Gondolat Publishers has recently launched its series dedicated to Dutch-language literature. They are now to present the newest releases at the International Book Festival at Millenáris and at Jelen, with the participation of the authors.

Thomas Rosenboom: Public Works
This novel by one of the best writers of Dutch contemporary literature takes the reader back to late 19th-century Holland. That was the time when the city of Amsterdam saw large-scale construction works, including the Central Station, the Victoria Hotel just opposite it, the Concertgebouw and the new Rijksmuseum. Why are two small houses still embedded in the façade of the Victoria Hotel, so modern at the time? What story do these two bubbles of the past reveal? The novel unveils a story partly invented and partly based on facts, with two parallel lines, one set in Amsterdam on its way to become a modern metropolis, the other in the backward northern region of moorlands, where turf miners live an increasingly miserable life. The two threads come together when the Amsterdam violin maker, Vedder and the Hoogeveen pharmacist, Anijs join forces to help the miners get to America, the land of dreams and hopes, to start a new life there. What price will thay pay for that? These two men, both dedicated to their professions, are winners and losers at the same time in their fights and efforts, romantically emotional and absurdly ridiculous. With their tragedy and successes, they stand on the threshold of the modern world of the 20th century.

Jaap Scholten: Heer en Meester
Scholten is a well-known and popular Dutch writer who has been living in Hungary for years. The brief pieces published in this book – originally written for the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad – recount his experiences in Hungary (and Transylvania). He came to Hungary in the late nineties because he believed the lifestyle he favoured – that of the aristocracy and the bourgeois of the Monarchy – could be reconstructed and lived here. To achieve that, first he had to renovate an old villa in Buda and a village mansion, only to gain firsthand information on the capitalism actually existing in Hungary. That slightly modified his romantic ideas about the country. His affection remained, but he started to see the object of it – and himself – with a growing amount of irony. The aristocrat he plays in the book and in reality is an observer standing beyond the sideline, partly obliged to act so – coming from a different culture –, and partly of his own accord, as the role he chose required this stance. He is an outsider but not an indifferent one. He is like a well-behaved football fan watching the game and the other supporters, thinking of them as well when murmuring to himself ”Come on! You are better!”
To read a preview of Jaap Scholten's book click here>

Tibor Bérczes: Things Are Strange Only on the First Day
Since the regime change Hungarians are not surprised to see Western Europeans buying estates and spending their spare time in Hungary. Most of the locals understand and accept what logic they follow, but find it difficult to see the point in someone deciding to live in Hungary, where ”it is impossible to live”, as we learn the phrase early on as part of our Hungarian identity. The discussions in this book are with Dutch people who like living here, and seriously consider staying in Hungary for life. They have various backgrounds, histories and characters, all of them claim that being Dutch is not important for them, yet their stories show that the common cultural package they have brought along has a decisive role.
Almost all the interviewees suggest that Hungarians perhaps see the essence too clearly and tend not to focus on concrete details. The book is a collection of insignificant details, and does not mean to suggest anything essential. On the contrary, it encourages us to discover our country again, and believe the Dutch living here – and ourselves – that ”it is a fine place to live”.

http://www.gondolatkiado.hu/subpages/main.php
http://www.millenaris.hu

The 16th International Book Festival in Budapest echoes foreign languages. It’s an increasingly multi-layer cultural forum, present at Millenáris this year again. Jaap Scholten, an aristocrat from the Low Coutries living in Budapest, is an interesting colour on the palette of writers.
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