Iridescent Reads for Aotearoa Bookwyrms

Arjan Boltjes reviewed Amerikanen fietsen niet... by Gijs van Middelkoop

Amerikanen fietsen niet... (Paperback, 2015, Elmar Uitgeverij)

Inspiring journey, uninspiring writing

4 stars

8500 km of cycling in about half a year. That sounded awesome, so I picked this up during our own #cycling vacation in a local bookstore in Deventer. And I still think this entire trip or anything like it is worth the time and effort. The sheer distance and height difference tackled are inspiring, and the setting - the USA, car-centric country number one in my mind - seems quite a challenge. And it was, including desert landscape, the aforementioned mountains, empty roads. Sadly, the writing style is not what I had hoped for. Only little of the story drew me in, with an occasional anecdote interesting enough to truly entertain. The rest left me mostly untouched. At least it was an easy/fast read. And, plenty of cycling to think about it. Yet, where am I going to find six months to go cycling!?

Arjan Boltjes reviewed Neerslag van een huwelijk by Mensje van Keulen

Neerslag van een huwelijk (Hardcover, Dutch language, 2018, Atlas Contact)

Painful breakdown of a marriage

4 stars

It took me about fifty pages to get into this, but well worth reading after all. Van Keulen has a nice writing style, even in a diary like this. She clearly paints a picture of her failing marriage, her then husband, the seventies and the Dutch writers community. As always, I cannot help feeling that the sexual freedom won in the 1960s and 1970s was mainly for men, not women. A prime example being Lon, Van Keulen's husband, fucking around, indicating in multiple ways he has every right to do this within a marriage. At the expense of the writer. The impact of all this on Mensje van Keulen, being physically sick of it and hardly getting work done, is crystal clear. Aside, also of interest, the total lack of abstinence from alcohol or smoking while being pregnant. Different times for sure.

All in all, a good but painful read. …

It took me about fifty pages to get into this, but well worth reading after all. Van Keulen has a nice writing style, even in a diary like this. She clearly paints a picture of her failing marriage, her then husband, the seventies and the Dutch writers community. As always, I cannot help feeling that the sexual freedom won in the 1960s and 1970s was mainly for men, not women. A prime example being Lon, Van Keulen's husband, fucking around, indicating in multiple ways he has every right to do this within a marriage. At the expense of the writer. The impact of all this on Mensje van Keulen, being physically sick of it and hardly getting work done, is crystal clear. Aside, also of interest, the total lack of abstinence from alcohol or smoking while being pregnant. Different times for sure.

All in all, a good but painful read. Waiting and waiting for Van Keulen to get rid of her husband. The chances that the marriage can still be saved further and further out of sight.

Arjan Boltjes reviewed Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer

Reasonably entertaining

4 stars

Apparently, looking at the backside of the book and the prices and accolades, the Lunar Chronicles series are (or were?) a thing. Before finding this #GraphicNovel in our public library, I had not heard about it. But it could be that I'm not necessarily the audience aimed for.

This graphic novel apparently takes place after the happenings in the original five books. It's told from the perspective of an android, although not entirely consistently. In short, it's about - what they call - wolf-hybrid soldiers threatening peace on earth, and between the moon and earth, this aforementioned android going after them, and a subset of these soldiers then going after her friends (the main characters of the first five books).

Not a big fan on the graphic art. A lot looks the same, like the characters. The monochrome style probably doesn't help either. Although a style like that can add …

Apparently, looking at the backside of the book and the prices and accolades, the Lunar Chronicles series are (or were?) a thing. Before finding this #GraphicNovel in our public library, I had not heard about it. But it could be that I'm not necessarily the audience aimed for.

This graphic novel apparently takes place after the happenings in the original five books. It's told from the perspective of an android, although not entirely consistently. In short, it's about - what they call - wolf-hybrid soldiers threatening peace on earth, and between the moon and earth, this aforementioned android going after them, and a subset of these soldiers then going after her friends (the main characters of the first five books).

Not a big fan on the graphic art. A lot looks the same, like the characters. The monochrome style probably doesn't help either. Although a style like that can add to the style of a book; just not here, it seems. Story-wise, everything sounds rather simplistic and I can't shed the feeling that I'm reading a book written for teenagers. Hence my earlier comment about me not being the intended audience. I might ask the library to move these to the young adult or teenager section. All in all, likable, but superficial.

The idea of the original books, being science fictional twists on classic #FairyTales does sound intriguing, putting the female protagonists forward as strong women instead of passive bystanders. Perhaps I'll have a look whether I can find the first of these.

Arjan Boltjes reviewed Onkrijgbaarheid by Tim Krabbé

Onkrijgbaarheid (Hardcover, Dutch language, 2022, Prometheus)

True love?

5 stars

Content warning Spoilers ahead

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.

Arjan Boltjes reviewed J. Kessels: The Novel by P.F. Thomése

J. Kessels: The Novel (Paperback, Dutch language, 2011, Contact)

Fun read, bit repetitive

4 stars

This is probably meant to be pulp, as opposed to Thomese's usual literary work. He puts himself and a friend as main characters, but I very much doubt there's much autobiographical truth in here. ;) Nice style, from time to time hilarious storytelling. Gloriously over the top, incorrect, sleezy, but also quite repetitive, driving points home again and again. All in all, a fun read, but not much more than that.