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Essays zijn niet mijn lievelings-literatuurvorm. Ze zijn kort, en ik hou niet van korte verhalen, en ze hebben vaak iets geknutseld. Echter, Tijs Goldschmidt heeft de P.C. Hooft-prijs gewonnen, ik wilde sowieso iets van hem lezen, en hij schrijft essays. Uit alle boeken van hem in de (digitale) bibliotheek lijkt Vis in Bad mij het meest interessant. En, inderdaad, was het een leuk boek. Natuurlijk een gemengde ervaring. 'The Flying Panty' vond ik niks en 'Hot Spot' nog minder. Het laatste hoofdstuk, 'Het gen van de ziel', vond ik erg mooi en overtuigend geschreven. Ik ben zelf geen atheïst en toch vond het overtuigend! Hij maakte wel een of twee logische fouten in zijn denken, bijvoorbeeld dat verwondering over het feit dat alle soorten op aarde van één gezamenlijke voorouder afstammen, iets is wat alleen atheïsten zouden kunnen voelen.  Tussen die hoofdstukken in zijn er veel prachtig geschreven interessante en prikkelende essays. Een plezier om te lezen.

Essays zijn niet mijn lievelings-literatuurvorm. Ze zijn kort, en ik hou niet van korte verhalen, en ze hebben vaak iets geknutseld. Echter, Tijs Goldschmitd heeft de P.C. Hooft-prijs gewonnen, ik wilde sowieso iets van hem lezen, en hij schrijft essays. Uit alle boeken van hem in de (digitale) bibliotheek lijkt Vis in Bad mij het meest interessant. En, inderdaad, was het een leuk boek. Natuurlijk een gemengde ervaring. 'The Flying Panty' vond ik niks en 'Hot Spot' nog minder. Het laatste hoofdstuk, 'Het gen van de ziel', vond ik erg mooi en overtuigend geschreven. Ik ben zelf geen atheïst en toch vond het overtuigend! Hij maakte wel een of twee logische fouten in zijn denken, bijvoorbeeld dat verwondering over het feit dat alle soorten op aarde van één gezamenlijke voorouder afstammen, iets is wat alleen atheïsten zouden kunnen voelen. Tussen die hoofdstukken in zijn er veel prachtig geschreven interessante en prikkelende essays. Een plezier om te lezen.

This book wasn't what I expected. I thought it was going to be mostly about the nature and landscape of Exmoor. There is certainly an element of that, but it is actually mostly about a local man, Ralph Collard. Nevertheless, it is an interesting story and certainly gives something of the flavour of the local culture. The book is written in the first person. That would be fine, but it is not an autobiography, but a biography, so that comes across as a bit strange. What is more, according to the preface, it is not a biography but a 'portrait'. That means that it has an unreliable narrator (in that sense, that does fit with a first-person narrative). That does make the book difficult to interpret. How much exaggeration is there in all the tall stories in the first half? I don't know that I really believe the story of his father cutting the tree down, for example. How complete is the transformation from poacher to conservationist? We don't know. It is, thankfully, not the case that the book is a hagiography. It is quite clear that the protagonist's troubles are in part brought on by his own actions, and it is also obvious that he was lacking in social skills. It is written mostly in normal English, but with some dialogue with dialect mixed in. That seemed a bit random (why are some bits in dialect and others not?), but on the whole added to the local flavour. Occasionally, there are fragments rather than sentences, and I wasn't sure if those were bits that needed editing or also meant to be dialect. There are also some errors; Ernest Bevin was born in 1881, not 1804, for instance. Maybe those will be cleared up by the publication release (I am reviewing a pre-publication copy). The book is not written in chronological structure, although each chapter is clearly labelled with its date. I didn't find that the hopping about in time helped me. Interspersed between the chapters are pages with key environmental facts like rising carbon dioxide concentrations and biodiversity reductions. It was not entirely clear to me how they fitted with the rest of the book. Are they statements related to the actions of the protagonist's father and his own actions in his early years? Parallels between the destruction of individuals and the destruction of the natural world? Placing the biodiversity reduction of Devon in an international context? I didn't really get it. In summary, the book took some getting into but it was an interesting read about a man who was certainly an exceptional character. This review is based on a pre-publication copy of the book kindly provided by the publisher in return for an honest review, via the NetGalley platform.

This book wasn't what I expected. I thought it was going to be mostly about the nature and landscape of Exmoor. There is certainly an element of that, but it is actually mostly about a local man, Ralph Collard. Nevertheless, it is an interesting story and certainly gives something of the flavour of the local culture. The book is written in the first person. That would be fine, but it is not an autobiography, but a biography, so that comes across as a bit strange. What is more, according to the preface, it is not a biography but a 'portrait'. That means that it has an unreliable narrator (in that sense, that does fit with a first-person narrative). That does make the book difficult to interpret. How much exaggeration is there in all the tall stories in the first half? I don't know that I really believe the story of his father cutting the tree down, for example. How complete is the transformation from poacher to conservationist? We don't know. It is, thankfully, not the case that the book is a hagiography. It is quite clear that the protagonist's troubles are in part brought on by his own actions, and it is also obvious that he was lacking in social skills. It is written mostly in normal English, but with some dialogue with dialect mixed in. That seemed a bit random (why are some bits in dialect and others not?), but on the whole added to the local flavour. Occasionally, there are fragments rather than sentences, and I wasn't sure if those were bits that needed editing or also meant to be dialect. There are also some errors; Ernest Bevin was born in 1881, not 1804, for instance. Maybe those will be cleared up by the publication release (I am reviewing a pre-publication copy). The book is not written in chronological structure, although each chapter is clearly labelled with its date. I didn't find that the hopping about in time helped me. Interspersed between the chapters are pages with key environmental facts like rising carbon dioxide concentrations and biodiversity reductions. It was not entirely clear to me how they fitted with the rest of the book. Are they statements related to the actions of the protagonist's father and his own actions in his early years? Parallels between the destruction of individuals and the destruction of the natural world? Placing the biodiversity reduction of Devon in an international context? I didn't really get it. In summary, the book took some getting into but it was an interesting read about a man who was certainly an exceptional character. This review is based on a pre-publication copy of the book kindly provided by the publisher in return for an honest review, via the NetGalley platform.

The author rather throws the reader in at the deep end, with a whole load of concepts and characters, right from the beginning. That meant that I struggled to get into the book, although the glossary helped. However, once I'd read the first couple of characters and begun to understand its world, I found there was a lot to like. There was quite a lot of fighting, but the author takes care not to glorify it. There are some interesting feminist perspectives. There is a nice reference to H.G. Wells (the Thunderchild battleship features in War of the Worlds). There is an amusing use of 'pronouns' in which 'they' refers not to a different gender but a species made of multiple individuals. I liked that the aliens are properly completely different and alien, which is a refreshing change from much sci fi. All in all, a lot to like, and I'm definitely adding the sequel to my 'to be read' list.

A couple of months ago, I realised that I had never read anything about the history of emancipation or feminism in the Netherlands. I scoured the ebook catalogue of the library, but to my surprise couldn't find a single book. So I was pleasantly surprised to see De Omwenteling in this month's Bookchoice selection. The book is well read and interesting. I wad astonished to read just how slow reform has been here compared to surrounding countries. The main culprit, according to the author, seems to have been the church(es), although she doesn't really address the question as to why that was worse here than by neighbours with equally influential religious groups. The book is very readable because Suzanne Janssen uses her own family history as the framework, which automatically gives a narrative. However, that also gives a restricted viewpoint. It is all about the Catholic community, which makes me wonder how it was for the rest of the country. Did the Protestant churches block progressive legislation as enthustically and effectively as the bishops? There are hints given about developments in neighbouring countries but it would have been interesting to have placed the developments much more in a broader international context. Anyway, an interesting and readable book and a timely reminder of the necessity of anchoring progressive ideas both in the constitution and in the law.

A couple of months ago, I realised that I had never read anything about the history of emancipation or feminism in the Netherlands. I scoured the ebook catalogue of the library, but to my surprise couldn't find a single book. So I was pleasantly surprised to see De Omwenteling in this month's Bookchoice selection. The book is well read and interesting. I wad astonished to read just how slow reform has been here compared to surrounding countries. The main culprit, according to the author, seems to have been the church(es), although she doesn't really address the question as to why that was worse here than by neighbours with equally influential religious groups. The book is very readable because Suzanne Janssen uses her own family history as the framework, which automatically gives a narrative. However, that also gives a restricted viewpoint. It is all about the Catholic community, which makes me wonder how it was for the rest of the country. Did the Protestant churches block progressive legislation as enthustically and effectively as the bishops? There are hints given about developments in neighbouring countries but it would have been interesting to have placed the developments much more in a broader international context. Anyway, an interesting and readable book and a timely reminder of the necessity of anchoring progressive ideas both in the constitution and in the law.

A couple of months ago, I realised that I had never read anything about the history of emancipation or feminism in the Netherlands. I scoured the ebook catalogue of the library, but to my surprise couldn't find a single book. So I was pleasantly surprised to see De Omwenteling in this month's Bookchoice selection. The book is well read and interesting. I wad astonished to read just how slow reform has been here compared to surrounding countries. The main culprit, according to the author, seems to have been the church(es), although she doesn't really address the question as to why that was worse here than by neighbours with equally influential religious groups. The book is very readable because Suzanne Janssen uses her own family history as the framework, which automatically gives a narrative. However, that also gives a restricted viewpoint. It is all about the Catholic community, which makes me wonder how it was for the rest of the country. Did the Protestant churches block progressive legislation as enthustically and effectively as the bishops? There are hints given about developments in neighbouring countries but it would have been interesting to have placed the developments much more in a broader international context. Anyway, an interesting and readable book and a timely reminder of the necessity of anchoring progressive ideas both in the constitution and in the law.

A couple of months ago, I realised that I had never read anything about the history of emancipation or feminism in the Netherlands. I scoured the ebook catalogue of the library, but to my surprise couldn't find a single book. So I was pleasantly surprised to see De Omwenteling in this month's Bookchoice selection. The book is well read and interesting. I wad astonished to read just how slow reform has been here compared to surrounding countries. The main culprit, according to the author, seems to have been the church(es), although she doesn't really address the question as to why that was worse here than by neighbours with equally influential religious groups. The book is very readable because Suzanne Janssen uses her own family history as the framework, which automatically gives a narrative. However, that also gives a restricted viewpoint. It is all about the Catholic community, which makes me wonder how it was for the rest of the country. Did the Protestant churches block progressive legislation as enthustically and effectively as the bishops? There are hints given about developments in neighbouring countries but it would have been interesting to have placed the developments much more in a broader international context. Anyway, an interesting and readable book and a timely reminder of the necessity of anchoring progressive ideas both in the constitution and in the law.