533: A Book of Days
- Downloads：9708
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-03-20 01:19:46
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Cees Nooteboom
- ISBN：030026450X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
533 days in the life of a great European writer。
Though a tireless explorer of distant cultures， for more than forty years Cees Nooteboom has also been returning to the island of Menorca， "the island of the wind"， and it is in his house there， with a study full of books and a garden taken over with native plants and fauna， that the 533 days of writing take place。
The product is not a diary， nor a set of movements of the soul organised by dates， but "a book of days" to retain "something of the flow of thoughts， and of what one reads and sees" with concerns about his cactus garden and suffering hibiscus， his love for Menorca， his thoughts on the world and on the place we humans have in the universe。
Every impression opens windows on vast horizons: the Divine Comedy and the books it generated， the impossible encounter between Montaigne and Feldman's music， the contempt of beloved Borges for his beloved Gombrowicz， the death of David Bowie， the endless flight of the Voyagers， the repetition of history as a tragedy， but never as a farce。
533 is a meditative rhapsody that would like to exclude the noise of current events， yet which sceptically contemplates the threat of a disintegrating Europe and must return to them several times， because if， as Candide says， "one must cultivate one's own garden"， one's own garden is in the world， whether you like it or not。
Though a tireless explorer of distant cultures， for more than forty years Cees Nooteboom has also been returning to the island of Menorca， "the island of the wind"， and it is in his house there， with a study full of books and a garden taken over with native plants and fauna， that the 533 days of writing take place。
The product is not a diary， nor a set of movements of the soul organised by dates， but "a book of days" to retain "something of the flow of thoughts， and of what one reads and sees" with concerns about his cactus garden and suffering hibiscus， his love for Menorca， his thoughts on the world and on the place we humans have in the universe。
Every impression opens windows on vast horizons: the Divine Comedy and the books it generated， the impossible encounter between Montaigne and Feldman's music， the contempt of beloved Borges for his beloved Gombrowicz， the death of David Bowie， the endless flight of the Voyagers， the repetition of history as a tragedy， but never as a farce。
533 is a meditative rhapsody that would like to exclude the noise of current events， yet which sceptically contemplates the threat of a disintegrating Europe and must return to them several times， because if， as Candide says， "one must cultivate one's own garden"， one's own garden is in the world， whether you like it or not。
Reviews
Tripfiction
，
Reflections on life and on MENORCAFrom the opening page， the veteran author’s lightness of touch is evident: Nooteboom is a writer who can butterfly across themes and delve in to draw out the thought provoking nectar。The cactuses in his garden in Menorca give him pause for thought。 The shades of green， the spines and the simple eye catching sturdiness allow his mind to wander this way and that。 His descriptive talents and reflective prose take the reader from his garden， across the windy island， Reflections on life and on MENORCAFrom the opening page， the veteran author’s lightness of touch is evident: Nooteboom is a writer who can butterfly across themes and delve in to draw out the thought provoking nectar。The cactuses in his garden in Menorca give him pause for thought。 The shades of green， the spines and the simple eye catching sturdiness allow his mind to wander this way and that。 His descriptive talents and reflective prose take the reader from his garden， across the windy island， back to Europe and beyond。He muses on authors and literature， on politics and news， and upon the simple pleasures of life。 There are filmic dreams to be prised open and examined， and further discourse to be had on how the images are assembled in the deepest subconscious; and where they might have found their inspiration。A butterfly pair alights on the beautiful entrance gate to his property， only to discover they are incomers and dangerous to certain plants。 Can he contemplate ‘despatching’ these eye catching creations of nature in order to preserve his garden？ The wild tortoises wander around， nibbling his beloved cacti and he is alert to the dulcet， sonorous calling of his neighbour’s cockerel。This is almost one long passage – penned over 533 days – a stream of consciousness， a collection of the musings of a creative， experienced and intelligent mind。 On occasion the writing and thinking become quite dense， as he disappears down various rabbit holes of thought， but overall this is an open invitation to readers to loop into his life and share his insightful ramblings and observations。 A lovely treatise on life and Menorca。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=533: A Book of Days
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=533: A Book of Days&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,533: A Book of Days&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0