30 Oct 2012 16:01:00
Slauerhoff's novel, first published in 1932, is regarded as an important example of Dutch modernism. Vincent's translation presents a sophisticated form of double Dutch, as two parallel narratives slip back and forth, one concerning the 16th-century Portuguese poet Luis Camoes, the other a nameless 20th-century ship's radio operator who describes himself as "the most rootless and raceless person alive". Gradually, their trajectories are set on a collision course whereby Slauerhoff drops heavy hints they may be the same person. The second wave of Portuguese exploration is subject to pleasing irony: "The crews of criminals had been replaced with noblemen eager to make their fortune. This did not improve navigation." But it's a confounding read, full of false starts, chronological quirks and unreliable narrators. The radio operator passes the time "constantly reading a book on the history of the three empires, which had the advantage that you never finished it, since by the end you had forgotten the beginning". You lay this one aside understanding how he feels.
