User:Music2611/Blue Mondays
| File:BlueMondays.jpg Original cover | |
| Author | Arnon Grunberg |
|---|---|
| Original title | Blaue Maandagen |
| Translator | Arnold Pomerans Enca Pomerans |
| Cover artist | Ron van Room |
| Language | Dutch |
| Genre | Literary novel |
| Publisher | Nijgh & van Ditmar (Dutch) Farrar, Straus & Giroux (English) |
Publication date | May 1994 |
| Publication place | The Netherlands |
Published in English | February 1997 |
| Pages | 278 |
| ISBN | 90-388-2682-6 |
Blue Mondays is a dutch novel, written by Arnon Grunberg.
Plot
Development
Grunberg owned his own publishing house, called "Kasimir" in 1993, but after he had published five books he got in financial trouble and had to sell his publishing house.[1] In order to do so, he went to the German book fair, where he met a dutch publisher.[1] The two had dinner in a chinese restaurant, where they started talking about Grunbergs life, the publisher then said "just write it all down and I will publish it".[2] Since the publisher was drunk, Grunberg thought he was joking, but after two months the publisher called asking for the first chapter.[1][2] Which is how Grunberg started writing the book.[2] Although the title character of the book shares the same name as Grunberg, not everything in the book actually happened. In comparisation between himself and the character in the book Grunberg stated "We were both kicked out of high school at 17, did different jobs, and my father died, too. I took those from reality. But when I felt I should lie for the sake of the story, I lied. That's one definition of fiction: lies."[2]
In a 1994 interview with NRC Handelsblad, Grunberg described the novel as "tragich slapstick".[3]
Reception
Blue Mondays was positively received. Before the novel was published internationally, dutch critics had described the book as "funny"[4] and "strong".[5] Dutch writer Ronald Giphart beleived the book was a "dreamdebut".[6] Elsevier critic Doeschka Meijsing compared it to the book Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, saying Blue Mondays was "just as funny".[7] Book critic Tom van Deel of Trouw stated the following: "Blue Mondays is the debut of a born storyteller, who understands that humor is the best way too show the tragic side of things. This causing that the novel is not heavy, but light, although, judging the story, that seems almost impossible."[8] Blue Mondays sold over 70,000 copies in The Netherlands[9] and won two dutch awards, the 1994 Anton Wachterprize and the 1995 Golden Donkeyear, both awards were for best debut novel.[10]
The Novel was also praised by American critics,
References
- ^ a b c Greenman, Ben (1997-06-09). "Flying Dutchman. Will Arnon Grunberg's hit debut novel take wing in the U.S.?". Time Out. p. 41.
- ^ a b c d "The Youngest Writer". Toronto Star. 1997-10-27.
- ^ van Schoonhoven, Gertjan (1994-05-06). "You can't trust tears". NRC Handelsblad.
- ^ Peters, Arjan (1994-05-13). "Storytelling with doubts on your heels". De Volkskrant.
- ^ Durlacher, Jessica (1994-06-04). "Without a visible smile". Vrij Nederland.
- ^ Giphart, Ronald (1994-05-06). "This is not suicide, just strangulation sex". Het Parool.
- ^ Meijsing, Doeschka (1994-06-18). "Talent and Humor, The Debut of Arnon Grunberg". Elsevier.
- ^ van Deel, Tom (1994-05-20). ""Your dad is a mop, a mop who thinks he is his"". Trouw.
- ^ J.D. Biersdorfer (1997-02-02). "Sex, Drugs and Slivovitz". New York Times.
- ^ Algemene Nederlandse Pers (2004-08-22). "Grunberg wins AKO-Literatuurprijs". De Volkskrant. Retrieved 2009-02-20.