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the_jesus_fandom's review
2.0
Ik moet zeggen: erg leuk geschreven.
Voor mij was de beschrijving van Brussel en Belgie alleen erg ongeloofwaardig, juist omdat de auteur zo cynisch was. Bij een paar anecdotes en feiten wist ik genoeg om door te hebben dat er flink wat overdrijving in werd gegooid, en daardoor wist ik van alle andere wetenswaardigheden ook niet of ze nou echt zo erg waren.
Voorderest was het wel leuk om te lezen, al was de inhoud zo nu en dan ontzettend onsmakelijk. Hoewel je eigenlijk al vanaf het begin weten kon hoe het zou eindigen, was het toch spannend.
Ook wel interessante visie. Zo’n beetje iedereen wordt aardiger zodra hij of zij denkt dat er iemand komt die consequenties kan uitdelen. Zodra de controlerende factor weer weg is, vervalt iedereen weer tot zonde.
Voor mij was de beschrijving van Brussel en Belgie alleen erg ongeloofwaardig, juist omdat de auteur zo cynisch was. Bij een paar anecdotes en feiten wist ik genoeg om door te hebben dat er flink wat overdrijving in werd gegooid, en daardoor wist ik van alle andere wetenswaardigheden ook niet of ze nou echt zo erg waren.
Voorderest was het wel leuk om te lezen, al was de inhoud zo nu en dan ontzettend onsmakelijk. Hoewel je eigenlijk al vanaf het begin weten kon hoe het zou eindigen, was het toch spannend.
Ook wel interessante visie. Zo’n beetje iedereen wordt aardiger zodra hij of zij denkt dat er iemand komt die consequenties kan uitdelen. Zodra de controlerende factor weer weg is, vervalt iedereen weer tot zonde.
labanczbm's review against another edition
3.0
„Ha balra nézel, Uram, azokat a becsapott lányokat látod, akiket a Nyugat, az emberi jogok állítólagos létezése ide csalt, és akik itt rekedtek, mint egy zátonyra futott hajó partra mosott darabjai, melyek után senki sem kutat. A megélhetésért hagyniuk kell, hogy férfiak tömködjék az összes nyílásukat.
boooooooooooe's review against another edition
4.0
Goed geschreven met veel (harde) humor.
Een inlevingsvermogen en blik op de hedendaagse bevolking.
Het einde was wel wat voorspellend naar mijn idee.
Een inlevingsvermogen en blik op de hedendaagse bevolking.
Het einde was wel wat voorspellend naar mijn idee.
cloud_reads's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
femmerien's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure how to review this book. Personally I found it interesting and educating, especially when it comes to Belgian culture; the disappointment in the Catholic church, the lack of purpose...
Verhulst's writing style requires the reader to really pay attention, it's not a book to quickly read, even though it's short.
Verhulst might be overly critical of his own culture, but nevertheless he's got a point to make. I found his observations quite entertaining and funny whenever I recognised them. I understood his point to be: we can do better, what is holding us back?
Verhulst's writing style requires the reader to really pay attention, it's not a book to quickly read, even though it's short.
Verhulst might be overly critical of his own culture, but nevertheless he's got a point to make. I found his observations quite entertaining and funny whenever I recognised them. I understood his point to be: we can do better, what is holding us back?
nickolette's review
In the original Flemish cover of the book, one can see through James Ensor’s famous (post-impressionist) painting of the same name. The vibe of both is befittingly similar – a city in decay, filled with sinners, freaks, inequality, and suffering. Pretty much the vision of morally bankrupt Brussels whether you ask a conservative Bulgarian or any Flemish person under the grey Belgian sky.
I have always lived in towns and cities where I needed to push myself to find their charm and start loving them. Difficult places to manage, yes, but mostly difficult on the eye. It is exactly in an effort to make Brussels more aesthetically poetic that I picked up the English edition form a second-hand bookstore near Flagey and it jumped the queue of carefully curated readings I had lined up for myself.
I was initially impressed by Verhulst’s Het leven gezien van beneden translated into Bulgarian as Животът, гледан отдолу in which he is not just accurate and well informed of an obscure place like Sofia, Bulgaria and in a specific point in time, but he also got the subtleties in the humour, the cynicism that was omnipresent and just the overall vibe. Now Brussels is his town (I think), and he takes us through neighbourhoods, metro stations, parks which I know and can envision. The coming of Christ is a cool way to talk about the city and this is what I had hoped for. There are bigger themes, such as Belgium’s place in Europe, religious hypocrisy, human nature, sometimes pointed with nothing more than a witty one-liner.
Simultaneously reading The Belgian Labyrinth by Geert van Istendael, a historical account that reads like a student book, I find this fictional story the more reliable source of the two. Which says something.
I have always lived in towns and cities where I needed to push myself to find their charm and start loving them. Difficult places to manage, yes, but mostly difficult on the eye. It is exactly in an effort to make Brussels more aesthetically poetic that I picked up the English edition form a second-hand bookstore near Flagey and it jumped the queue of carefully curated readings I had lined up for myself.
I was initially impressed by Verhulst’s Het leven gezien van beneden translated into Bulgarian as Животът, гледан отдолу in which he is not just accurate and well informed of an obscure place like Sofia, Bulgaria and in a specific point in time, but he also got the subtleties in the humour, the cynicism that was omnipresent and just the overall vibe. Now Brussels is his town (I think), and he takes us through neighbourhoods, metro stations, parks which I know and can envision. The coming of Christ is a cool way to talk about the city and this is what I had hoped for. There are bigger themes, such as Belgium’s place in Europe, religious hypocrisy, human nature, sometimes pointed with nothing more than a witty one-liner.
Simultaneously reading The Belgian Labyrinth by Geert van Istendael, a historical account that reads like a student book, I find this fictional story the more reliable source of the two. Which says something.
penguinmage's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
storydragon's review against another edition
3.0
Dit boek eindig, in tegenstelling tot veel andere 'literaire' werken, eens niet zo in ellende.
vanitas's review against another edition
3.0
Best vermakelijk en een mooi sociaal gedachte-experiment, maar de stijl en woordkeuze is echt niet aan mij besteed.