Beautifully constructed family history about a family after World War II and all the changes that happened. It's breathtaking for me sometimes, to read family histories like these, with the happy and sad moments of life, and the passage of time.

A nice book about a Dutch retiree living in Paris, who comes into contact with refugees and poor people during a tumultuous time in the city. The Parisian atmosphere is present from the first page. The mysterious dog and the priest are interesting characters, as is the main character.

It was a good read but not as strong as, for example, Publieke Werken.

This was an okay book for me. Nihilistic, hedonistic, without much hope, it gave a fairly depressing view of live in Amsterdam in the 1960s. I reminded me a bit about Dubbelspel, in the way the characters go through live.

Story of a the lives of four men, and their women, who are playing a game of domino in a yard in Curacao.

I like the structure of the book -- well organized -- though the ending was a bit abrupt. But a pleasant read. The book deals with differences in rich/poor, white/blank, and racial relationship on an island with a long history. It wasn't always pleasant to read about the lives of the lower-class people, which surely was the point of the author.

I read this just a week after coming back from St Maarten.

What an incredible book. The structure and the composition and the language... just beautiful.

I actually started reading this book a few years ago and couldn't get past the sad passages about a young woman in the Bennemin family. The book is that compelling -- it makes you feel for some of the characters, deeply.

The main characters Vedder and Anijs are complicated figures, not very sympatetic most time and definitely very flawed men. The author described their inner thinking so well.

The book turned into a real page turner for me. I was so curious to see what happened at the end, and if the immigrants would make it to America.

Loved this book.

A beautiful book about the friendship of two boys, and the political changes and liberation of Indonesia.

I have known the title of this book for along time and it always intimated me. I was worried it would be as difficult as Multatuli. But in fact this was a quick and easy read.

I've had a copy of this book in my bookshelf for years, and finally found some time to read it a few months ago. It's a short, nostalgic sort of book. My father read it to me when I was little. I had forgotten the story line but the atmosphere I had not. Beautiful.