The Man I Became by Peter Verhelst

translated from the Dutch by David Colmar

review by Maryom


A family of gorillas are snatched from their jungle home, transported across the sea, trained to become 'human' and used as part of the attractions of a theme park. One of them, the Narrator, learns well, is quickly promoted and receives the badge to prove he's now 'human'. But he soon finds himself torn between what he's been taught and what he instinctively feels, and when he discovers the theme park turns out to be hiding a clandestine trade he's driven to take action...

Now, this is a strange book and if I said 'It's about a gorilla who becomes human' I'm not sure all of you would be flocking to read it, but if I said "it's like a modern version of Animal Farm" or even somewhat like this clip from Not The Nine O'Clock News, where the animal becomes more human than his teacher, you might be tempted. Yes, it contains a certain level of ambiguity; should you consider it's events literally? is it, perhaps, set in some future world where animals actually can be changed into humans?  or is it a fable or fairy tale in which an animal acquires human attributes? or even a serious scientific experiment as seen in?  Probably best to not get hung up too much about these dilemmas, just read it.

The publisher, Meike Ziervogel, says it "leaves behind images that play in your mind long after you have closed the book", and she's absolutely right. I've read a couple of books, after The Man I Became, and found ideas from it creeping in to what I'm reading now.

Fables with animals as the main characters have always been used to shine a spotlight on our failings and teach us about human behaviour, both good and bad, and this story certainly does. I think it's a book that different readers will find different themes hidden in. For me, it spoke about slavery, immigration, man's destruction of habitat and the environment, and the way 'civilised' society is often heartless and cruel in ways that the 'natural' world isn't. Give it a try, and see what it says to you!

 Maryom's review - 5 stars 
Publisher - Peirene Press 
Genre - Adult Literary Fiction, translated fiction

The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

review by Maryom

Five young men are going to be knighted by the King but first they must spend the night at a chapel outside the city walls, neither sleeping nor speaking but reflecting and praying for strength to acquit themselves as knights. They have locked the door behind them and it won't be opened till the King sends his knights for them in the morning, but in the middle of the night, the thoughts and contemplations of one of their number are disturbed. Tiuri, the youngest of the knights-in-waiting hears a noise at the door - someone asking for help. The other young men ignore the desperate whisper but Tiuri feels he can't. A knight is supposed to aid those in distress, isn't he? So against all the rules, he opens the door and goes to help. Before long he's setting off on a perilous journey, far beyond the land he knows, through dark forests and over precipitous mountains, to the neighbouring kingdom of Unauwen bearing a secret message that must only be delivered to the King himself.

Tales of knights and their quests are endlessly appealing and this is a story that will enthral children of all ages being action packed but not overtly violent - younger ones will wait with bated breath as it's read to them, their older siblings will carry on reading long after 'lights out'. Tiuri's adventures are many and varied - through unknown forests and over high mountain passes, pursued by enemies who would kill him to stop the letter getting through, but finding help when he least expects it. Of course, it isn't always possible to spot friend from foe at first sight..... Through out it all Tiuri tries his best to live up to the knightly expectations of honour, bravery and loyalty to friends and the King.

The Letter for the King is a Dutch classic tale, first published 50 years ago, but now translated into English for the first time and bound to make lots of new fans.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Pushkin Press
Genre - Children's Historical Fiction

Buy The Letter for the King from Amazon

Tomorrow Pamplona by Jan van Mersbergen

Bull Running
review by Maryom

Danny Clare, a boxer, is running away from something - first on foot, then hitching a lift and ending up travelling to Pamplona with Robert, a family man who for the one weekend a year wants to break free from his happy, ordered life.
Behind him lie an unfaithful lover, a career built on aggression and events that Danny doesn't want to face up to, but exactly what he's running away from doesn't become clear until he turns and faces up to what he's done.

Tomorrow Pamplona is the fifth in Peirene's series of modern translated short fiction and slightly longer than others. More importantly there's a different 'feel' to it. Despite being only 30 or so more pages, it reads and feels like a much longer book. The others have all been compelling, vivid, brief capturings of a moment in time, this feels like a slower unfolding of a tale. There seemed a rather dream like quality to the first half of the novel - roadsigns, towns and villages drifting past as the two men journey south - till they're brought back to reality by the bulls at Pamplona.
Tomorrow Pamplona is an exploration of the dark, aggressive aspects of personality that lurk beneath a seemingly pleasant exterior. Both men seem to only feel 'alive' in violent, threatening situations. When Danny stands stock-still and stares in the face of the charging bull, there's a sense of two instinctively violent, powerful minds opposing each other. I'm not sure that I sympathised very much with either of the main characters and that may have influenced my feelings about the book as a whole. It's not the most disturbing book I've read but there's a feeling of latent violence throughout that is more common in thrillers/whodunnits than in literary fiction.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Peirene
Genre - adult, translated fiction

Buy Tomorrow Pamplona from Amazon