Welcome to Litsy!

#evening #QuotsyJul20

#MOvember #RayofLight another one unread on the shelf ... a ray of evening light ✨

#MaeveBinchyBuddyRead #EveningClass

Discussion of Lou Chapter.

Will shortly post the discussion questions for the Lou chapter.

My view while reading this evening. It‘s lovely and relaxing. I‘ll take it.

#MusicalNewYear #MusicoftheNight I still must read this one ... ( has forgotten about it , till I went looking for this prompt.

#readingtheworld #readtheworld #netherlands

I‘ve been so tired recently that i decided to spend all Saturday evening in, saving money and getting an early night. I‘m normally a v extroverted person who likes being out and doing things every weekend but I‘m burnt out, I‘ve been sick and I‘m worried about getting sicker, so decided I‘d stay in with my books and rest. Felt a little lonely but I‘m never really lonely when I have Litsy here 💖💖💖 I‘m burning @quietjenn ‘s lovely scented candle

I just got thoroughly spoiled by my amazing #litsypenpal @Dulcinella ! A famous Dutch novel described as “the funniest, most exhilarating novel about boredom ever written,” a gorgeous Edgar Degas (one of my fave painters!) ballerina bookmark, an adorable cat metal bookmark and a yummy Cote D‘Or candy bar. European chocolate is the best!! @Dulcinella thank you for making the start of my week so lovely after a very difficult weekend! Email coming.

#NewFavoriteCharacters #AllTheBooksof2017

There are more, but I narrowed it down to four favourite characters:

The melancholy, witty and irreverent Lazi in Qiu Miaojin's Notes of a Crocodile; the fiercely feminist and razor sharp Helen Graham in Anne Brontë's Wildfell Hall; Grandmother in Tove Jansson's Summer Book, so wry and introspective and wise; Frits van Egters in Gerard Reve's The Evenings, a bleakly hilarious and absurd nihilist.

Today's author spotlight: Gerard (Kornelis van het) Reve! Born in Amsterdam, he died in Zulte, Belgium, in 2006 from Alzheimer's at 82. He's considered one of "the Great Three" of Dutch post-war lit. His themes concerned homosexuality, religion (he was Roman Catholic), & communism. The Dutch government banned his work at one point. In 2001, the King refused to present to him the country's highest literary award. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

I wanted to love this book but I failed on an epic scale. I found the protagonist impossible to relate with and difficult to like. The style in which it was written alienated me as a reader and more than once I considered bailing on this book because I didn't think I had it in me to continue. Not for me.

One of the funniest books about ennui and existential despair set in post-war Amsterdam. A man in his early twenties lives day-to-day in fear of silence and time wasted, and fills up his evenings with boring conversations with family and friends that he then tries to escape from. Neither here nor there is happy or satisfying. A bleak, bitter humour runs through the narrative. "Whatever ordeals are yet to come, I am alive." #LitsyAtoZ

It's about 10 evenings leading up to a new year spent by Frits van Egters , the 23-year-old nihilist in postwar Amsterdam. It depicts the listlessness and boredom experienced by that generation in a humourous way.

This is, apparently, a Dutch classic. I have no idea why.

sitting watching the (very early) winter sunset...

A 1947 Dutch novel newly translated into English. Sounds interesting!

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/09/the-evenings-by-gerard-reve-review

I loved this novel Frits is quirky funny sad enter his world his running commentary about his parents who he in his twenties still live with.Visit his friends his brother his obsession with warning his brother that he is going bald.Just follow him as he lives his daily life you will be charmed.