looking into the sun

When I went to pick up the copy of Go Ask Alice they librarian had to disappoint me. It turns out that someone checked it out somewhere in 2005, and it hasn’t been seen since then. So this trip to the other library (of the other university in Amsterdam, which I live farther away from) turned out to be fruitless.

However, I decided that, since I was there already anyway, I would see if I could find another interesting book instead. And indeed, they, unlike the VU library (the library inside my own university), did have The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I had to walk for about ten minutes to one of this library’s other locations, but they had it, and I borrowed it.

Till now I love it, and I’ll continue reading it after I’ve done here.

Yesterday I finished In de Zon Kijken (looking into the sun) by Anna Provoost. It is written through the eyes of an eight year old girl, who lives with her half sister, mother and father on a farm in Australia (presumably, though it isn’t mentioned by name in the text). She loses her father in a horse riding accident, and her mother is slowly going blind. But it isn’t at all depressing; the stories point of view makes sure of that. She is more concerned with a stray and ill dog, and with a wombat they accidentally run over.

I can really recommend it. It is light, short and easy, and very moving. I read it in Dutch, and I, unfortunately, fear there isn’t a translation (yet).