De klank van sneeuw

Dutch author Arthur Japin is a very productive writer, but unfortunately not all of his output meets with the same high standards. Japin is the author of some wonderful novels, but this small book containing two novellas is poorly written and not worth buying, probably not even worth reading.

The two novellas "Dooi" and "Zeep" are very poorly written and seem to be slap-shot thrown together of other, older materials. For instance, "Zeep" contains long fragements of a play Vrouwen van Lemnos. It seems Japin wanted to re-use these materials. Besides, Japin does not always seem to be original.

Both novellas are about the theatre.

This book is well written - if it were an 8th grade essay. It's full of cliche's. Plots are predictable, weak. Don't buy this book. The book was "boekenweekgeschenk" in 2006. That means that if you bought a book in 2006, the store would give you a free copy of this novel. Normally, they choose reputable authors who write well, I was flabbergasted when I found out that this guy actually wrote the "boekenweekgeschenk" in 2006.

It can't be his education, because he went to the same grammar school ("Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem") as I did, two years after me :-)
I suppose his being an actor in some cheap soap series removed his art skills.

Dit boek, bestaande uit twee verhalen, leest als een basisschool opstel. Clichematige zinnen, simpel show more taalgebruik, voorspelbare wendingen. De plots van beide verhalen zijn voorspelbaar en zwak, en al honderd maal eerder gebruikt. Dat de plot van het eerste verhaal een dubbele bodem heeft doet daar niets aan af, ook die dubbele bodem is te zwak en cliche om interessant te zijn.
Slecht boek dus! Belachelijk dat het het boekenweekgeschenk in 2006 is geweest. show less

Twee novellen. Heel mooi geschreven. Leest toch makkelijk weg. Juweeltje!