? Ik weet eigenlijk niet meer hoe ik op dit boekje kwam, maar wilde graag weer eens een thriller lezen... 🤔 Een aardig en spannend boekje, dat enorm snel leest omdat het blijft boeien en de schrijfstijl gemakkelijk is. MW 30/8/20 => Ik heb inmiddels al een tijdje van dezelfde auteur in mijn boekenkast liggen. Dit boekje is volgens scholieren.com al jaren het meest gelezen (meest populaire) boek voor de Nederlandse lijst. Naar dit boekje ben ik nu nieuwsgierig dus hoop dat dit jaar te lezen MW 26/6/22
I love Tim Krabbe's books. They're so easy to read and they're short and not that complicated. They have such low star ratings on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, so I'm intrigued as to how they read in Dutch, Krabbe's native language.
Nevertheless, this is my third by him, and I always read through them very quickly. The story in this is quite unlikely, and Krabbe seemingly writes himself into a corner only to get out of it again. I'm not sure what to think about the ending but the atmosphere and the way this is written means it was always going to be 5 stars.
Moest je je maar ontwikkelen en ontwikkelen, steeds een ander, wijzer iemand worden? Of was het juist moedig en mooi om ergens stil te blijven staan en iets te zijn, al was dat een kind?
Echt wel een goed verhaaltje. Het begon wat saai, maar verder was het een interessant verhaal. Je voelde hoe het zou voelen om te verdwijnen. De setting droeg ook echt goed bij aan het verhaal.
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Tim Krabbe is the author of The Vanishing, the translated name for his novel The Golden Egg. This was made into the devastating 1988 Dutch film The Vanishing which was such an international success, the same director remade it for Hollywood starring Keifer Sutherland. You would never forget this film precisely for the ending - and Hollywood changed it! defeating the whole point of the story. Such a travesty, I have to mention it - there is no way on earth you would change that ending.
In Delay, Jacques Bekker is given a four hour layover in Sydney, flying home to Amsterdam from New Zealand. Leaving his fellow passengers to sightsee, he promises to be back for the flight. Monique lives here, a first-love he met in Ostend thirty years ago when he was 17 and she was 20. On a whim, he tracks down her home and finds her loading armfuls of clothes into her red Ford Falcon. Before he knows it, they are travelling into the countryside. She has had a busy life - an Olympic diver, swimwear manufacturer, TV personality, and talk show host - she is a national celebrity. That is why she is also front page news. Her accountant is going to talk. Her business has collapsed, she has absconded with 68 million dollars, and 400 people are out of work. She is facing three years in prison. Over the next few days they evade police and press, incognito in disguises with fake IDs. Blindly driving into the outback they deal with flat tires and hunger, until the car slowly sinks into the saline crust of a dried lake. This is not the end, just another instance along the road of dark obsession.
Delay is easily read in one sitting, which adds to the momentum, propelling the plot along, deeper into the unknown. What will become of them? Where is the money? How do you return to normal?
The Guardian quotes: "Taut, sparse prose that makes panic thicken the throat." Exactly. This is a travelogue that leaves reality behind, you just have to go with it. Very entertaining.
Ik vond het echt lastig om hierin te komen maar uiteindelijk was het wel een leuk boek, zodra je meer in het verhaal komt word het spannender en word je er meer in gezogen. Dit boek is alleen wel vrij heftig qua dat het wel iets doet met je hoofd als je het leest.
Type road-story, pendelend tussen heden, verleden en de twee hoofdpersonen. Met vertraging neemt het lot zijn wending. Uitstekend literair geschreven verhaal.
Jacques Bekker is on a return trip to the Netherlands from New Zealand when his plane is delayed during a stopover in Sydney. He takes advantage of the unexpected four-hour break by paying a lightning visit to his childhood friend (and first love) Monique Ilegems. He arrives on Monique’s street just as a stylish woman is loading a suitcase into the back of a smart car. As we will learn later on, Monique has committed serious fraud (and is carrying a bag full of cash) and is about to disappear. She begs Jacques to help her escape from the police. At first he doesn’t feel like it (and keeps looking at his watch as he has to return to the airport to catch his delayed plane - a tense situation I can really imagine, as I am always afraid of missing planes myself), but eventually gives in and forgets about his journey. Soon, Jacques and Monique will be deep in the Australian Outback, on a wicked journey, which also leads them back to their shared past as teenagers, with fatal consequences. Monique appears more and more in her true form, as a great manipulator. This novel combines a Graham Greene-like travelogue with a haunting thriller. A perfect noir novel, which reminded me of the work of the French author Pascal Garnier.
Tim Krabbe also wrote mystery story The Goldden Egg, which was made into an acclaimed Dutch film (1998), as well as a worthless American remake.
I've read a few of Krabbes books and thoroughly enjoyed them. However I struggled to finish this one, only persevering as I wanted to know the ending. It's probably just a matter of taste. I'd recommend The Rider and The Vanishing.