Publication
Amsterdam Singel 1995
ISBN
904130004X / 9789041300041
Collection
Description
The novel’s retired narrator is slowly but surely losing his grip on reality: he can no longer distinguish between past and present, he gets the urge to go to work and doesn’t recognize his own wife. More than a tale about dementia, this is a love story with an inevitable tragic ending. El narrador jubilado de esta novela va perdiendo lenta pero inexorablemente el contacto con la realidad: ya no logra discernir entre el pasado y el presente, de pronto quiere ir al trabajo y toma a su esposa por una extraña. Más que un relato sobre la demencia, ésta es una historia de amor con un inevitable final trágico.
Genres
User reviews
LibraryThing member Differenti
A novel on dementia. Maarten Klein suddenly notices that part of his memories are disappearing. He cannot remember if it is morning or afternoon, he wants to go to work while he has been retired for years, and he doesn't remember who he is seeing on his own wedding pictures.
Several books on this
Very touching and unnerving.
Several books on this
Show More
subject exist, but the viewpoint is original and very believable. The story is told in first person, as if you were Maarten himself and constantly wondering where you have left your stuff, or who that unknown woman is, cooking in the kitchen. The story becomes more and more fragmented as his dementia gets worse and worse. Near the end, these fragments become more abstract and difficult to grasp, as Maarten is completely losing his grip on reality.Very touching and unnerving.
Show Less
Awards
Original publication date
1984