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Dutch literature - reviews Max Havelaar or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company (Penguin Classics) by Multatuli, R. P. Meijer (Introduction), Roy Edwards (Translator) / Paperback / Published 1995 This is absolutely the classic novel in Dutch literature. No book has ever had this much influence and very few books have been written with this much talent. It was first published in 1860 and later appeared to have been written by Eduard Douwes Dekker a former Assistant Resident of Lebak in Java. Like the fictional person Max Havelaar in the novel, he resigned his position when his accusations of corruption and abuse were disregarded by higher authorities. This translation seems to be very good indeed (read more reviews after clicking on the 'buy button'). The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom, Ina Rilke (Translator) / Paperback / Published 1994 This novel was a kind of 'international breakthrough' for author Nooteboom, first when it became a well reviewed (and relatively well selling) book in Germany and even more when it won the 1993 European Literary Prize. It tells the story of a former teacher of Latin and Greek who falls asleep in Amsterdam and finds himself waking up in a hotel room somewhere else. He tries to find out where he is, which leads to a series of interwoven stories. The novel thus turns into a remarkable vision on physical and emotional existence. One reader writes: 'It is a stunningly moving and profoundly altering story of life and death embued with something the Portuguese call saudade: exquisite melancholy and longing.' Blue Mondays by Arnon Grunberg, Arnold Pomerans (Translator), Erica Pomerans (Translator) / Hardcover / Published 1997 This debut was a best-seller in the Netherlands. The book, very much looking to be autobiagraphical, is set in Amsterdam, telling about a disaffected youth, leading a nihilistic existence. A quote from teh Booklist review by Brad Hooper: 'What saves the narrative from being as pointless as the main character believes his own life to be is the humor in his voice, the vulnerability beneath his cynicism, and a hopeful ending.'