READ IN DUTCH

Dit was het boekenweekgeschenk van 2011. Ik had nog nooit iets van Kader Abdolah gelezen, maar was wel al een tijdje benieuwd. Nu is een boekenweekgeschenk voor mij nooit echt een goede graadmeter, aangezien ik niet bijzonder van korte verhalen hou (geef mij gerust maar een dikke pil van een 1000 ofzo pagina's).

Maar dit verhaal was best leuk om te lezen. De schrijfstijl vond ik wel prettig en ik denk dat ik in de toekomst nog wel eens iets van Abdolah wil gaan lezen. (Als ik er ooit de tijd voor vind natuurlijk.) ( )

A short novel telling the story of an Iranian migrant making his way in the Netherlands as a seller of coffee.

Lovely story giving an interesting view of life as a migrant and how to make your way in a new country.
I particularly love the way in which Abdolah uses the set up of the famous novel 'Max Havelaar' and makes this great Dutch literary work his own. The story contains a mixture of elements from Dutch and Persian literary traditions, making it a very nice read. ( )

When I read the first few lines, I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes, to make sure I was holding the right book and really reading what I thought I was reading...

The book starts more or less the same as Max Havelaar by Multatuli. It also has the same build. And I happen to have read that one (years ago for my Dutch literature class).

I liked this little book by Kader Abdolah. It is well constructed, interesting, not only because of the many pointings to other literate works (Max Havelaar being only one of them, there are poems in the book as well), but also because of the contents.
A mix of present and past of a fugitive / asylum seeker. For me, not knowing anything about Abdolah's past but that he's from Iran, it is not possible to determine whether it is autobiographic or not, or maybe just a little.

I have more books on my shelf by him and after readig this one, I've gotten VERY curious! ( )

Engaging, warm and ironic little story, exploring exile and migration from the eccentric point of view of an Iranian refugee, now a coffee dealer in Amsterdam, who's as hopelessly in love with the classics of Dutch literature as he is with the poetry of the country where he was born. ( )

Ik heb genoten van dit boek. Het refereert naar de Max Havelaar en andere nederlandse literaire boeken vanuit het gezichtspunt van een buitenlander. Eén van de beste boekengeschenken van de laatste jaren. ( )