Read in: November 2017
Edition and format: Penguin 2018/digital advance review copy
First published: January 2016 by Meulenhoff
Many thanks to Penguin for remembering to send me an ARC of the second installment of Hendrik Groen’s secret diary via NetGalley.
What a wonderful note on which to end 2017: Hendrik Groen is back, and so is the Old-But-Not-Dead Club! After a year’s pause, the eighty-five-year-old is back to delight us with the daily goings-on in Amsterdam’s most written about care home for the elderly.
Unforgettable characters emerge and re-emerge, whether it is the stern Stelwagen or Mrs Schadenfreude Slothouwer, both ever determined to put obstacles in the way of our heroes, the mouthy Mr Bakker, never lacking in things to rant about, or Mrs Schansleh and her fascinating homemade proverbs and idioms (“Time is slipping through my fingers like a ripe banana”). The gallery of memorable personages and their endearing or annoying quirks (depending on whom you ask) make for a swift page-turning experience, punctuated with the appropriate number of chuckles per page.
Mr Groen’s talent as a chronicler lies in the ability to excite both giggles and tears, often in the same breath:
“I used to wonder what the siren sounds like from inside the ambulance. I finally had a chance to find out, but I forgot to pay attention.”
The practically perfect English translation was well worth waiting for in order to join the lovely squad of lively seniors in another year of defying the system, consuming culinary delicacies and courageous amounts of alcohol to wash it all down. It really is a marvel to follow them in their attempts to keep up with the times, like when they try to order “the house wine” at McDonald’s.
When you and all your friends are older than seventy or eighty, it’s difficult to turn your back to the fact that the end might be just around the corner. The year 2015 brings its share of both laughter and loss for the closely-knit Club, and with that also a valuable lesson: time stops for no man or woman, and we can’t afford to spend a single day as sad sacks. Get up, buck up, get this show on the road. As long as there’s life.
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