Beethovenstraat 32
1077 JH Amsterdam
Tel. 020-4707077
 

Welcome to Boekhandel van Rossum’s
First Electronic English Newsletter
May 2006

Dear Friends,

This is my first attempt to provide my English speaking customers with personal opinions on recently published English titles. My choices are haphazard: what strikes me as intriguing, the books which I think will interest you as readers – and what I feel like taking along on vacation. As I just spent four days visiting the eastern part of Sicily, this letter will report on the selection I threw into my suitcase. I am also taking the opportunity to bring to your attention the wide assortment of excellent books out on art and artists.
  

We all work hard and when we have time to read want something which will entertain but also prickle our imagination and our thought processes. Salley Vickers is an English author whose work is accessible, has a good story line but also offers plenty of food for thought. Her previous books include: Miss Garnet’s Angel, Mr. Golightly’s Holiday, Instances of the Number Three.

This relatively unknown author has gained tremendous popularity by word of mouth. The first print run was for 1,000 copies of Miss Garnet’s Angel and the publisher was astonished when enthusiastic readers bought 300,000 copies within the next three years!

Her new book, which went along to Sicily with me, is The Other Side of You, about a psychiatrist who works with patients who have attempted suicide. . This lovely exposé of la condition humaine is essentially about compassion - both the good and bad aspects of getting involved with those with problems. It is also about finding bridges to people through identifying common interests - in this case, the art of Caravaggio. For details on her titles and suggestions and comments from reading groups, please refer to her website.
 

The Other Side of You
 

By chance, I had just finished reading a book about the Italian painter Caravaggio: Jonathan Harr’s The Lost Painting. The author tries to be accessible to a wide audience by using the form of a novel, but this is essentially a non-fiction book about how art historians trace lost works by famous artists of past eras. Despite the fact that it wasn’t always a perfect medium for the message, I got quite caught up in the seemingly wild goose chase to find Caravaggio's The Taking of Christ (Caravaggio – Rembrandt exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam).
 
 

The Lost Painting
 

I’ve nearly finished reading Ross King's new book The Judgment of Paris on the careers of the 19th century painters Meissonier and Manet and am astonished at how interested I can get in the lives of the many artists painting in the period between the 1850s and the 1870s. Meissonier was the most popular painter of the Parisian Salons (and the wealthiest) of the 1850s and 60s while Manet, later the father of Impressionism, began as a much derided painter of beggars and Spanish bull-fights whose works were at first only accepted at the Salon des Refusés. The book details the history of two streams of painting in a changing world. A master of detail and biographic narrative, Ross King pulls you into the period and makes you part of its history and development. King wrote the vastly popular book Brunelleschi’s Dome. This book comes highly recommended.
 

The Judgment of Paris

Other art titles which are in stock include
 

Good Reads
  

David Mitchell came close to winning The Man Booker prize two years ago with his many-layered novel Cloud Atlas. His most recent book, Black Swan Green, portrays one year (1982) in the life of a 13-year-old boy in a small town in Worcestershire. Jason suffers from too much intelligence and a stammer, both of which characteristics he desperately attempts to conceal from his classmates in an attempt not to stick out as being different. Rich in idiosyncratic village and family characters, each of the thirteen chapters is a tale in its own right. The whole results in a brilliant coming-of-age story against the background of the Falkland War, school bullies, the independence of boyhood adventures and, as one reviewer put it, “a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.” Seemingly a straightforward, enjoyable book, the reader realizes only at the end what a rich, poignant and comic tapestry of daily life David Mitchell has managed to weave.
I heard David Mitchell speak at the Amsterdam Literary Festival on May 19, 2006. He was inspiring to say the least. When he wanted an American to read a passage from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn aloud, I ended up doing it. I'm trying to talk Mitchell into visiting Van Rossum while he is living at a writer's residence in Wassenaar - but with all of his book promotion obligations, he hardly has time to work on his new book as it
is. We'll see.
 

Black Swan Green

Another surprise favorite was Disobedience by Naomi Alderman. She writes about an Orthodox Jewish community in northwest London – safe and carefully controlled through its religious laws. The daughter of the much loved and very wise rabbi is a rebel, full of energy and with a tremendous need to explore and push the boundaries of life. Her father finally sends her off to New York where she throws herself into the secular life. When her father dies years later, she returns for the funeral and must confront herself and her past. The book offers a balanced picture of how complicated our upbringing can make our lives - but again with a message of compassion. I was very impressed with the way Alderman dealt with her subject matter - it managed to be original and very thoughtful. Don’t let my prosaic description fool you – this is a vibrant book.
  

Disobedience

On the Catholic side of the religious spectrum is a new novel by Andrew O'Hagan (due to be published in August) about an English priest in a small Catholic parish in Scotland. It contrasts his youth in the 1960s at elite Eton and Oxford and makes clear how his love of art and music are so little appreciated in an environment of poverty and amid the clash of class hatreds. By showing (once again you have it) compassion for the rebellious drug and alcohol addicted youth of his parish, he gets drawn into lowering his own barriers and finds himself confronted with public hysteria. It's hard to read about so many lost young people, but the issues again are thoughtfully raised.
  

So that’s what I’ve been reading (and adding to my reading list) over the past few months. I’d like to hear from you, as well. What type of information would you like from me? What kind of reader are you? Do you want a good read, escapism, in depth information on history or the social sciences? I look forward to hearing from you and having you stop by the store.
 

INVITATION - INVITATION - INVITATION

I’ve read an advance copy of a disquieting but wonderful book about a 9-year-old boy growing up in Libya with a father who tries to confront Khaddafi. In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar is going to be a bestseller on the lines of the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Boekhandel van Rossum is very honored that Mr. Matar will be our bookshop in Amsterdam on May 31st at 8 p.m. I will interview him briefly and he will read from his book. Coffee and wine in the garden afterwards. The Dutch version of the book will be out but the English original is scheduled for publication in early June. This is a very special book - do try to join us.

INVITATION - INVITATION - INVITATION
 

Hisham Matar was born in New York in 1970 and spent his childhood in Tripoli and Cairo. He has lived in London since 1986. In the Country of Men will be published in thirteen languages.

If you are interested in receiving this commentary on a regular basis please send your email address van.rossum@xs4all.nl and we will include you in the mailing.

Beth Johnson
 

Beethovenstraat 32
1077 JH Amsterdam
Tel. 020-4707077