Lunarreader in 2014

Hello again,
i join again this group because it's nice to have a log about all the books read in a certain year.
I will try my best again, and hopefully better then in 2013, to read a serious number of books and to comment on them so that you can all take tips from my list if you like.
I'm not a native English speaker, so please accept my apologies in advance for all mistakes you'll find here.

To keep things easy, this message will be updated with the books read
1. Nachttrein naar Lissabon by Pascal Mercier - january 11th - ****
2. Twee levens by Stefan Brijs - january 13th - ***
3. Dagboek van een slecht jaar by J.M. Coetzee - february 8th - ***
4. Moorddadig verleden by Robert Goddard - february 20th - ***
5. Jouw gezicht zal het laatste zijn by Joao Ricardo Pedro - february 26th - ***'
6. De vergelding by Jan Brokken - march 12th - *'
7. Een mooie jonge vrouw by Tommy Wieringa - march 12th - ****
8. Woesten by Kris Van Steenberge - march 24th - ****'
9. Boedapest by Michelin guides - april 20th - **
10. Grote reizen Kleine reizen by Sandro Veronesi - april 20th - ***'
11. De onzichtbare steden by Italo Calvino - june 1st - ***'
12. HhhH by Laurent Binet - june 18th - ****
13. De liefde van Pierre Neuhart by Emmanuel Bove - june 30th - ****
14. Biergastronomie uit de Westhoek by Stefaan Couttenye - july 16th - ****
15. Ierland by Lisa Gerard-Sharp - august 4th - ***
16. Stikvallei by Frank Westerman - august 5th - ***
17. Wachten op zee by Francesco Biamonti - august 15th - ***
18. De mooiste van William Butler Yeats by Koen Stassijns - august 17th - ****
19. De toverlantaarn van Molotov by Rachel Polonsky - november 23rd - ***'
20. De republiek by Joost De Vries - december 9th - **
21. Het verzonkene by Jeroen Brouwers - december 25th - ****
22. Aan Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan - december 27th - ***'
23. Paddenkoppenland by Luc De Vos - december 29th - ***
24.
25.
26.
I should reach at least this number if i want to do better then in 2013, let's see

Number 1: Nachttrein naar Lissabon by Pascal Mercier: very philosophic, very "dense", i didn't advance at all in this book maybe because it made me wonder upon how i look at certain feelings, emotions, rationale, and in general the questions in life one asks himself from time to time.
The author is philosopher, i am heavily interested in philosophy and this book tempted me time and time again, not to read on, but to reflect on my own life, why are we going on all the time: at work, at home, everywhere. Without taking the time to question everything?
Mixed feelings afterwards but a recommendable great read to everyone who is not afraid of being challenged.

I read Night Train to Lisbon a couple of years ago and also thought it was thought provoking, well worth a read.

It's been on the shelf looking at me for about four and half years now...but then I'm not sure I'm ready to ask myself the questions it inspired you to ask yourself.

I've also had Night Train to Lisbon on my shelf for about as long as Dan has, waiting to be read. Hopefully I'll get to it in the next year or two.

Dear basswood, dchaikin and kidzdoc,
thanks for your comments and i agree with basswood: it is well worth to be read.
To dchaikin and kidzdoc: weird … the book was also a year of four on my shelf before i read it. It's like you need to be convinced before. Funny. Only a small year ago i found out that the author is a professor in philosophy, … from then on it was tempting me a little bit more.
Let me know what you think of this book, when you get so far.

2: Twee levens by Stefan Brijs, a very short novella. A small gem depicting two relationships, a young man and his wife, an older woman and her deceased husband. Past vs future, reality vs dreams, small life vs big questions.
As always with this author, multiple layers in a apparently simple story. Nice but not so gripping as his earlier and later novels like Arend en De engelenmaker.

It's too long ago that i read a Coetzee book, i'll change that now. ;)

3: Dagboek van een slecht jaar by J.M. Coetzee, a very special book: 3 stories in one, the diary of Coetzee on all kind of themes, which is a non-fiction part, and the involvement of a neighbour and her husband which are the basis of the two other stories, all readable on the same pages in this Dutch edition.
His personal notes on society give a small insight in what Coetzee thinks of democracy, war, left or right politics, religion and other themes. A bit weird and not always very consistent, which is a surprise for me.
Not sure as well that the "neighbour" stories are fiction which then again is nice as a setup.
Special book.

4 - Moorddadig verleden by Robert Goddard: A less classic Goddard, not really a historical setting but simply past lives determining actual situations and events. Fun reading. Mistaken identities and the classic tanglefooting intrigues.
An incredible bad translator at work. Shame, hence only 3 stars. Unfair to Goddard his quality of writing.

I never realized how much affect the translator has on a work until relatively recently. I used to be okay with the Constance Garnett russian translations but in the last few years I've been reading the Pevear/Volokhonsky translations and it's eye opening how much better they are.

oops, double post

Hi Yolana,
i fully agree with you. Underestimated by most readers.
Thanks for your comment

5: Jouw gezicht zal het laatste zijn by Joao Ricardo Pedro: Bizarre book, Pessoa style alike, with 3 generations reflecting on their own lives, those of previous and future generations and the world around them. Situated in Portugal so about dictators, revolution and politics in general. But also about what one really wants, what others would like him to be and how perception can be totally different then reality or your own self.
The author is clearly gifted but exploits some style exercices a bit too much. A lot too much. Or a bit too much ... or a ...

My next book will be De Vergelding by Jan Brokken: i won it at a book event under the condition that i will review it. Publicly! On the next edition in march of this book event "Uitgelezen" (Read) in Ghent, Flanders.
Stressy. But nice.

6: De vergelding by Jan Brokken, a work in dutch that will probably never be translated. I hope. It's not good.
My review is in Dutch, as i have to make this one for a literary event in Ghent, Flanders:

Wat een boek. Hoe slecht kan je eigenlijk schrijven? Jezelf in 2 zinnen tegenspreken, zoals "... sprak aardig Nederlands, kon zich in ieder geval verstaanbaar maken, ondanks de fouten en de vaak te letterlijk vertaalde Duitse uitdrukkingen .... . Zijn taal was stram." Ja, wat is het nu: aardig Nederlands of stram en vol fouten?
En dit boek komt in aanmerking voor een literaire prijs? Onbegrijpelijk.
De ellendige opsommingen van details en namen, het volledig ontbreken van een verhaal, de afknapper van jewelste op het einde. Franse woorden die enkel in Nederland gebruikt worden zoals geïnundeerd en chapiter. Het is mij allemaal teveel.
Het positieve is dat het bij momenten spannend lijkt te gaan worden zoals op pagina 137 met ".... en begon het donkerste etmaal uit zijn leven, een etmaal waarin hij de ene na de andere foute beslissing nam."
Nu gaat het wat worden denk je dan. Maar helaas, pagina 138 begint alweer met het eindeloos opnoemen van namen van betrokkenen, veraf of dichtbij, details, details, details als om te pronken met wat er allemaal (door een ander?) opgezocht was aan informatie.
Zelfs dan komt er geen opheldering, het boek eindigt met een sisser. Dat er zoveel jaar na datum niet echt nog beslissende feiten boven water komen kan ik wel geloven maar het maakt het boek tot een interessante micro-geschiedschrijving voor zij die het meegemaakt hebben, niet voor de neutrale lezer.
Enkel mijn interesse in geschiedenis heeft gezorgd dat ik dit boek uitgelezen heb. En dan nog: deze schrijver neemt echt wel een loopje met de geschiedenis: hij kan zich iemand niet herinneren, ligt dan nachtenlang aan die persoon te denken en .... op een vroege morgen lukt het hem! "Even zag ik hem scherp voor me." Elke psycholoog zal hier zeggen: de wens is de vader van de gedachte. Niemand kan na nachtenlang wakker liggen plots een helder beeld krijgen, dat is gewoon zelfbedrog. En géén geschiedschrijving.
Wil je een écht aangrijpend verhaal, dat bovendien ontelbare keren mooier geschreven is? Lees dan Oorlog en Terpentijn van Stefan Hertmans. Dat boek is trouwens ook deel van de shortlist voor dezelfde literaire prijs. Als Hertmans het niet haalt van Brokken, tja, dan heb ik niets begrepen van literair werk.
Daarenboven is het enorm storend dat de mede-onderzoeker van dienst zelfs helemaal niet op het boekomslag vermeld wordt. Onbegrijpelijk.

What kind of literary event in Gent?

"probably never be translated. I hope. It's not good." That totally made me laugh. Sorry about the dud!

Hello PolymathicMonkey, it's Uitgelezen in Vooruit in Ghent.
I will be commenting the book on the next session on the 18th of March.

7: Een mooie jonge vrouw by Tommy Wieringa: very beautiful, very well written. Very beautiful novella, intense story in which you must feel something for the man, albeit someone with doubtful principles in his relationship. A tryly nice writing style, very stylish. From all roses and glamour towards total descent on the social scale in only 90 pages.

8: Woesten by Kris Van Steenberge, a magnificent book, sparkling language from page one to last, dramatic story and most of all the characters are described so lively, it's like they are sitting next to you whilst reading.
The story about a couple and two children, boys, of which one is beautiful and the other one disfigured seemed at first not my cup of tea and so i hesitated to buy this book but happily i did buy it on the second time this book was highlighted at the Uitgelezen book event in Ghent, Flanders.
Great storytelling, from 4 different angles, in asynchronous timelines, with different attention points and complementary details, this book is also well crafted.
What lifts this book to the status of 4+ stars are, aside the beautiful writing style and the lively characters the underlying theme of "who are we, who are we really?"
Is anyone truly honest? All of the time? Do we really love someone? Unconditionally? Or is bad luck enough to change all this? And this is only the first theme.
The second underlying theme, the third layer of the book if you want, is even more dramatic: can you really be who you are? What are the consequences of perception by others, fed by prejudice or not? When you're poor or rich, beautiful or not, a farmer or an educated man, a lot of people will get ideas that will not easily be changed, if any interest in the real you would already be present at all!
Social relations at the dawn of the 20th century and World War 1, religion, marriage, love, all these concepts look like they are just the scene to set up this play of intrigue, ambitions, dreams and wishes against the cruel environment created by jealousy, prejudice, prestige and gossip.
And oh, before i forget, it's a debute. Unbelievable!

#21 Bummer, I can't seem to find an english translation.

Hello Yolana,
that will be hard, indeed. There isn't much intrest in Flemish/Dutch literature amongst the editors in the english speaking world.
If i would hear about it, i would because it is always big news when it happens, i will certainly inform you.

Thanks, I wish I could read Flemish, the only foreign language I can read well is french unfortunately.

9: Boedapest by Michelin guides. A short weekend guide for a very nice city. The guide is not that good, errors like on a picture "... parliament on the background" and it isn't the parliament .... missing street names on the included mini-map, recent important buildings not mentioned on the map ...
But, hey, the weekendtrip was nice. Our host at the B&B was very helpfull and gave us a lot of nice tips. So less need for the guidebook :)

10: Grote reizen Kleine reizen by Sandro Veronesi. Travel stories with very personal notes, emotions and appreciations (or not). The writing style is nice, the content of the stories sometimes a bit weird (for example about Antwerpen, in my home country) and sometimes also funny (pro & con's in the Moskou story).
Funny to see that i share a lot of the author's opinions like on posh restaurants, big consortiums of hotels and independant bookstores.
The XY readers will also be pleased with the Trentino story.
Overall a nice read, some good tips for Paris, and a funny experience reading it on the airplane to and from Budapest myself. Traveling while reading about .... yep, traveling! :)

And finally number 11: De onzichtbare steden by Italo Calvino
An absurdistic story about Marco Polo telling the Khan about all cities in his empire, but in fact only talking about Venice in Italy. Bemusings on what is true, what is an interpretation, what is an illusion, a perception ...
Nice but not really my style of book. I like dreamy books, this is about so much more then cities but ... it's a bit too well hidden.
And in some paragraphs i have been wondering what kind of substance Calvino took..... Something strong, that's for sure.

Glad to be back here ... it's been a while, professional occupations and so ...

Hi Luna, I loved Invisible Cities! Realizing it is not a traditional novel, it's definitely in the postmodern vein, it is so wonderfully imaginative!

Also loved Night Train to Lisbon. At least we're reading the same books! ;-)

Hi Poquette!
Thanks for your comment.
I also rated Night train to Lisbon with 4 stars, it's a really good book but no easy read since it put's you on thinking about yourself and that is what i did not experience whilst reading Invisible cities.

But of course we don't have to agree on every book. If two people continuously think the same, there's one too many.

I will check out your reading.

Indeed we do not have to agree. But it is interesting that we are attracted to the same kinds of books. I'll look forward to seeing what comes next!

12: HhhH by Laurent Binet. A special book.
A book about a story to be told. A real life story, the killing of Heydrich in World War II by the resistance.
But more then that, a book about the writer of the book, written by himself.
His emotions, his sympathy or not, his view, his showing off with how many other authors he knows, he disapproves, ....
But intriguing, compelling, sucking you in .... In this to be told story, in this story that everyone should read.
So that we should know that heroes exist, not th'e two gunmen, but ordinary civilians risking their lives for.... For what? For freedom? Ouch.... Too high. For their country? Ouch ... Way too far. For friendship maybe, or for what they believe deep in themselves is right or wrong!
As i said, ordinary people. But certainly heroes!

Number 13, halfway my target i set for myself as a minimum and halfway of this year ....
De liefde van Pierre Neuhart by Emmanuel Bove is a little gem. Recommended at the Uitgelezen bookevent in Ghent, it was again a pleasant surprise.
Albeit that pleasant is not the word you will use for the content of the book, a rather grey and sad story of a man that loses everything in his love for a girl, love for another future through the girl, love for another live via the girl, .... it stays all a bit in shades, grey, untold, unclear .... but very clearly wanted, desired, chased after like a maniac ...
The author seems to be known, not by me until now, to be a specialist in people living on the edge, going up and down in life as the author was doing himself according to the very well written suffix from the translator.
De liefde van Pierre Neuhart by Emmanuel Bove tells about this unanswered love, longing, desire in such a detailed and well observed fashion that it sometimes hurts. You can almost see the interiors described, almost feel the pain of solitude whilst being madly in love.

Beautiful. Short but very condensed. Reduced to the essence. As i like it.

PS: that last note is for LT member Baswood, who i admire for his book reviews, but i beg to differ from Baswood as i find short novels sometimes the best, when the writing gets that kind of "distilled" appearance that more words would only dilute the content.

I take your point Lunarreader

and i keep admiring your reviews, happy to get free access to such a rich source of "book knowledge". Thanks for that, Baswood.

and a special one, number 14: Biergastronomie uit de Westhoek by Stefaan Couttenye, yes a cookbook !
I am very fond of good food and nice drinks, see my extensive library on beers and whisky, so my idea was to share this with you albeit that no translation in english will be made.
This is a cookbook, but not an ordinary one. It's one to read, there are plenty of texts about the origin of the ingredients like about a certain breed of sheep, or cheese from a specific farm.
It tells about the importance of heritage, old and slow ways of farming really nice vegetables or livestock. Completed with historical reasons or explanations on why it should be done this way.
It tells more about slow ways of preparing this food, with respect for the good combinations of food and beers which is a local tradition here in Flanders, Belgium.
As i am a, hum hum, modest but good amateur chef, this is completely my cup of tea, or do i have to say, my pint of real ale?
Anyhow, i read it completely, i even already tried out some recipes and just to get you guys and girls hungry, i already did this one: filet of pearl hen, confit of pearl hen haunch, with fresh carrot, spring turnip, spring onion, combined with a dark beer called "Saint Bernard monk", grey North Sea schrimps and hop sprouts.
Very nice, i assure you. :)

15: Ierland by Lisa Gerard-Sharp.
I do like the concept of these Eyewitness travel guides but i travalled now for the first time without the Michelin Guide in backup and i missed it.
Not much more to tell about it, apart from the fact that i had a nice trip in Ireland and we met a lot of lovely people.

16: Stikvallei by Frank Westerman. A hard one to review. I got it from a friend with the message: read this, it goes about stories and how they evolve, how facts become myths and the other way around, or not?
I worked (yes, worked) myself through this book because i was hoping that at the end some conclusion would be made, but ... nope.
So dear author, tell me why this book has been written? It is non-fiction, it goes through all the different interpretations given to a disaster that happened in the eighties in Cameroon but .... it stays there. The book depicts the various points of view and what has become of them in the imagination, the African storytelling, the facts by different scientists who didn't agree, the oral tradition, connection with ancient gods and devils .....
But no conclusion.
Yes it is about storytelling, how history modifies certain things, how people with different interests make something different of the same but for me it could have been a bit more. But the author is clearly no historian, and so in my opinion he just adds one extra version of different facts.
As i said: a difficult one.

17: Wachten op zee by Francesco Biamonti, a nice novel bringing us a story of an old man accepting a last (illegal) job as a boatsman. The descriptions of landscapes, the interaction with the other men on the boat, the relationship with the woman that waits desperately for him to stay with her ... a nice mixture.
Beautifully written and with a lot of attention for the atmosphere but the story itself is a bit thin and in combination with the belletrie it becomes even thinner, vanishing behind the overall setting.
So: nice but not captivating.

18: De mooiste van William Butler Yeats by Koen Stassijns, a collection of poems by W.B. Yeats selected by Koen Stassijns and Ivo Van Strijtem.
We were in Ireland this summer and went to Sligo where Yeats lived in his youth and where he is also burried.
The poems are sometimes very inspired and clearly written as a poem with no other meaning, but sometimes Yeats uses his poems to get a message out and then any knowledge of the timeframe and his point of view seem necessary to fully understand the poem.
The first kind, the pure poetry, is my favorite and some poems are outstandingly beautiful.

Finally, number 19: De toverlantaarn van Molotov by Rachel Polonsky: nice book, very detailed parts of history about Molotov, Stalin and other cruel fellows in communist Russia.
A lot of business reading and transformation works in my library prevented me from reading more. I'll catch up now, i hope.

Stikvallei would seem an interesting book to me. Thanks for your review.

Just caught up with you. Enjoyed the reviews - too bad so many of these books are not available in English.

Number 20: but not a good one, unfortunately: De Republiek by Joost De Vries
Unbelievable book about a persons exchange in a competition to be the "best" adept of a professor obsessed with Hitler-studies.
Without any doubt some more layers are to be found in this book, it won an important literature prize in the dutch speaking part of the world (which i do not understand) but this book never got a grip on me. In my humble opinion the biggest part is so unrealistic, so impossible, so .... not good, said in two words.
Just to think that this book was preferred to Oorlog en Terpentijn by a jury, i really can't imagine.

I won't reach my target due to all transformation works at home.... but hey it are transformation works to my library ! :)
At least i did buy again more books so, promissing for 2015.
There will be hard choices in 2015: working in my garden OR sitting down in it and read a book ;)

Happy christmas days for everyone.

21: a gem: Het verzonkene by Jeroen Brouwers.
What a difference between Jeroen Brouwers and the bulk of the authors! It looks like every sentence has been sculptured, handcrafted, modelled to perfection.
Brouwers' descriptions of his early childhood, his relation to his parents, his grandfather, all are so lively, so recognizable and sad at the same time.
His reflections on himself as an author, his relation to the world, or rather the absence of a social relation, all so brilliant in short, powerful, annotations... A true small piece of art.
Thank you, Jeroen Brouwers.

22: Aan Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, a little sprint at the end of the year, target out of reach but hey... still reading.
This most acclaimed book by McEwan was a bit a surprise, very beautifully written, deep character descriptions and ... some hilarious scenes. Or is this wrong to put it like this?
At the end of chapter 3 it is so predictable what is going to happen that i could not stop laughing. Was it still really so bad in the early 60's? I am born in 64 and i can't imagine that there were still a lot of people like Florence in that time but ... must be, if i follow the author.
Anyhow, i thougt of this book that the fifth chapter was like a sort of speedy round up, in contrast with the very detailed passages in the second and fourth chapter which show the craftmanship of McEwan.
So in the end, my conclusion: beautiful but a bit surprisingly fast towards the end.

23 and last: Paddenkoppenland by Luc De Vos. A funny novel by a Flemish rocker - singer - author - popular mediaperson who died short after publishing this book at the age of 52.
His death came as a shock in our community and everybody agreed, this is too early, this guy was doing wright, popular songs, on screen in funny images, nice books etc. etc.
A good guy as well, his last will as a testimony, he asked not too buy flowers, nor other stuff but too make a donation to Natuurpunt (the biggest nature and wildlife conservation organisation here in Flanders).
But enough on this hero author.
His book now: well the author is a little bit older then i am, and i recognise a lot of childhood situations he describes and that have evolved enormously since then. Like for instance: the weekly bath. Unimaginable today for most of us, but reality back in the early 70's.
Also the standard sentences parents liked to use towards their children when not behaving as desired and the totally different look towards sexuality, just to name a few.
The story in the book: a child with no big socially integrated background struggles to have friends, girlfriends and ends up in weird situations that bring him to drink, drink a lot. This drinking, surprise surprise, gets him in more trouble until there seems no way out but then all of a sudden there is a short period of success.
Short, which means that afterwards everything gets bad again but there seems to be a little bit of relief in the end, or isn't there really any relief?
The best elaborated part of the book can be described as autobiographical, a hard realistic coming of age story. The rest of the book is a bit on a rush and instead of making another point, it jumps a bit from one rock to another, lying in the river of life, but not sure if he wants to get to the other side, turn back, or just keep jumping around.
Anyhow, too bad there won't be anymore books by Luc De Vos, this being his best work so far.