BOOK: Mystiek Lichaam - Frans Kellendonk

Title: Mystiek Lichaam (Mystical Body)
Author: Frans Kellendonk
Genre: Novel
Publisher: Salamander Klassiek
Pages: 202
Language: Dutch
Rating: 7/10
Summary: Old grumpy Gijsselhart is not dealing very well when his adult children return home. He adores his daughter Magda, but she's not his little girl anymore and she got herself pregnant. He is disappointed in his son Leendert, who's gay - another reason to despise him. When Magda invites the father of her baby into the house, Gijsselhart and Leendert both hate him and seem to bond together to get rid of him.

Review
This book was a gift and came highly recommended, but I found the characters too annoying. The point of view of an antisemite homophobe is not a very enjoyable read, especially not if he gets to indulge in all his hate and ignorance. The story is filled with flash-backs and very confusing. Once I put everything together I realized non of the characters are likable; these people are all scheming bastards and doomed to fail in life. There is simply nothing uplifting about the story and I felt very depressed afterwards. Read at your own risk.

BOOK: Slimme Vrouwen (Smart Women) - Ten stories from Decamerone

Title: Slimme Vrouwen (Smart Women) - Ten stories from Decamerone
Author: Giovanni Boccaccio
Genre: short stories
Publisher: Salamander Klassiek
Pages: 108
Language: Dutch (translated from Italian)
Rating: 6/10
Summary: A selection of stories from Decamerone (1350 AD), a classic book from the Middle Ages known for its depiction of strong women, which is quite remarkable since in that time in history women were not very important. These stories show where the real power lay.

Review
While the summary sounds promising, the way these women show their supposed strength is quite despicable. Apparently the only way a woman can have some sort of leverage over a man, is by cheating on him and then rubbing it in his face to get her way after all. Charming. It would have been nice to see some variations in the plots, but most of the stories start and end exactly the same with only different names and surroundings in between. It's very noble the translator wants us to believe these stories were written to teach about equality in relationships, but I suspect they were not so much meant to educate as to titillate. If you like the kind of set ups with a rich lady, her drunk husband, the farm hand and the occasional priest added for a bit of spice, this might be the collection for you. I like my stories and women with a little more depth.

BOOK: The Tales Of Beedle The Bard - J.K. Rowling

Title: The Tales Of Beedle The Bard
Author: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fairytales
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2008
Pages: Hardcover, 108
Language: English
Rating: 8/10
Summary: From the universe of Harry Potter: a collection of (bedtime) stories written for young wizards and witches, accompanied by notes from Professor Dumbledore.

Spoilerfree review
To my surprise these stories were more than just a variation on the well-known fairytales of our world; they have original characters and unexpected endings. Everybody who is familiar with Harry Potter already knows that magic is not the answer to all of life's dilemmas and besides the usual lessons to be learned, that is the one that's added especially for the intended audience. If you happen to miss the moral of a story, Dumbledore's notes will clear it up. His added point of view gives this book the same tone of voice as the Harry Potter books and makes it must read for every fan.
Once again J.K. Rowling does not shy away from gore and adult insights; I especially liked the not so subtle stabs at censorship. My favorite tale is The Warlock's Hairy Heart, because that was very bloody and all about me. No, really. If you want to know what makes me tick: that story tells it all.

BOOK: Een Tipje Van De Sluier - Joris Luyendijk

Title: Een Tipje Van De Sluier (A Tip Of The Veil)
Author: Joris Luyendijk
Genre: non fiction, sociology, religion, politics
Publisher: Podium, 2001
Pages: Paperback, 107
Language: Dutch
Rating: 7/10
Summary: A step by step explanation of Islam, its history, influence on culture and the different interpretations around the world. Joris Luyendijk (1971) studied politics and Arabic and lived in Cairo, Beiroet and Jerusalem. He's a journalist and writer.

Review
I've been a fan of Joris ever since he presented interview-series 'Zomergasten' on Dutch TV. He is very eloquent and knowledgable on the subject of Islam. I loved his boek "Een Goede Man Slaat Soms Zijn Vrouw" (A Good Husband Sometimes Beats His Wife) about his year at the university of Cairo in the 90s. That book is filled with conversations between him and fellow-students and shows the misunderstandings between his Western point of view and their way of thinking. I expected the same intriguing stories in this book. I was disappointed to find a serious lack of humour; when the tip of the veil is lifted it only reveals facts and figures about Islam.
That would have been interesting if there were any new insights, but due to events in the world since 2001, I already knew most of the history and information that are provided. If only I had known this book was more of a tourguide than a personal account, I would have passed on it and read his latest book "People Like Us". That is still on my list, but in the mean time I recommend A Good Husband Sometimes Beats His Wife. Even though that was written in 1998, it is still relevant today, because it doesn't focus on numbers but on people.

BOOK: Happiness™ - Will Ferguson

Title: Happiness™ (originally published as 'Generica*')
Author: Will Ferguson
Genre: novel
Publisher: Canongate, 2003 (*Penguin 2001)
Pages: Paperback, 309
Language: English
Rating: 8/10
Summary: Edwin de Valu is an editor for self-help books. His job is to go through manuscripts and find the next big thing, or at least the book that will make the publisher some money. Edwin hates his job, his wife, his life. When he once again fucks up at a meeting and needs to impress his boss fast, he desperately mentions a massive manuscript he had already dismissed as worthless. The author promisses it will be the self-improvement book that will make every other book redundant. It offers solutions for EVERYTHING: how to stop smoking, become rich, lose weight, how to have a phenomenal sex life, etcetera. To Edwin's relieve the book is a best-seller. What's even more of a surprise: it seems to work! Suddenly there’s a shift in the country; people actually manage to stop smoking, they make money, they lose weight. As for the phenomenal sex life... exactly: everyone is… happy. It's annoying and unnatural. It has to stop.

Review
I LOVED IT! The book starts as a satire on the publishing industry with lots of (in)jokes at the expense of editors. It's so filled with sarcasm that at first I wondered how the manuscript was approved. After a couple of pages I knew why: it's brilliantly written. Although there are some very absurd scenes, most of the conversations, day-dreams and especially the inner monologues are very recognizable. Since I'm a true cynic I of course did not buy that self-help crap for a minute. If those methods worked, there wouldn't be any of those books, isn't that ironic.
I found it very amusing to read about a world where life is turned upside down and was very pleased to be confirmed in my suspicion that nothing good could come of it. I was as irritated as the main character about the happiness cult. I understood completely why he couldn't just let it be. But I did feel he stepped out of character at the final third of the book. It was hard to go along with the story and it was quite a drop from the high I felt while reading the first part of the book.
But even if I was a bit unsettled by the solution, this book is still very much recommended. I will definitely check out other work by Will Ferguson. I just hope his next editor will be a bit more on his case *g*.

BOOK: Bad Girls Of PulpFiction

STATISTICS:
Title: Bad Girls Of PulpFiction
Author: Nancy Armstrong etc.
Genre: Parody
Publisher: Running Press
Pages: unknown (tiny booklet;)
Language: English
Rating: 8/10
5 WORDS SUMMARY: Cult novel covers and quotes

10 WORDS REVIEW
Awesome collection of delicious pictures and seductive excerpts, see picture!

BOOK: A Devil's Chaplain - Richard Dawkins

Earlier I posted two excerpts of this book. Now I've had some a lot of time to let it all sink in, I wrote that proper review I promised.
The last couple of years I've become very interested in atheism. One of the first names you come across when researching that subject is Richard Dawkins. He wrote a lot of books and because I didn't have a clue where to start reading, my brother lend me this collection of essays.

Title: A Devil's Chaplain
Author: Richard Dawkins
Genre: Essays on religion and science
Publisher: Phoenix 2004
Pages: Paperback, 304
Language: English
Rating: 8,5/10
Summary: A collection of articles and lectures with many themes, varying from biology and evolution to history and religion. Richard Dawkins discusses the relation between these subjects and what part they play in morality and education. There are also some very personal essays; memories of his travels and eulogies of his colleagues and friends. The final chapter is a letter to his daughter about believing.

Review
I loved this book very much. It gave me some great insights on several fields of science, but I found the parts about religion the most interesting. I was thrilled to recognize his point of view. It was a relieve to know I'm not alone and I cherish the wonderful arguments he used to explain why religion does not comply with science. I was also very pleased that both Richard Dawkins and Latha Menon -who collected and selected the articles- emphasize that "[B]eing a scientist and rationalist does not mean a life of soulles grind, or misery and meaninglessness, but one that is immensely more enriched, more precious."
Because that is what made this such a joy to read: the enthousiasm about discovering and discussing the world in all its magic.

Excerpt
This is the part that touched me most.
From chapter 3: The Infected Mind
"[...] Religions provide the prime example of memes and meme complexes (mind parasites, or an analogy with computer viruses). To describe religions as mind viruses is sometimes interpreted as comtemptuous or even hostile. It is both. I am often asked why I am so hostile to 'organized religion'. My first response is that I am not exactly friendly towards disorganized religion either. As a lover of truth, I am suspicious of strongly held beliefs that are unsupported by evidence.

[...]

The reason organized religion merits outright hostility is that, unlike belief in [fairytales or] Russel's teapot, religion is powerful, influential, tax-exempt and systematically passed on to children too young to defend themselves. Children are not compelled to spend their formative years memorizing loony books about teapots. Government-subsidized schools don't exclude children whose parents prefer the wrong shape of teapot. Teapot-believers don't stone teapot-unbelievers, teapot-apostates, teapot-heretics and teapot-blasphemers to death. Mothers don't warn their sons off marrying teapot-shiksas whose parents believe in three teapots rather than one. People who put the milk in first don't kneecap those who put the tea in first. [etc.]"

I now know which of his books I want to read first: I have put The God Delusion on top of my wishlist.