. The miniaturist seems to hold their fate in her hands - but does she plan to save or destroy them?"

Photo ABC

I am a member of a photo group where we get a prompt for every day and have to take an appropriate picture. Because we had the alphabet one month, I decided to do a book theme.

I always added either the link to my blog or to the books. I have decided to post a picture every week so my booky friends can enjoy them, as well.

D is for ... Dutch books. 

The Dutch have decided that this is their favourite book:
Harry Mulisch "De Ontdekking van de hemel" (The Discovery of Heaven)

All Dutch books I read and reviewed can be found here.

Green, John "The Fault in Our Stars"

Green, John "The Fault in Our Stars" - 2012

I am not normally into weepy, chick lit type stories. And even though this book was written by a guy, it had a very chick lit type feel to it, the colour of the cover, the description. And, as we know, the cover never lies.

Neither did it in this case. However, I have read so many quotes by John Green, I really admire the guy, so I wanted to give his book a try. I am glad I did. "The Fault in Our Stars" is a lovely story about a girl who suffers from cancer. Of course, we all expect her to die at the end but as in many of these stories, there is a twist in the end and we don't really know what happens to her in the long run.

This is not a book about cancer in the first place. Or about love in the first place. Or about teenagers. It is a good mixture between all of them. However, one has to consider that this is a story for young adults, not written for grown-ups in the first place. If you do that, you will enjoy the novel.

From the back cover:

"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."

Tartt, Donna "The Goldfinch"

Tartt, Donna "The Goldfinch" - 2013

I haven't read any of Donna Tartt's books before even though her name was known to me and her books turned up on different lists that I liked. So many books, so little time, that is my only excuse.

So, I was happy when my online Pulitzer Prize book club decided to read the latest award winner, this one, "The Goldfinch".

Apparently, it took the author seven years to write this enormous book, stretching over 770 pages in the hardcover and 880 in the paperback edition. For someone like me, who loves a chunky book, that is just the right size. It spans over two continents and more than a decade and describes the trials and tribulations of a boy who grows up under extraordinary conditions. The protagonist of this book is not just thirteen year old Theo Decker but also a painting by Carel Fabritius, a student of Rembrandt and teacher of Vermeer, quite a biography. This also makes it a great book about art and how to understand it but that is just a side effect. One of many.

The book is a wonderful account of friendship and endurance. But it isn't a "happy" book, lots of difficulties occur in Theo's life. It is as much a dark book as an uplifting one. As usual, I try not to give away too much about the contents of the novel but would like to encourage everyone to pick up this book and read it. It's worth it.

It is beautifully written, I really liked the language, it's a brilliant story with memorable characters, each and every one of them could have been the hero of the story and each and every one of them has quite an influence on Theo.

We also have almost every topic in this novel, family, friendship, love, hate, life, death, feelings, remorse, guilt, redemption, you name it, it's probably in it. What I especially liked was the philosophical side, the pondering about the meaning of life. I think that is what impressed me most.

Quotes from the book:
"But depression wasn't the word. This was a plunge encompassing sorrow and revulsion far beyond the personal: a sick, drenching nausea at all humanity and human endeavor from the dawn of time. The writhing loathsomeness of the biological order. Old age, sickness, death. No escape for anyone. Even the beautiful ones were like soft fruit about to spoil. And yet somehow people still kept fucking and breeding and popping out new fodder for the grave, producing more and more new beings to suffer like this was some kind of redemptive, or good, or even somehow morally admirable thing: dragging more innocent creatures into the lose-lose game. Squirming babies and plodding, complacent, hormone-drugged moms. Oh, isn’t he cute? Awww. Kids shouting and skidding in the playground with no idea what future Hells awaited them: boring jobs and ruinous mortgages and bad marriages and hair loss and hip replacements and lonely cups of coffee in an empty house and a colostomy bag at the hospital. Most people seemed satisfied with the thin decorative glaze and the artful stage lighting that, sometimes, made the bedrock atrocity of the human predicament look somewhat more mysterious or less abhorrent …"
and
"... I don't care what anyone says or how often or winningly they say it: no one will ever, ever be able to persuade me that life is some awesome, rewarding treat. Because, here's the truth: life is catastrophe. The basic fact of existence - of walking around trying to feed ourselves and find friends and whatever else we do - is catastrophe. Forget all this ridiculous 'Our Town' nonsense everyone talks: the miracle of a newborn babe, the joy of one simple blossom, Life You Are Too Wonderful To Grasp, &c. For me -- and I'll keep repeating it doggedly till I die, till I fall over on my ungrateful nihilistic face and am too weak to say it: better never born, than born into this cesspool. Sinkhole of hospital beds, coffins, and broken hearts. No release, no appeal, no 'do-overs' to employ a favored phrase of Xandra's, no way forward but age and loss, and no way out but death. ..."

From the back cover:

"Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld.

As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate."

Donna Tartt received the Pulitzer Prize for "The Goldfinch" in 2014.

Abdolah, Kader "My Father’s Notebook"

Abdolah, Kader (Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani) "My Father’s Notebook" (Dutch: Spijkerschrift) - 2000

In 2010, we read "The House of the Mosque" in our book club. It was by the same author and I wanted to read this book ever since. Well, I finally did and I am not disappointed. Same as in his other book, the author manages to transport us to the country of his birth, not just in place but also in time. He tells us about the changes during the decades that he lived there.

This novel is even more personal, it is almost an autobiography. Ishmael, the protagonist in this story, has a deaf-mute father who works as a carpet restaurateur, same as Kader Abdolah, whose pseudonym is the pen name of Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani. The name is an homage to two friends who were executed in Iran, one during the regime of the shah, the other one under the ayatollahs.

Ishmael ends up in the Netherlands as a writer, his wife follows him later ... well, I think I leave it at that, there are more similarities between the author and his protagonist.

Coming back to the book, it does go a bit back and forth, from Ismail's father Aga Akbar's youth to today, then back to Aga Akbar's youth, then Ishmael's youth, his studies ... But it is in no way confusing. A good report about the history of the situation in Iran.

I also quite liked the subject of the original Dutch title: "Spijkerschrift" meaning cuneiform script, the very first known system of writing. His father writes this way, since he can't hear and talk, he develops his own spelling. Quite interesting if you are into this kind of topic.

This novel is political as well as historical. A fascinating read.

From the back cover:

"On a holy mountain in the depths of Persia there is a cave with a mysterious cuneiform carving deep inside it. Aga Akbar, a deaf-mute boy from the mountain, develops his own private script from these symbols and writes passionately of his life, his family and his efforts to make sense of the changes the twentieth century brings to his country. Exiled in Holland a generation later, Akbar's son Ishmael struggles to decipher the notebook, reflecting how his own political activities have forced him to flee his country and abandon his family. As he gets closer to the heart of his father's story, he unravels the intricate tale of how the silent world of a village carpet-mender was forced to give way to one where the increasingly hostile environment of modern Iran has brought the family both love and sacrifice."

I read this book in the original Dutch.

de Winter, Leon "Zionoco"

de Winter, Leon "Zionoco" (Dutch: Zionoco) - 1995

If you didn't know Leon de Winter was Jewish, you would guess after reading a couple of his books. In most of them, the main character seems to search for his Jewish roots in one way or another, which makes me think whether this is the author himself.

I love reading about those sort of topics. Only, de Winter seems to digress a lot from his original purpose. Sex is always in the way. And so, this novel is a mixture between a porn novel including the description of alcoholics and the search for an identity, for a normal life. It's a mixture of a lot of subjects, a trial to bring them all together. But in the end, the search for the Zionoco, the mountain of Zion, is just as unsuccessful as this book. I found it flat and boring. This is my second and probably last book I have read by this author. I didn't care much for "De Hemel van Hollywood" either.

Book Descripition:

"De Winter describes movingly the tragicomic search for the unattainable father. Rabbi Sol Mayer sells absolute truths in New York, but he still doubts: about God, about his marriage, and about the miracle he had experienced, which had made the bon vivant and good-for-nothing to become rabbi like his father. When he falls in love with a young singer, it does not just mess up his hormones."

de Winter, Leon "The Hollywood Sign"

de Winter, Leon "The Hollywood Sign" (Dutch: De Hemel van Hollywood) -  1997

Three unsuccessful actors try to get back into "business" by planning the big coup, not entirely legal but with a chance of success. Apparently, the novel is supposed to be a satire about the American film business. I didn't really see that. I didn't like the plot (too far-fetched), the writing (neither funny nor intelligent), frankly, I don't understand the success of this author.

This was my first novel by de Winter. I gave him another chance and read "Zionoco" which did not change my opinion of his writing.

Book Description:

"When three great, has-been actors meet at the funeral of a legendary Hollywood agent, their alcoholic reunion leads them to visit the Hollywood Sign. There they find the body of a man – leading them to uncover an in-progress scam for stealing millions from a Las Vegas casino – which originated as a movie plot written by one of the actors' ex-girlfriends – who could not get her script produced. Desperate to make a comeback, the three risk their lives for production capital ... by writing themselves into the 'script."'

Westerman, Frank "The Republic of Grain"

Westerman, Frank "The Republic of Grain" (Dutch: De graanrepubliek) - 1999

"The Republic of Grain" describes life in a Dutch region, in the North of the Netherlands during a tough time. The rise and fall of an area due to nature, politics, decisions made. Mainly, this is the story of a guy who lived during the biggest part of the 20th century who was the son of a big farmer, got into politics and ended up the agricultural commissioner at the EU in Brussels. But it is also the story of his country, his village, his home

Frank Westerman is a renowned journalist who has spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe as a correspondent for a Dutch newspaper. I am sure I will read more of his books.

Book description:

"From time immemorial, the Dutch have owed their survival to pushing back the sea. Now, at the end of the twentieth century, the dikes will be pierced and water let in once again. In the grain republic of Groningen where the clay is richest and the best grain harvested, the centuries-old polders will be flooded. The farming community, and with it a thousand-year-old tradition, will have to yield to environmental pressures and recreation.

Central in this amazing turnabout is the European agricultural technocrat Sicco Mansholt who worked his way up from farmer’s son in Groningen to Minister of Agriculture and subsequently Agricultural Commissioner of the EEC and Chairman of the European Commission. His controversial ‘Mansholt Plan’, formulated in the sixties to reform agriculture and manage it in a more industrial way, fundamentally changed European agriculture. By means of stable grain prices and import levies Mansholt was able to push grain production up sharply. But the initial success turned against him. From the seventies, ever larger surpluses of grain, milk, butter, and meat were created which then had to be dumped on the world market. Ultimately, Mansholt’s agriculture policy absorbed more than half of the eec budget and was permanently abandoned in the eighties.

Because of the enormous increase in scale, many farmers in Europe had already given up. Meanwhile Mansholt had also undergone a sea-change in his thinking. Under the influence of the Report of Rome and his remarkable relationship with the German Green politician Petra Kelly, he changed his mind about the idea of food self-sufficiency and became a champion of the idea of preferring the environment to agriculture.
De graanrepubliek ends with this apotheosis. The plan to flood fertile agricultural land will definitely mean the end of gentlemen farmers and farm workers. In a compelling way Frank Westerman shows how the history of the grain republic of Groningen is in fact the story of the destruction of all European farmers and of an old world that has disappeared."