Immagine dell'autore.

Astrid Roemer

Autore di Over de gekte van een vrouw

33+ opere 250 membri 6 recensioni 1 preferito

Sull'Autore

Comprende il nome: Astrid H. Roemer

Serie

Opere di Astrid Roemer

Opere correlate

Etichette

Informazioni generali

Nome canonico
Roemer, Astrid
Nome legale
Roemer, Astrid Heligonda
Data di nascita
1947-04-27
Sesso
female
Nazionalità
Nederland
Nazione (per mappa)
Suriname
Luogo di nascita
Paramaribo, Paramaribo, Suriname
Premi e riconoscimenti
P.C. Hooft-prijs (2016)
Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren (2021)

Utenti

Recensioni

This book is shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature--but it was written/published in Dutch c1982. This is relevant to both the view of a lesbian relationship as viewed by characters in this story (though of course any individual might still hold those views, despite the illegality of lgbt descrimination (since 2015 per equaldex.com). Obviously there are no cell phones and really no technology as we commonly think of it either (cell phones, computers, etc).

I found this book fascinating if also confusing--it looks at feminism, misogyny, patriarchy, family, relationships of many kinds, love, talent, expectations, race, religion, orchids, and more, in Suriname. It jumps around in time--narrator Noenka remembers back to her childhood, or to stories her mother told about her marriage.

After just 9 days of marriage, Noenka wants a divorce from Louis. He refuses. So Noenka tries to forge her own path, disrupting family expectations but staying true to herself. She moves, she lives with relatives, with men, she rents a room in a rooming house, then in Gabrielle's house.

As the story moves forward it also looks backward--and this is where I got confused. We meet Ramses in the present, and then Ramses the baby. We learn about Noenka's mother's marriage. We learn about Gabrielle and Evert's two children. Much of the novel, though, is told using pronouns. The chapters are long, and though there are breaks, I was often unclear about who the pronouns were referring to--who is he, and she? "I" the narrator is Noenka, but the I speaking in quotation marks can be anyone.

The book felt like a fever dream to me, sometimes clear and sometimes confusing. It moves from hot and sensual to illness, blindness, death. Forward and back in time. Flooding, a lush greenhouse, an institution.

When I finished, I went back and re-read the beginning. The postscript is at the front of the book, and made more sense. I think reading this twice might be needed to get the full meaning. But I enjoyed the tropical climate, the fever dream feeling of the whole book.

Also, I wondered if the yellow room, the yellow dress, was a reference to Charlotte Perkins Gilman.This book is shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature--but it was written/published in Dutch c1982. This is relevant to both the view of a lesbian relationship as viewed by characters in this story (though of course any individual might still hold those views, despite the illegality of lgbt descrimination (since 2015 per equaldex.com). Obviously there are no cell phones and really no technology as we commonly think of it either (cell phones, computers, etc).

I found this book fascinating if also confusing--it looks at feminism, misogyny, patriarchy, family, relationships of many kinds, love, talent, expectations, race, religion, orchids, and more, in Suriname. It jumps around in time--narrator Noenka remembers back to her childhood, or to stories her mother told about her marriage.

After just 9 days of marriage, Noenka wants a divorce from Louis. He refuses. So Noenka tries to forge her own path, disrupting family expectations but staying true to herself. She moves, she lives with relatives, with men, she rents a room in a rooming house, then in Gabrielle's house.

As the story moves forward it also looks backward--and this is where I got confused. We meet Ramses in the present, and then Ramses the baby. We learn about Noenka's mother's marriage. We learn about Gabrielle and Evert's two children. Much of the novel, though, is told using pronouns. The chapters are long, and though there are breaks, I was often unclear about who the pronouns were referring to--who is he, and she? "I" the narrator is Noenka, but the I speaking in quotation marks can be anyone.

The book felt like a fever dream to me, sometimes clear and sometimes confusing. It moves from hot and sensual to illness, blindness, death. Forward and back in time. Flooding, a lush greenhouse, an institution.

When I finished, I went back and re-read the beginning. The postscript is at the front of the book, and made more sense. I think reading this twice might be needed to get the full meaning. But I enjoyed the tropical climate, the fever dream feeling of the whole book.
Also, I wondered if the yellow room, the yellow dress, was a reference to Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The "madness" is just as contrived, if I understand these stories.
… (altro)
1 vota
Segnalato
Dreesie | Oct 9, 2023 |
Ik heb van dit boek genoten, er zit een verhaal in en het is mooi geschreven. Maar af en toe was ik ook verward door alle familie relaties en door de gebeurtenissen die zo maar worden geaccepteerd. Is dit een surinaams gebruik of is dit het verhaal zelf? Deze verwarring is ook weer een deel van de magie die het boek sterk maakt. Wel heb ik, zeker in het laatste deel, steeds het gevoel dat ik in de surinaamse gemeenschap ben. Het voltrekt zich deels buiten mij om, ik ben een buitenstaander. Aan de andere kant laten ze mij wel binnen en word ik omsloten door hun gevoelens. Maar dat een moord niet volledig wodt uitgezocht en bestraft is voor mij vreemd. Kortom een intrigerend boek dat ontregeld maar ook boeit.… (altro)
 
Segnalato
Pieter_Goldhoorn | Sep 20, 2023 |
Een autobiografisch (?) verhaal van de omzwervingen van de schrijfster over ongeveer 5 jaren. Het heeft snelheid met vaak korte zinnen. Hoewel niet alles geloofwaardig is, is de schrijfstijl erg aantrekkelijk. Je wordt toch gevangen in het verhaal. Na het lezen van dit boek ben ik ook geinteresseerd geraakt in haar trilogie.
1 vota
Segnalato
Pieter_Goldhoorn | Jul 26, 2021 |
Qua stijl vond ik dit een lastig boek om te lezen. Veel onafgewerkte gedachtes, veel te raden, stukken cursief (gedachten?). De inhoud was heftig, over een Surinaamse man die naar Nederland vertrekt om een vrouw te vergeten. Langzamerhand zie je hem afglijden: drugs, drank, vrouwen. Hij wordt verliefd op een hoer (of wil hij haar redden?) en wil met haar trouwen. Zij wordt vermoord voordat ze kunnen trouwen. Het eind was echt heavy, vond ik.
 
Segnalato
elsmvst | Feb 16, 2018 |

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Statistiche

Opere
33
Opere correlate
4
Utenti
250
Popolarità
#91,401
Voto
½ 3.6
Recensioni
6
ISBN
43
Lingue
3
Preferito da
1

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