Splinter Chabot

The 2024 Boekenweek gift came in the form of a group self-portrait by a literary family — Bart Chabot and two of his sons are published novelists, another son is a journalist and non-fiction writer, and for this project they were joined by the fourth son, an engineer and furniture designer, and the boys’ mother, Yolanda, a medic. There’s also a (ghost-written) chapter by the family dog: 4 000 words each for the seven of them, adding up to the statutory Boekenweek ration of 28 000.

We show more get a lot of fun stuff about the contrast between Bart Chabot’s high-profile public career on stage and screen and the family’s very private existence in a house where even the plumber was only allowed in on rare occasions and with much precaution, and the way they still go on family holidays to Sweden (without partners) even with the boys in their thirties. And all of them disappear off into different corners of the holiday house to write... And of course there is a lot about how relations between parents and children shift as the children grow up the dog gets older, and rooms in the house empty of people and fill with junk.

It’s interesting to see everyone’s slightly different perspective on the family’s quirky existence, but it feels more like a voyeuristic magazine feature than a real literary exercise — it doesn’t really seem to tell us anything about families other than the Chabot family, since the Chabot family doesn’t really seem to recognise the existence of other families. Altogether, other people don’t seem to feature in their lives as anything more than oddities to be written about. show less

Als de Hemel genoeg ruimte heeft is written in the style of a fairy tale, apptly so, because it is a kitsch tale of life and romance. At more than 569 pages, the book is an ordeal for readers, of sickening prose: elaborate, exaggerated and really, really tacky.

For large parts of the book it isn't very clear whether Magnus and Elias are lovers of just friends. The succesive books, entitled the Forest, the Castle, the Mountain, the Monastery, etc seem to signify stages in life. The two men are show more on a quest to look for the holy grail. A conflict leads them to the unexpected and shocking conclusion.

The book is incredible, and I wonder how many people can put up with this writing style. show less

In 2020, Splinter Chabot made his debut with the novel Confettiregen. It is a celebration of LGBTQ-lifestles, a tremendously optimistic and joyful book. Roze brieven is a compendium of letters the author received in response to the publication of his novel.

It is not entirely clear whether the letters are authentic, although they do seem real. Surprisingly, even in the Netherlands, which used to be considered such an open-minded and tolerant country, a coming-out novel could still spark so show more much emotion and recognition. Times have changed, and queer identity is again not self-evident.
The author answers selected letters in the book, and provides further comment.

The writing style is extremely light, somewhat childish. show less

Ik vond het een zeer interessant boek.

Het boek vertelt over hoe Wobie opgroeit. Het is een zoektocht naar zichzelf en zijn geaardheid. Hij wil net als iedereen zijn maar dat is hij duidelijk niet. Wobie heeft dan ook moeite om voor zijn geaardheid uit te komen en durft het enkel aan een paar vriendinnen te vertellen. Hij heeft het gevoel dat zijn geaardheid iets slechts is omwille van de pesterijen en verschillende andere gebeurtenissen in de wereld. Zijn familie sluit hij uit van zijn show more innerlijke strijd ondanks dat zijn ouders van in het begin aangeven dat ze openstaan voor elke soort van liefde. Het is mooi om te lezen hoe Wobie uiteindelijk toch de kracht en de moed weet op te brengen om zich te uiten. show less