I won't easily forget reading 'Cirkeltje in het gras' (Circle in the grass) by Oek de Jong the summer before secondary school. It must have been a random find in the bookshelves of a campsite or rented house that appealed to me. Oek de Jong has his own sensual style, not shying away from writing about sex, and it opened my eyes to a grown up world that was yet new to me.
The first week in secondary school, our first Dutch lesson: the teacher asks all of us to share the title of our favourite novel with the class. Most mention teenage novels and authors that must be very familiar to him. When it's my turn I bluntly state 'Cirkeltje in het gras', half-knowing that it will shock the teacher. It does.
I have set the bar for the rest of my six years at secondary school to read, re-read and write essays about everything that is new, different, Literature with a capital and without.
Facing quarantaine and no work to do from home other than home schooling, I kindly ask someone to bring around some books. What a surprise to find Zwarte Schuur (Black Barn) by Oek de Jong in the stack! It was first published in 2019, which escaped my attention completely. From page 1 I set off on a new adventure, almost holiday like feeling of reading such a well written, well composed novel. The sensuality and sex are less prominent, or maybe I am less new to it. The characters are so well wrought, and real, and something else is new to me this time: their age, and the stage of their relationship. The story is so vivid that I automatically start picturing myself in that fase of life and relationship of the protagonists who are in their 60's.
Let's hope Zwarte Schuur isn't Oek de Jong's last great novel. I definitely hope to be carried away one more time by his great storytelling. Be it during quarantaine or after.
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| Oek de Jong by Vrij Nederland |
