Onkrijgbaarheid

The language in this Krabbé work - I actually read a recently published book :O - is beautiful, it flows very naturally, and it was a great pleasure to read it. The fact that this only took me 2-3 days says it all.

The story kicks off with a scene in Las Vegas, the old man and especially the old woman in that chapter clearly connecting to the rest of the book. Most of the rest of the book is about that same woman and a writer, that can be seen as the main character. A relation that starts with a chance encounter ending with sex in a hotel in a provincial town. From there they meet each other time and again, with longer and shorter periods not seeing each other. Both living their own lives. The writer character increasingly degenerates into the stereotypical famous man who cannot commit, devouring woman after woman. The woman, on the other hand, settles down, marries and partly disappears from the picture. Until they see each other again. At the end of the book, you still cannot escape the impression that this has been a succession of missed opportunities. Where the moments they see each other seem bright spots in each other's lives. At the same time, you wonder if this would have been a viable relationship had someone - mostly the writer - dared to choose.

The title "Onkrijgbaarheid" is a word that theoretically could exist, but it's not something we really use. It literally translates to "unobtainableness". In a way, that is cryptic, suggesting that it could not take place, while I feel, had choices been made differently, the outcome could've been different. But, could it?

As said, really liked this, although mixed feelings about the characters, the outcome, etc.