"Wat een fijne voorleeservaring voor het kleintje en voor mezelf!

Voor haar vol aandacht (‘nog een stukje!��), spanning (komt het wel goed met Zaza, de Torteltuin en die gekke Krullevaar?) en de occasionele giechel (de lispelende lispeltuut deed het hem elke keer!). Voor mij met een stevige portie nostalgie en ook verbazing over hoe goed dit boek nog steeds is, meer dan 50 jaar nadat Annie Granny Schmidt (zoals ik haar als kind noemde ☺️) het schreef.

Ik ga nu even ‘Pluk redt de dieren�� en ‘Otje�� bestellen! En ook af en toe eens een hasselbraam eten ☺️"

"Niemand is eenzamer dan een kind dat jong zijn moeder verliest, dat alleen staat in een wereld met andere verwachtingen.
Wat houdt hem gaande dan? Het is die ene droom die hem voortjaagt.
Prachtig boek, een trage stroom van woorden dat je hart een beetje doet opschuiven. "

"Of course, this still is an interesting novel, because it raised an issue �� the fate of African Americans in the US �� that was absolutely pertinent when it was published in 1940 and that still is pertinent, and also because it added some essential elements to the debate about this issue. But as a literary creation, this has really had its day: it is overly theatrical, contains many scenes that are barely credible, is stylistically very uneven, and certainly towards the end extremely preachy. However noble the author's aim, you can no longer sell it in this way in our time. In particular I found the cell scene in book 3, in which almost everyone involved in the murder case pays a visit, a turn-off.

But a few more words about those more essential elements. As rightly stated in all the reviews, Wright's great merit is that he highlights the inner anger of the main character Thomas Bigger, and connects it with the situation of structural disadvantage of African Americans. That inner anger is what overwhelms Thomas, overtakes him and almost automatically drives him to do the terrible acts that he himself did not think possible. And that anger is, according to Wright's thesis, the result of being systematically dismissed as inferior, structurally given fewer opportunities, and even physically isolated from society (segregation is a strong emphasis in this novel). It is an analysis that Wright himself says he distilled from his acquaintance with the labor movement and Marxist ideology. Let us say that in the course of the second half of the 20th century this view became more or less commonplace in the West, to such an extent that a counter-reaction arose (which still is emerging) to emphasize individual responsibility more. But Wright certainly contributed to this debate. In that sense, "Native Son" can first and foremost be called a historical document! From a literary point of view, I still prefer Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison."