Cider voor arme mensen

Cider voor arme mensen (Engl. "Cider for poor people") is a novel by the Dutch author Hella S. Haasse. It was published in 1960. Most of Haasse's novels are either historical novels, situated in the Netherlands, France or Italy, or (historical) novels about former Dutch India, now Indonesia. Cider voor arme mensen does not fall in these categories, although the story does take place in France.

Cider voor arme mensen is a finely crafted novel. The story develops as a Dutch couple, on vacation in France, is stranded in the French countryside, in the middle of nowhere, after their car has broken down in a thunderstorm. At the end of the novel, as the car has been repaired, and they are on their way again, dark clouds gather, and the novel show more ends as they drive into a new thunderstorm. Thus, the action of the story takes place, as it were, in the eye of the storm, the quiet moment between two thunderstorms.

Marta and Reinier have been literally stranded in the middle of nowhere. As Marta discovers over the following days, the nearest farm, where they can spend the night, belongs to a castle estate, which is situated a few kilometres from the nearest village. The castle is situated in garden grounds within a small forest. The eccentric lord of the manor is only once per year in residence, upon which occasion tenants are obliged to participate in festivities organized at the castle estate. While the tenants live in deep poverty, the castle is a treasure house. When Marta walks in through the garden, she is overwhelmed by its riches and beauty. It feels as if she is in a dream. The experience opens her eyes to a different reality.

Martha has lived in the dream, believing that Reinier will separate from his wife Sophia, to stay with her, but it gradually dawns on her that Reinier is faithful in heart to his wife, while he keeps Martha on his side. While it seems Reinier betrays Sophie with Martha, he actually betrays Martha by speaking out against her to her employer. As a result, Martha loses her job. Reinier justifies this betrayal with his orientation for objectivity. Since he already has a love affair with Martha, he feels he cannot protect her without compromising his professional integrity. Thus Reinier doubly betrays Martha.

Martha is described as driven by idealism. The dilemma created at her work has arisen because she invited people who were progressive and part of the resistance during World War II, to give lectures or work for the Nieuws Centrum she works for. However, the politically more conservative management does not welcome her leftish orientation. By siding with the management of the Nieuws Centrum, Reinier also betrays Martha ideologically.

Throughout their short stay, the people on the farm remain suspicious about Martha and Reinier. Towards the end, they do not charge them any repair cost, but in return ask them to give their son a lift to Paris. Before leaving the farm, the farmer's wife gives Martha her recipe for surrogate cider. Martha has picked up that the boy is a Communist and is looked for by the police. They take the boy, but once on their way, Reinier protests. In an unobserved moment, the boy slips out of the car, and disappears.

Reinier's love for Martha is but a cheap surrogate, the lowest and cheapest substitute for the real thing. As cider is but a surrogate for champagne, surrogate cider stands at the lowest rung.

Cider voor arme mensen is a short, but very beautiful novel. show less

Marta en Reinier gaan op vakantie na teleurstellingen in hun persoonlijk leven en stranden in een klein plaatsje in Noord-Frankrijk. Tijdens hun gedwongen verblijf daar moeten zij zich rekenschap geven van hun gevoelens ten opzichte van elkaar en van de oorzaken en gevolgen van hun verhouding.

Marha en Reinier vluchten naar Frankrijk, Zij is een vrijgezel en hij heelft zijn vrouw in de steek gelaten.Zij moeten elkaars waarheid doorgronden. Het boek begint en eindigt met een wervelende onweerswind. Daartussen ligt een brok mensenleven aan alle kanten gekwetst, maar aan alle kanten open voor een leven zonder leugen.

Heel mooi, heel sensibel en diep.