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1. Dorien Jongeneel says:

   Na veel aarzelen tussen Publieke werken en Hersenschimmen, heb ik besloten om te stemmen op Hersenschimmen. Net als de andere boeken van Bernlef is het de combinatie van het confronterende thema en de eenvoud van de tekst die je al lezende verder laten denken dan alleen het verhaal zelf. Lang nadat je het boek uit hebt vallen het boek en je persoonlijke ervaringen samen. Na verloop van tijd ben je dan het eigenlijke verhaal vergeten maar heb je het onderwerp wel als indrukwekkende ervaring bij je.

   5 February 2007 @ 9:57 pm

2. Kader Abdolah: The House Of The Mosque - World Literature Forum says:

   […] Re: Kader Abdolah: The House Of The Mosque Don’t shoot the messenger! Turns out it was voted by "the masses" after all: Verkiezing ‘Beste Nederlandstalige Boek Aller Tijden’ - shortlist | Boekendingen… (Dutch, but there’s a Google Translate option in the top left corner) Ignoring the fact that no list can please everyone and that I haven’t read half of what’s commonly considered to be the Netherlands’ best literature, my thoughts: I quite liked The House of the Mosque, at least partially because I was born in the area and have visited Iran once. I’m fascinated by its history and literary tradition, so at least the setting could please me. That said, from a literary point of view, it wasn’t that great. I’ve read far better novels and the content of the novel was only just enough to keep me reading. Certainly not worthy of a top ten spot in such a list. The critic Gerrit Komrij wrote an excellent blog entry on the novel (albeit in Dutch): Lucifer in het hooi: Wat de paus gemist heeft Haven’t read Bernlef’s Hersenschimmen. Hence, no opinion. I’ve read Nooit meer slapen by Hermans and I thought it was quite appalling. I believe that every novelist has at least some sense of poetry in his or her work. A certain eloquence that makes the prose a joy to read. I can read a work that focusses on characters or plot or whatever and makes this eloquence of secondary importance, but I’d like it to be there. I like beauty in writing. Hermans seems to be driven by an utter hatred to destroy all things beautiful in prose. It’s not just unpoetic, it’s anti-poetic. Couldn’t stand the writing. I haven’t read De donkere kamer van Damokles and I don’t see why I should. Quite a terrible style. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t read The Discovery of Heaven yet. I find it quite an intriguing title though, and I may give it a read in the near future. Only thing holding me back at the moment is the size. I’ve almost finished Het verdriet van België, so I think I’ll read a few regular-sized novels before I pick up another "mammoth". Multatuli’s Max Havelaar is a classic. Some novels are called classics, but don’t deserve that title at all, but I don’t think this is one of them. It was written a great while ago, but is surprisingly post-modern in its structure. Nevertheless, it isn’t very well-written. I’ve got mixed feelings about it. When I read it, it felt a bit like the first draft of a revolutionary and world-changing novel. Nescio. I’ve read these works (De uitvreter, Titaantjes, Dichtertje) but the collection wasn’t a memorable read. Quite frankly I don’t remember anything in particular about the stories. Didn’t do much for me. The last three works on the shortlist I haven’t read, although Gerard Reve’s De avonden has a good reputation and I’ve heard mostly positive reactions on the novel from the people around me. Some works or authors I’d liked to have seen on this list are Couperus, Boon, Japin and Komrij. However, like I said, I’ve not even nearly read enough to make any statements about the "best Dutch-language novel of all time". I think Japin’s novels are very well-written and his themes and settings are always interesting. I’m also a big fan of Komrij (his prose more than his poetry, though). He masters the written word in a way Mozart mastered music. Very eloquent. That’s quite enough for a single a I post, I think. Discuss? […]

   17 February 2010 @ 9:50 pm

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