The Dutch Deadline Holiday Gift Guide
Book recs for everyone!
Due to mind-numbing will-they-won’t stories about the formation of a government dominating Dutch news this week, and the fact that moving house has rendered me incapable of maintaining a single coherent thought—I give you the first annual Dutch Deadline holiday gift guide.
Books only, because why would you care what kind of candles I like? (Yankee Candles. I’m from New England, okay? I can’t help it.)
These are all Dutch books in translation, Dutch authors writing in English, or English books about Dutch stuff, published or translated recently, that I can highly recommend to every English-speaking Nederphile on your list. However many there are. One, perhaps? Two, if you’re lucky?
Fiction
Breakwater, Marijke Schermer (author), Liz Waters (translator)
This story of keeping secrets, a marriage falling apart, and a woman not exactly coming to terms with a past rape does not make for the gezelligste choice to kick of a gift guide, I know… but it is an incredible work of psychological fiction, and one of the best Dutch novels I’ve ever read.
The Ascent, Stefan Hertmans (author), David McKay (translator)
Hertmans is easily my favorite Dutch / Flemish author. He writes in a remarkable mix of autofiction, fiction, poetry, and sorta mystery. War and Turpentine (longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International prize) is one of my favorite books of all time. In The Ascent, Hertmans becomes obsessed with a previous resident of his home in Ghent—a Flemish nationalist who collaborated with the Germans during WWII. For the bookish.
We Had to Remove This Post, Hanna Bervoets (author), Emma Rault (translator)
The story of a woman working as a content moderator for a social media company, looking back on a failed relationship. Chilling and psychologically acute literary fiction that reads like a mystery. It’s a really short book, 96 pages, which suits it—you’re never bogged down in trauma for too long, were it only so easy in real life. For the social media addict.
Art Books
NL, Bart Verhoeff
I love this big photo book. It’s full of cleverly-captured scenes and places that will be familiar to anyone who’s spent a little time in the Netherlands, “with a typical Bert Verhoeff-style: photos with an unerring sense for the right moment, often anecdotal and with a great sense of humor.” For the Nederphile.
Strange Beauty, Erwin Olaf
Olaf, one of the Netherland’s most famous photographers, died this year at 64 years old. This 2021 book is overview of 40 years of his work, showcasing his formally staged and often subversive scenes. For the saucy art lover.
Bron, Zindzi Zwietering
Zwietering documents the lead up to April 12, 2018, the day Cape Town was due to run out of water. The beautiful 84-page photo book reflects on the impact of climate change and social inequality. “In my work I try to transform terrifying facts into soft, almost tender images,” she said of the project. For the environmentally and socially conscious citizen.
Non-fiction
Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II, Robert Matzen
I didn’t even know Hepburn was Dutch until I saw the title of this book! Of course it is full of biographical detail of Hepburn’s young life during the occupation, and the family circumstances that shaped her (she’s descended from Frisian nobility, her dad left the family) it also provides a view into Dutch life in general during the war. For any dad. Or movie lover.
The Upside-Down World, Benjamin Moser
I admit I have not yet read this book yet. But it was written by an American guy who moved to the Netherlands twenty years ago and apparently tells his story of falling in love with and educating himself about Dutch painters. Has to be a relatable read for any English-speaking immigrant to the Netherlands, I figure.
The Dream of Europe: Travels in a Troubled Continent, Geert Mak (author), Liz Waters (translator)
Okay, I haven’t read this book either! But it’s on my list, and I did read [the first third of] Mak’s Amsterdam: A Brief Life of the City when I first arrived and it provided vivid historical context for my new town—his writing is more colorful than you might expect from this kind of book. Mak is one of the most well-known Dutch historians. For the European.
Hot Linkjes 🔥
Politics
Boris Johnson considered a military raid on the Netherlands during the pandemic in order to steal EU-bound Covid vaccines. Gross. (Jason Groves / The Daily Mail)
Before Dutch society was “secularised” as it is today, it was “pillarised.” People were Protestant, Catholic, or social-democratic, and associated only with organizations (political parties, schools, banks, unions, etc.) in their pillar. Arnon Grunberg argues in the Guardian that Mark Rutte and a strong center guarded against the anti-Christ of the far-right? And that God is dead? Actually I have no idea what he’s arguing despite reading the op-ed five times, but I’d never head of pillarisation before and I suppose you might not have either, so there you go.
Culture
This essay about American burnout and hoping for a better life in Europe perfectly encapsulates why I find life in the Netherlands so much more peaceful than in the US. Especially this part:
“While Denmark's government is more functional than some other European governments (including Italy), the view that people should have their basic needs taken care of is typical of the continent. What are considered ‘entitlements’ in the United States are rightly understood as human rights in these countries.”
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🥳 Leuke Dingetjes
The Occupied City, acclaimed British director Steve McQueen’s 4.5-hour documentary about Jewish Amsterdammers during WWII, and how locations in the city touched by the war operate today, is now in theaters in the Netherlands. The film is based on historian, NRC journalist, and McQueen’s partner, Bianca Stigter’s book, Atlas of an Occupied City: Amsterdam 1940-1945.
There are Dutch and English-language versions of the film. In Amsterdam, the English version played at the Eye last week, hopefully some showtimes pop up for next week too.
Filmkrant has an interesting interview with the couple about the film, and how lessons from history are often only temporary.
Love is Alive
I first listened to this track on a very cold day and felt slightly warmer for a couple of seconds.
*all typos in this post are on purpose
Thank you for sharing my essay! I love the Netherlands 💜