This is what visitors to South Africa said in the 1950’s : Ah, but your land is beautiful. The South African writer Alan Paton (1903 – 1988) wrote this sentence in his book several times. Yes, a beautiful land, but what about the politics and the rule of law and the mutual understandings? In the … Continue reading review AH, BUT YOUR LAND IS BEAUTIFUL
review PRAYING MANTIS
Should I have remembered the name ‘Cupido Kakkerlak’ or ‘Cupido Cockroach’? I now know I came across his name several times when I read a book written by Ido Enklaar on the Dutch scholar and missionary Johannes Theodorus van der Kemp (1747-1811). In The Netherlands he founded a missionary society and he himself, after having … Continue reading review PRAYING MANTIS
Review A DRY WHITE SEASON
A boxing glove hit my stomach at full speed. It left me with a sick feeling and a painful head. The glove came with a name and the hand in it came with a name. ‘A dry white season’ and ‘André Brink’. The South African writer Brink passed away in 2015 when he was on … Continue reading Review A DRY WHITE SEASON
Review LA PESTE
The Algerian / French writer Albert Camus wrote a few classics and became an important voice in the literary world of the northern hemisphere. He was born in Mondovi (nowadays Dréan) in the northeastern corner of Algeria in the year 1913 in a pied-noir family. Shortly after the Second World War he published his La … Continue reading Review LA PESTE
Review OPERATIE LAAT NIETS IN LEVEN
Two Dutch journalists, Arnold Karskens and Henk Willem Smits, focus in this book on the Dutch businessman Guus Kouwenhoven (or mr. Gus). What is so special about this man that two journalist have followed this man over a period of many years, have delved into archives, have talked with the man himself and many others? … Continue reading Review OPERATIE LAAT NIETS IN LEVEN
Review AMERICANAH
It took me a long time to read this book. This was not due to this novel, but due to many other activities I was involved in. So this reading journey became a kind of hurdle jump with me falling in between the hurdles. This novel by the acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is woven … Continue reading Review AMERICANAH
