Laila Lalami makes history come to life for us in this utterly compelling insider’s account of a 1527 conquistador expedition.
Engelse literatuur
The Moor’s Account
January 17th, 2016 | by Maarten | published in Engelse literatuur, English texts, FOCUS, geschiedenis | Comments Off on The Moor’s Account
The Uncommon Reader
December 29th, 2015 | by Maarten | published in Engelse literatuur, English texts, FOCUS | Comments Off on The Uncommon Reader
The eponymous reader, as you may have surmised from the crown symbol on the cover, is none less than [spoiler!]. The narrative starts with her, more through accident than anything else, getting her hands on a book that for once she feels obliged to actually read.
The Finkler Question
December 6th, 2015 | by Maarten | published in Engelse literatuur, FOCUS | Comments Off on The Finkler Question
Howard Jacobson schrijft fantastisch, heeft een fijnbesnaarde humor, toont zich meester van de menselijke geest, … maar zet toch een hoofdfiguur neer waar volgens mij niemand zich mee zal identificeren.
Vladimir Nabokov and Sebastian Knight
September 27th, 2014 | by Janantoon | published in Engelse literatuur, English texts, FOCUS | Comments Off on Vladimir Nabokov and Sebastian Knight
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight was Nabokov’s first novel in English. He wrote it in Paris, in late 1938 and early 1939, while in the meantime making efforts towards moving to an English-speaking country. At that stage he thought of moving to England, which may in some part account for the setting of Sebastian […]
Nadine Gordimer blijven lezen
August 6th, 2014 | by Janantoon | published in Engelse literatuur, FOCUS | Comments Off on Nadine Gordimer blijven lezen
Onlangs overleed de Zuid-Afrikaanse schrijfster Nadine Gordimer. Een schrijver kan je best herdenken door zijn of haar werk te lezen. En dat heb ik gedaan met haar roman The House Gun. De blurb van de uitgever insinueert de spanning van een detectiveroman: A house gun — kept like a house cat: a fact of ordinary […]
Nadine Gordimer overleden
July 15th, 2014 | by Janantoon | published in Engelse literatuur, FOCUS | Comments Off on Nadine Gordimer overleden
Nadine Gordimer overleed op 13 juli 2014, negentig jaar oud. In 1991 kreeg ze de Nobelprijs, vooral voor haar grote en controversiële romans uit de jaren 70 en 80, waaronder The Conservationist. De jury schreef over haar werk: Gordimer writes with intense immediacy about the extremely complicated personal and social relationships in her environment. At […]
Why I want you to read John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
April 27th, 2014 | by Maarten | published in boeken van belang, Engelse literatuur, English texts, FOCUS | Comments Off on Why I want you to read John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Only when you read its very last paragraph, you’ll appreciate the true scale of this novel. It is as audacious, as confidently grand as the Ode to Joy of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
John Carey — the pleasure of reading
April 11th, 2014 | by Janantoon | published in Engelse literatuur, English texts, FOCUS | Comments Off on John Carey — the pleasure of reading
John Carey The Unexpected Professor The pleasure of reading is such that it is even a joy to read about other’s reading habits. I think that is why I ordered this book before it was published. It was advertised on The Thought Fox (Faber and Faber’s blog about books) and I was seduced by: John […]
Our Kind of Traitor
April 10th, 2014 | by Maarten | published in Engelse literatuur, English texts, FOCUS | Comments Off on Our Kind of Traitor
In Our Kind of Traitor, le Carré has replaced the Cold War setting by a modern equivalent: Russian mafia, high finance, and money laundering.
