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benevolentlibraryghost · 2 years

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vrij zeker dat ik niet de enige ben die als kind een grote boekenwurm was, maar toen kwam het vak nederlands op de middelbare en poef weg leesliefde. lezen voor de lijst zoog per direct de leesmotivatie uit mij.

ik kreeg eerlijk gezegd bijna een haat aan nederlandse literatuur - tbh kijk ik gewoon jou aan, max havelaar (blegh). lange tijd was ik er zelfs van overtuigd dat een nederlands boek ofwel een krakkemikkige vertaling was van een engelse parel (bij heel wat vertalingen is het duidelijk wat de originele zin van de auteur was en hoe deze compleet geslacht is door het nederlands), ofwel een boek waar teveel vunzige, ongemakkelijke seksscènes in voorkomen.

inmiddels is er een staakt-het-vuren en hebben de nederlandse literatuur en ik onze ruzie bijgelegd. ik heb aardig wat nederlandse parels ontdekt en verzameld, boeken die ik met trots kan uitstallen op mijn planken. zo lees ik op het moment de geheime dagboeken van hendrik groen - nou lachen gieren brullen. ook heb ik dit jaar de roman van jente posthuma, waar ik liever niet aan denk, in één ruk uitgelezen. zo zo zo goed, echt een aanrader. en over welkom in het rijk der zieken van hanna bervoets (kween) is er ook genoeg te vertellen, dus er zal vast nog een klodder tekst over deze boeken verschijnen op mijn blog.

ook even een shout out naar een paar andere helden: bianca toeps (maar je ziet er helemaal niet autistisch uit), francien regelink (druks), paulien cornelisse (taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding, de verwarde cavia), judith visser (zondagskind), elise cordaro (anders gaat ook), de helden van de speld, pieter koolwijk (gozert en luna) en mariana leky (vanuit hier zie je alles).

niet dat ze dit ooit gaan lezen - immers ben ik gewoon een random student die een edgy sociaal mediaplatform gebruikt als haar uitlaatklep - maar ik wil toch deze auteurs even bedanken voor hun bijdrage aan mijn leven. jullie boeken staan mooi in mijn boekenkast. en graag gedaan voor het spekken van jullie portemonnees. joe.

#lezen voor de lijst #boeken #lezen #literatuur #nederlands #hanna bervoets #jente posthuma #hendrik groen #bianca toeps #francien regelink #paulien cornelisse #judith visser #elise cordaro #peter koolwijk #de speld #mariana leky

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intellectures · 19 days

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Jenny Erpenbeck für International Booker Prize nominiert

Jenny Erpenbeck hat es mit ihrem Übersetzer Michael Hofmann auf die Shortlist des International Booker Prize geschafft. Die Berliner Autorin ist in der englischsprachigen Welt sehr erfolgreich, manche sehen in ihr bereits die kommende Nobelpreisträgerin.

Die Autorin Jenny Erpenbeck hat es mit ihrem englischen Übersetzer Michael Hofmann auf die Shortlist für den International Booker Prize geschafft. Die Berlinerin ist in der englischsprachigen Welt äußerst erfolgreich, manche sehen in ihr bereits eine kommende Nobelpreisträgerin. Mit dem renommierten Preis wird der beste Roman aus dem nicht englischsprachigen Ausland ausgezeichnet. Continue…

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eva248 · 11 months

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Lecturas de junio. Tercera semana

La llama de Focea / Lorenzo Silva. Editorial Destino, 2022 Queralt Bonmatí, una joven barcelonesa de familia pudiente, aparece asesinada en un paraje idílico del Camino de Santiago. Había salido tres semanas antes de Roncesvalles, donde tuvo un incidente con un desconocido, pero esta es sólo una de las pistas que no ayudan a una resolución rápida. El subteniente Bevilacqua recibe del máximo jefe…

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#abandono #amor fraternal #Barcelona #Camino de Santiago #Chiyo Uno #crimen organizado #Depresión #Dublín #Editorial Bunker Books #Fiona Scarlett #gemelos #independentismo catalán #Jente Posthuma #Lorenzo Silva #Suicidio #watakushi-shosetsu o novela del yo

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haveyoureadthispoll · 10 days

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What if one half of a pair of twins no longer wants to live? What if the other can’t live without them? This question lies at the heart of Jente Posthuma’s deceptively simple What I’d Rather Not Think About. The narrator is a twin whose brother has recently taken his own life. She looks back on their childhood, and tells of their adult lives: how her brother tried to find happiness, but lost himself in various men and the Bhagwan movement, though never completely. In brief, precise vignettes, full of gentle melancholy and surprising humour, Posthuma tells the story of a depressive brother, viewed from the perspective of the sister who both loves and resents her twin, struggles to understand him, and misses him terribly.

#book: what i'd rather not think about #author: jente posthuma #genre: mental health #genre: literary #genre: contemporary #year: 2020s

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bosquedemel · 2 months

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The longlist for the 2024 International Booker Prize is as follows:

Not a River by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott

Simpatía by Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, translated by Noel Hernández González and Daniel Hahn

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann

The Details by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson

White Nights by Urszula Honek, translated by Kate Webster

Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae

A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare, translated by John Hodgson

The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris Dralyuk

What I'd Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma, translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey

Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo, translated by Leah Janeczko

The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone, translated by Oonagh Stransky

Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior, translated by Johnny Lorenz

Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener, translated by Julia Sanches

#booker prize #news

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readingtostaysane · 6 days

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What I'd Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma - review

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.25)

What I’d rather not think about follows the story of an unnamed female narrator whose twin brother has committed suicide. It spans over their childhood until two years after the death of the brother. It sets to deal with themes such as self discovery and complex relationships, both as siblings but also as individuals.

I’ll start with the critics:

The dynamics between the twins are odd at best, but I’ve also never had a twin, I only have a sibling and maybe they’re a kind of a different bond. Still I wished the novel had more bantering between siblings, to show an accurate depiction of family bonds. We do get the sense they love each other, but the brother is unlikable, which usually doesn’t bother me, and it didn’t bother me here, but I wish I had something more.

However, The novel deals with codependency and detachment in a very balanced way which I enjoyed.

The book includes facts about a lot of horrible historic people that harmed innocents. I found those references irrelevant and didn’t add much to the overall plot, nor for the development of characters. They served one purpose: to show that our narrator lived in the early 2000 and could google things, still I think it could’ve been shown without tragic holocaust facts.

Your gift isn’t a gift, it’s a defect, said my brother. You can’t keep your distance.

Eventually people grow out of their childhood and need to learn how to land on both of their feet alone, but what happens when you’ve never spent a second alone? Not even in the uterus? That’s why this book exists.

Our main character is very dependent on her older brother, and it becomes toxic and self-destructive very fast. This behavior causes the twins to have fights and disagreements and adding to the depression both of them have, they grow apart.

The novel explores self identity, forgiveness and personal boundaries within sibling relationships, however it never forgets to address the love that exists in that special bond.

Both of the siblings travel solo, have love relationships and different goals in life, we as readers follow their growth into their own selves, for better or for worse.

I can never get it right with you, said my brother. Why are you always so pushy? I’m trying to reach out to you, I said. Hello! Hello, said my brother. Here I am. He closed his eyes to concentrate on tasting the meat.

As the mental health of the brother deteriorates we see the author address a complex and sour topic: how do you help someone with depression. It’s the best part of the book and why it earned its rating for me.

Seeing someone you love succumb to depression is not easy, and you don’t always have to patience to deal with it. It most definitely not always end with a happy ending, in the end the brother still killed himself. I loved how the sister tried to reach out to him and he wouldn’t let her, because sometimes that’s what happens, people feel alone and they don’t want to be helped. This book does an excellent job at showing that without blaming the person who commits suicide. It also shows the flaws os someone trying to reach out, the sister could’ve done more, she could’ve paid more attention, and yet she didn’t but no one can say it’s her fault her brother is dead.

The author deals with this topic with such delicacy but at the same time such ease it really pulls you inside the story.

I’m trying to understand him. When someone says they love you but still ends up leaving, I can’t understand it. I don’t believe in that kind of love

This leaves us with the aftermath of mourning the death of a person who took their own life. It truly amazed me to see how the narrator went through different stages of grief in such curt pages. The anger and sadness both contrast each other in this part of the novel and yet none wins.

She’s still alive, he’s still alive, I thought every time someone walked by. She didn’t throw herself in front of a train. Everyone who’s still alive clearly thinks life is worth living. Clearly, I think life is worth living.

In the end of the novel the narrator still feels sad, as grief never truly goes away, but she also reaches peace with what happened. I really enjoyed reading both their journey into adulthood and dealing with the anguish and the happiness of life.

Many people might think this book doesn’t go deep enough into the grief, but I found it the perfect book at the right time for me. The small references of mundane things added to the story in my opinion, they felt vital to bring the characters to life and shaping them into real people.

I’ll end my review with my favourite quote:

I thought about all the love we have inside us and how only a shred of that reaches the people we care about

#booklr #literature #book quotes #book review #books & libraries #books #reading #my reviews #book reccs #book recommendations #dutch literature #translated literature #the international booker prize

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