‘Only now I realize how venomous she can be’

‘During my PhD research in Scotland, I wanted to go to my family in the Netherlands in between the research. What a visit of ten days would be a months of stay. Because of Covid-19, traveling suddenly became impossible. All the time to read, so.

« In that period I read a lot of Caribbean literature anyway. The United Kingdom of course has its own colonial history with a number of islands in the Caribbean. Much has been written about that – much more than about the Dutch ties with the overseas territories. When I suddenly stuck here, I started reading a lot of Surinamese and Caribbean literature. A Small Place from Jamaica Kincaid.

“A Small Place is a non-fiction book, in which Kincaid outlines a portrait of Antigua, the Caribbean island where she grew up. She describes a cloudless sky, vast beaches and a clear blue sea: Antigua is paradise for the Western traveler. But what you don’t see immediately during a vacation are the corruption, the decline of schools and hospitals, hardly any housing houses. Kincaid shows the impact of European colonization and of Western tourism, she shows what is going on under that breathtaking beauty. Beauty offers no protection against decay.

« There is something in Kincaid’s style, full of jokes and surprising comments and observations, which ensures a very nice narrative form. A Small Place Is almost more a pamphlet than an essay, so pronounced and fierce can be Kincaid. The first time I took the work as an audio book, as a fantastic speech. But re -reading of A Small Place – now on paper – did have a deepening. Part of the humor is in rhetorical questions and sometimes venomous snarling. That often happens with a wink, which disappears somewhat when you listen to the book.

“A Small Place Was funny than I remembered, especially Kincaid’s fierceness had stayed with me. My perspective as a reader has also changed; I now see it all a bit more miserable. I realize that much of what Kincaid describes works exactly as well as at the time in 1988 or even got worse. That makes despondent.

“Actually, I am not a re -reader at all; it sometimes flies to me that there are so many books I want to read. Only The notes of Malte Laurids Brigge I read again from Rainer Maria Rilke several times, now six times. The story itself is quite confused, but the spelling is beautifully poetic. The novels that make the most impression on me are often that one novel of a poet, such as with Rilke’s novel. Nothing is as beautiful as a story that is told in exactly the right words.

« As a young teenager, I borrowed almost everything I read at the library. From the moment I had jobs, I almost always started buying them. Sometimes there are books that I have to see that same weekend, to see them in my bookcase seven years later. I find that fascinating: that urge to have a book is a form of cherishing. »

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