Continuing the research of Dutch literature, the latest Dutch novel I’ve picked is Birk by Jaap Robben. Robben, born in Ooosterhout in 1984, is a writer, theatre producer and poet. Before 2014, Robben had mostly published children and teen novels and books. Birk is his first adult novel and was received with great praise. It won the 2014 Nederlandse Boekhandels Prijs, as well as the ANV Debutantenprijs 2015 and the Dioraphte Literatuur Publieksprijs 2015. This year the novel will be available in Turkish, German and English (the English version is already for sale with the title “You Have Me to Love”).

Personal Photograph

Birk tells the story of Mikael, who lives with his parents on an small and isolated island. The island has only three houses: Mikael’s, Karl’s and an abandoned house whose owner died years before. Mikael is enjoying a day on the beach with his father, Birk, when he looses his ball. He swims into the water to try to catch it, and his dad has to go rescue him. When Mikael reacts, he has lost sight of his father as he tried to recover the lost ball.

The novel narrates the struggle of Mikael and Dora, Mikael’s mom, as they cope with the loss of Birk. Mikael adopts a baby zeemeeuw or seagull which he finds in the abandoned house. He feeds it as often as he can and nurtures it until the seagull will be ready to fly. Dora, however, doesn’t like Mikael going to the abandoned house. She doesn’t like him to leave the house at all. As time passes, Dora’s behavior becomes stranger and Mikael is left confused and angry.

What I enjoyed the most about this novel is the narration. Robben’s writing is clear and precise and yet conveys a creepy eerie feeling that only becomes stronger as the story goes on. Robben writes the novel from Mikael’s perspective which allows us to feel confused and angry with him. The novel left me with many questions, and wondering what the story would be like if it was narrated from Dora’s or Karl’s perspective. I am sure it would be just as eerie.

The following video is Jaap Robben explaining what inspired this roman. The two stories that inspired Robben would seem isolated, but, somehow, he found a way to make it into one.

Have you read anything by Robben? What are your thoughts on this novel?

Useful Vocabulary
het eiland- island
verdrinken- to drown
droefheid– sorrow
de zeemeeuw– seagull
griezelig– creepy
verdwenen– disappeared
schuld– guilt
verdrietig– sad
ontploffen– to explode
debuutroman– debut novel