2010/29

Thomas Blondeau: Donderhart (313p.)

It’s with great susceptibility that once in a while I mix my usual reading fare, which can be described as international, with literature of a more regional nature, written in Dutch, and typically confined to a market of 20-25 million readers, Belgium and the Netherlands combined, although some of them do get translated. My specific reason for wanting to read Thomas Blondeau is that he was born in Poperinge, close to Westouter where I was born and raised, and I suspect he went to the same high school as I did. His face on the back page is faintly familiar.

The story is about Max Gosset, a journalist who sees his private and professional life coming undone during a trip to London, a series of events set in motion by a chance encounter with an old love, Eva, the template for this character clearly being Westouter’s most famous citizen, Geike Arnaert, the former lead singer of triphop band Hooverphonic.

The sentences are OK, the story is good, and if compare Blondeau with for instance Dimitri Verhulst, one of the leaders of the contemporary Belgian pack, then I’d say Blondeau is on par, easily.

‘Zitten er veel Belgen hier?’ vroeg Max. Praten, kletsen, een vaardigheid die hem nooit in de steek liet. Duizenden, miljoenen woorden gooien in het gat dat tussen hem en de wereld zat.

‘Vier, geloof ik,’ zei Roderick.

‘Vier. Dan kunnen we kaarten,’ mompelde Jerry.

‘De Beatles waren met hun vieren,’ zei Max. ‘Toch hebben ze in al die jaren samen nooit gekaart. Weet iemand waarom?’

Stilte.

‘Paul Me-Kaart-Nie.’

(I once told the same joke to my fellow students in a laboratory analytical chemistry, with great success.)