About the water

"The summer months were warm and lasted long" - those who have preserved this childhood experience will appreciate the slim book by the Dutch author H.M. van den Brink. It evokes a feeling of nostalgia while simultaneously satisfying it, without ever becoming sentimental. Anton, the obedient son of a weak father, befriends the self-assured David. The duo without a helmsman symbolizes their bond. When their breath clouds merge while rowing, it marks the most delicate point of their relationship. H.M. van den Brink manages to transform the simple plot into a wonder of nuances and atmospheric descriptions of nature. "Van den Brink focuses in his slim volume on a fracture point in a boy's life and in European history. The rhythm in which he does this is unique. It is the rhythm of rowing, of breathing on or by a river. Rowing is, when it is perfect, floating. H.M. van den Brink's novella is perfect. It floats." "An enduring tale, whose liquid melancholy has something of Friedo Lampe, whose lucid wistfulness has something of Patrick Modiano, a wonderful enrichment not only of Dutch literature.".