Dat Timothy Snyders ‘Bloodlands’ (NL: ‘Bloedlanden’) geen gezellige literatuur is, zou een mens uit zichzelf ook nog wel kunnen bedenken. Dat één en ander echter zelfs een doorgewinterde Interbellist en WO2-kenner als schrijver dezes nog wist te choqueren, dat klinkt al wat minder aannemelijk; maar zulks geschiedde dan toch. Ziet u, ‘Bloodlands’ is eigenlijk één […]
Perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to introduce some of my latest acquisitions in public, every now and then. Despite my regular blabbering-on regarding all kinds of nothingness, there’s still some room left to discuss bits and pieces such as books and novels – stuff written by others, (to be) read by yours truly. […]
This isn’t going to be a book review (despite being tagged as one – tsk, tsk), rather than a recognition of the impact books can have on our day-to-day routines. Take my daily stroll through the forest, for instance. A couple of months ago I finished “Russian Partisans” (with a sub-header reading “WW2 – Limburg”), […]
As some of you might have already noticed, I can’t seem to stop involving Vladimir Nabokov’s “Speak, Memory” into every few paragraphs of my writing, these days. It can’t be helped, I seem to have simply stumbled upon a writer which I can heavily relate to. No, I’m not a refugee from a country torn-apart […]
Title: “Mijn Leven” (Dutch title; translation: “My Life”) Author: Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov Year: 1990 Publisher: Meulenhoff Pages: +/- 850, incl. notes, occasionally decorated with photographs and technical drawings I don’t want to start this article using tired old rhetoric like “Having read Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov’s “My Life”,…” so I’ve inserted this particular prefix before getting […]
Title: “Terug naar Siberië” (Dutch title; translation: “Back to Siberia”) Author: Martin Heylen Year: 2008 Publisher: T.T.T.I. BVBA / © Woestijnvis & Martin Heylen Pages: +/- 350, occasionally decorated with pictures Why on earth would I choose a relatively obscure book like “Back to Siberia” as the subject of my first book review on Bladsite? […]
