Book news, reviews and recommendations
Given my many visits to the Netherlands, you’d think I might have read lots of Dutch fiction but I haven’t come across much in translation. The little I have read I’ve enjoyed, particularly the five listed below, all with links to reviews on my blog. I’m a sucker for novels about long term relationships, the […]
Five Dutch Novels I’ve Read Read More »
I always look forward to summer, unfailingly optimistic at the prospect of long days full of light and warmth with perhaps a breeze to cool things down now and again. Living in my part of the world, I should know better. Climate change has also shortened the odds, delivering storms punctuated with brief heatwaves more
Five Summer Books I’ve Read Read More »
If you want an introduction to literature from around the world, much of it hardly known to English speakers but often celebrated in its country of origin, you might like to keep an eye on Pushkin Press’s list. Willem Frederik Hermans’ An Untouched House is a fine example. Set towards the end of the Second
An Untouched House by Willem Frederik Hermans (transl. David Colmer): The folly of war Read More »
This is my first Gerbrand Bakker. I’ve been aware of a good deal of interest and acclaim around his books for a while but somehow hadn’t got around to him. With its title and glorious blue-skied cover promising summer it seemed appropriate to pick up his new novel on one of the several miserably cold,
June by Gerbrand Bakker (transl. David Colmer): Deceptively simple Read More »