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Bezig met laden... De dwaaltuin (2009)door Adam Foulds
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Nope. ( ) [This is a review I wrote in 2009] ** Poetical style of writing suits this novel about John Clare. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize** This fictionalised story of the Northamptonshire poet John Clare is beautifully written in a lyrical prose form, which suits the maze of insanity which is John Clare's mind from the time of his voluntary incarceration at High Beach Private Asylum in Epping Forest (1837). John Clare is not the most well known of nineteenth century poets but if you have heard of him you may know him as the Northamptonshire peasant poet, best-known for his down-to-earth poems of the natural world, influenced by folk songs, folklore and ballads. He undoubtedly had a physically hard life, labouring at various times in an inn, as a gardener, a lime burner, and in the militia. Poetry however was his passion and at the age of twenty-seven his first book of poems was published, `Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery'. Poetry alone, however, was not enough for he and his family to live on and Clare's state of mind suffered from the conflict between his need to write poetry and his need to feed and clothe his growing family (he and his wife Patty had seven children). Although the story is fictionalised and the time spans are imaginatively played with, The Quickening Maze is historically accurate about John Clare, High Beach Asylum, Tennyson and so on. Where the novel lets itself down a little is in the assumption of a prior level of knowledge by the reader. For the book to have had a broader appeal a touch of editing and perhaps some notes on the historical background, either as a Prologue, an Epilogue or as notes would have been a useful background. Without the background knowledge I can see how, pretty poetical writing aside, this could potentially fall quite flat on the reader. Hence my 4 stars. I personally enjoyed the novel very much and can recommend it, but to gain the most from this novel I suggest reading some background about John Clare first, and some of his poetry - one of my favourites is `Little Trotty Wagtail' but there are many more delightful poems to choose from.
... Without any of the clunking that is generally audible in stories featuring real people, the book focuses on Allen, Clare and Tennyson, allowing them to seem both fully imagined characters and recognisably actual figures. It's the accuracy of Foulds's writing that guarantees this - that, and his sympathy with the people he's presenting. ...
De vooraanstaande dokter Allen woont met zijn gezin op het terrein van zijn psychiatrische inrichting. Hij ontwikkelt een houtdraaimachine voor de bezigheidstherapie van zijn patiënten. Een van de investeerders van dit project is de beroemde dichter Lord Alfred Tennyson, die ook op het terrein woont om dichter bij zijn depressieve broer te zijn. Allens dochter Hannah heeft maar één wens: door een goed huwelijk deze idiote plaats verlaten. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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