Mai
I have been on a ‘Nederlands- Indie' binge lately and have been reading some books on the subject. While mostly informative or entertaining this book disappointed me.
A few chapters in I thought too myself ‘Mmm I think this is written by a white person'. Now that's not a bad thing by itself. I think a good writer can make you forget what background he or she is from. With this writer though it felt a bit insecere. From the discriptions of Indonesian snacks, all the cliches Indo's in The Netherlands like and the cartoony side characters, it just didn't work for me.
Yes she did some research, as she mentioned in her afterword. One instance she described in her book felt so familiar to me, she took that verbatim from an interview in a documentary she watched.
Yeah I can tell she watched that doc, she went to Indo nursing home and she went to get some food at her local restaurant. But it felt that that were her only sources and it shows.
Also that Liam Neeson lookalike sideplot.. why? What was even the point besides it being gross.
If you want to read a book written about this period in time I would highly recommend ‘Lichter dan ik' or the brutal ‘De tolk van Java'.
Een schitterend leven, maar vergeten zal ik dit niet zo snel. Wat een bijzondere vrouw! Tegen het einde van het boek wilde ik eigenlijk nog geen afscheid nemen van haar verhaal en leven.
3.5, naar boven afgerond.
Ik had het bijna opgegeven ergens rond 3/4 van het boek.
De redenen hiervan zijn veelvuldig in andere reviews hier te lezen.
Voor mij had dit boek een ok begin, op 2/4 begon het interessanter te worden.. daarna begint dat lange stuk door de ogen van de vader... man man man.. dat was een opgave. Veel geweld, overdadig en in detail beschreven. In eerste instantie wekt dat een gevoel van onbehagen op, maar door de overload raakte ik afgestompt en deed de golf van geweld mij steeds minder. Achteraf gezien is dat ook wel bewust gedaan. Als je zoveel geweld meemaakt (in hoeverre hetgeen beschreven allemaal is gebeurd) word je er in zekere mate gevoelloos door.
Je vraagt je op een gegeven moment af of het allemaal wel zo kan zijn gebeurd, en of 1 persoon dit allemaal wel heeft kunnen meemaken. Het is een mengeling van Rambo uithangen, op handen gedragen worden door de meerderen en ook nog eens een romanticus te zijn als het gaat om de vrouwen. Of is het een mengeling van harde ervaringen, niet goed weten waar je thuishoort en wishful thinking?
In het boek kom je al snel te weten dat deze ‘De Arend' geen dad of the year is. Wreed, koud en hard.. vooral naar de verteller van dit verhaal, Alan. Als oudste ving hij letterlijk en figuurlijk veel van de klappen.
Dit boek gaat voor mij over hoe een oorlog kan doorwerken in families, ook als de oorlog allang gestopt is, het gaat om hoe ondergeschoven de geschiedenis van Nederlands Indie eigenlijk is en vooral de bloederige strijd om vrijheid op het einde en het gaat om verzoening en vergiffenis.
De laatste 2 thema's komen voornamelijk in het laatste stuk goed naar voren. Waar ik bijna geneigd was dit boek weg te leggen door dat moeilijk (en voor mij veel te lang) leesbaar stuk van de vader. Heeft het laatste stuk voor mij dit boek gered. Mooi en duidelijk beschreven vond ik alle emoties en gevoelens die erbij komen kijken wanneer je in je rouw en vergevingsproces alles een plek probeert te geven.
De mijmeringen van een oude vrouw, die, na een gimmicky reden, op verzoek vertelt over haar jeugd in Nederlands-Indië en met name over haar jeugdvriendin.
Na wat opgehaalde herinneringen van een nogal onnozel hoofdpersonage komt deze erachter dat ze eigenlijk helemaal niet zo goed bevriend was met haar vriendin en ze haar helemaal niet kent.
Daarna volgen in rap tempo een aantal plottwists die wat mij betreft uit het niets kwamen en onwaarschijnlijk waren.
Nadat ze steeds maar liep te klagen dat ze die kist met waardevolle spullen niet openkreeg, bleek dat fucking ding nog leeg te zijn ook :P
I didn't find the book clever, I didn't find the twists that shocking, I am confused as to why this is labeled a thriller.
Could not identify with anything or anyone in this book.
The narrator was really whiny plot twist he is not just a complaining asshole, he also is mentally ill. Not only that, All 4 of them were horrible and self serving. Wow. Shocker.
This book did nothing for me.
1 star because I can't give half stars and because the author managed to make everyone unsympathetic, I guess that is an accomplishment.
This was not what I expected.. and I'm not sure if that was a good thing?
May be better on a 2nd read, but there were parts I didn't particularly enjoy and where I flirted with DNF'ing, so I won't be re-reading this anytime soon.
• I thought this was entertaining but in the way of me watching.. I dunno.. Disney movies because of the happy endings and two dimensional characters. It's just easy to digest.
BUT in Disney movies there is actual drama, action even. This story never gets too intense. For me, I needed things to go deeper.
I have so many mixed feelings about this book. It is a heavy read. Not only because it's over 700 pages, but also the topics discussed. I found myself intrigued in the beginning, absolutely hating it in the middle, and sobbing at the end.
+ The feeling of really having been on a journey, having witnessed the life of Jude.
+ The topic of male friendships, the emotional side of it.
+ The normalcy of LGBT characters.
+ The way mourning was handled.
+ The way it slowly is revealed what happened in Jude's past
+ I like the writing style
- While gay characters where just a fact, not a novelty. There was a kind of doomed to be sad or die if you are gay. This trope makes me roll my eyes.
- Jude saying I'm sorry thousands of times
- Caleb. Really. Wtf was that. I hated this part because this did feel like I was being emotionally manipulated.
- The improbability of how much abuse happens to Jude. I mean it was really shit upon shit upon shit.
- The improbability of everyone being rich, well off, jetting of to all corners of the earth like it's nothing
- Everyone enabling Jude.
- The death of Willem was kind of cliche.
- The switching of POV without warning was confusing.
Is Naomi Alderman ok?
Does she like women at all?
So if women would possess an ability which would make them physically superior to men, women would become more agressive, more cruel and more violent than the worst type of man? Oh ok.
I like my sci fi but I could not bend my imagination THAT far.
Geez this was such a chore to get through.
Points for the beginning, the end and Cosca.
This was good! Dare I say one of the better fantasy books I have read.
Kinda bummed I didn't buy the trilogy in one go.
Ok I realise that if I read this book last (seeing it's the most recent) I'd probably be disappointed, BUT I'm not. It's the third book I'm reading from The Witcher series and hey I actually liked this one.
Sapkowski really does not know how to write women, though.
Couldn't bring myself to score it 3,5 or above because of the annoying and unnecessary sexualization of Ciri.
This book makes you work! Now I was kinda prepared for this because I've read The Name of The Rose (which I loved) but a few things you will have to consider before you delve into this:
- Are you ready to look up a ton of shit?
- Are you ready to use google translate?
- Are you ready to get A LOT of information thrown at you?
- Does any of the following topics interest you: Conspiracy Theories, Historical Facts, Religion (both monotheism and more native/primitive), The Occult, Templars..?
If you answered yes, go for it!
Liked: I loved the stories concerning the mothers. The immigrant experience and how that experience will shape how you raise your children.
Disliked: The stories of the mothers vs. the daughters did not intertwine as well as I hoped. The daughters all married or dated very stereotypical white men. I know it happens, hell, I am a product of it myself. I just wanted a little more background as to why.
The daughters were all pretty docile, submissive and indecisive. Are we though? ;) Not a stereotype I recognize from my family or friends.
You know who my favorite character is? Judy Poovey.
I honestly don't even know how to review this. Am I missing something? This is a classic. Shouldn't this have blown my mind?
It didn't. I was kinda underwhelmed honestly.
I loved The Goldfinch, couldn't appreciate this one.
Let's just say this is not what I look for in a book.
- Was it just me or doesn't anyone have a personality? Bland. If they were a spice they would be flour. Is this the commentary on the elite? I get it. Does it make for engaging reading? For me, no.
All the males were interchangeable to me.
Especially Charles and Francis.
- Tweed jackets. Pince nez. Amish looking gardening clothes. Chain smoking. Alcoholics. Substance abuse. Murder. People saying “I say, old sport” like it's the roaring twenties.
- The big thing that happens is explained on the first pages. Yes it's murder. I would be shocked but everyone was so blasé about it that I had a hard time understanding what the point is of me reading these 600 pages.
- There is another murder. They hint at something supernatural. But really these assholes were just full of themselves and full of narcotics for sure. It may come as a shocker but everyone is blasé about this murder too.
- At some point the characters are talking about loving each other. Really? Could've fooled me. Did not get that feeling at all. I found it kind of mind boggling that they hung out in the first place.
- Julian. I thought he would be this driving force. The puppeteer. Yoda and evil mastermind all rolled into one. I am reading he made such an impact on their lives, because Tartt literally writes it does. But he doesn't really do anything substantial in the book that would make me believe so.
- Could've sworn they were all going to set Richard up for everything. But no.
Richard the narrator narrates this whole long ass story. Because he wants redemption? Is there a moral to this story? Is he in jail? On his deathbed. No. Who knows. He is just boring whomever (us) he is confiding in just for the hell of it or something? What is the point??
- Where is this character development I have been reading about? Is it that they go from pretentious and obnoxious to delusional and miserable assholes? By those standards this book succeeded gloriously.
Liked: I am a sucker for the mutiple stories come together type of storytelling. I thought this was handled very well. All the different POV's felt like different people. Combine this with having a real message about the treatment of indigenous people.. I was sold.
Disliked: /
Started out promising. But towards the end the stories gotten a little underwhelming to me. One I straight up disliked a lot.
The Ciri storylines were the best.
Other than that.. I get it Geralt loves boobs, geez.
In my opinion a must read to understand where our Dutch wealth comes from.
It starts of really strong, packs a mean punch, and it kinda horrified me to read in such detail what havoc and ruin our VOC and colonial history wreaked upon the world.
Unfortunately it starts to lose steam after a while. Maybe it's because the way the topics where divided.
Haven't read the bigger version (this book is the compact version) but will in the future for sure!
Shocked. No use of the N word.
BUT leave it to King to add other problematic thinking nonetheless.
More interesting than I thought it would be, but written as to sympathize and root for Charlie. Which felt too much like a incel wet dream sequence especially the reaction the classmates have.
