Jeroen Brouwers (1940–2022)

"Dit denk ik, terwijl ik nog altijd sta waar mijn moeder heeft gezegd dat ik moest blijven staan, al wil ik best met gespreide armen naar haar toe vliegen, bommen werpend, broembroem, tèts! tèts!, het glas van mijn cockpit bespattend met bloed, mijn moeders eigen Daantje op wie zij trots kan zijn, zijn hoed dient hem tot aureool: heilig, driewerf heilig is hij, Daantje de schrijver, Daantje die niet meer lachen kan" (143-144).

Datumloze dagen is a short novel about divorce. Parts of the novel recall the despair that characterize some of Brouwers' early work of empty bottles strewn under trees in a forest surrounding the house. Still, Datumloze dagen is mostly a description of a man trying to build up a new relationship, while trying harder to forget his first wife.

Second book in my jury duty for the literary prize Gouden Boekenuil, in Flanders, Belgium
Physically uneased, disgusted, lump in my throat ... revoltingly repulsive. That's how you feel with the themes described in this book. Friars in an boarding school abusing mentally, humiliating, physical and sexual abuse on school children, young boys.
[[Jeroen Brouwers]] is a true master in depicting the time frame, the protagonist, the atmosphere and the relations of power and silence in this hard, show more nausea causing, novel.
The language used underpins the situations, the stuttering children, the twaddling superior friar, the commanding schoolmaster and super abuser ... it all fits. The reader is given a break with some normal people from the outside world coming into the light but then again you are rejected and recalled to the horrors inside of the school / monastery.
A duty read as jury member for the literary prize Gouden Boekenuil. If not, i would never have read this book. I don't want to close my eyes for this kind of situations, but the horrendous details, the repulsive pleasure by the friars so accurately described, it makes me feel only one thing: run away.
And get them all into jail, throwing away the key.
I know again why i do not want to have any link, none whatsoever, with religion. I can only hope for the current victims, who still are out there, that their misery will end soon and that justice will be done.
Albeit said that i would never have read this book if not on duty, it is a, literature wise seen, very good book: very rich in vocabulary, supporting style, a real pageturner as well, sentences and situations like small jewels, a masterpiece. Hence the 4 stars. But no pleasant read. It makes me think of [Purple Hibiscus] by [[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]], another jewel, but uncomfortable read. show less

A gem!
What a difference between [[Jeroen Brouwers]] and the bulk of the authors! It looks like every sentence has been sculptured, handcrafted, modelled to perfection.
Brouwers' descriptions of his early childhood, his relation to his parents, his grandfather, all are so lively, so recognizable and sad at the same time.
His reflections on himself as an author, his relation to the world, or rather the absence of a social relation, all so brilliant in short, powerful, annotations... A true show more small piece of art.
Thank you, Jeroen Brouwers. show less