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Some Day Tomorrow
A young, female university student, is found murdered. The signs point to sexual molestation, a probable rape. Bert, retired now and ailing after an operation, falls under police suspicion. He knew the girl, befriended her even, but did he kill her?
204 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2000
About the author
Nicolas Freeling
87 books59 followersNicolas Freeling born Nicolas Davidson, (March 3, 1927 - July 20, 2003) was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the Van der Valk series of detective novels which were adapted for transmission on the British ITV network by Thames Television during the 1970s.
Freeling was born in London, but travelled widely, and ended his life at his long-standing home at Grandfontaine to the west of Strasbourg. He had followed a variety of occupations, including the armed services and the catering profession. He began writing during a three-week prison sentence, after being convicted of stealing some food.[citation needed]
Freeling's The King of the Rainy Country received a 1967 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. He also won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers' Association, and France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.
From Wikipedia
Series:
* Van Der Valk
* Henri Castang
Freeling was born in London, but travelled widely, and ended his life at his long-standing home at Grandfontaine to the west of Strasbourg. He had followed a variety of occupations, including the armed services and the catering profession. He began writing during a three-week prison sentence, after being convicted of stealing some food.[citation needed]
Freeling's The King of the Rainy Country received a 1967 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. He also won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers' Association, and France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.
From Wikipedia
Series:
* Van Der Valk
* Henri Castang
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 4, 2016
"[...] a great big stretch of life - over fifty years - got compressed abruptly into a tight small ball."
This is an outstanding book to begin the 2016 reading year: beautifully written, for the most part totally captivating, thought provoking, and inviting the reader to work really hard on understanding. Some Day Tomorrow is the fortieth (yes, 40th) book by Nicolas Freeling that I have read and reviewed here; I am already worrying about the coming pains of withdrawal - only one more book is left. Anyway, after some weaker entries from Mr. Freeling that I have recently read, this is one of the best works by my favorite "popular" - how misleading the word is - author. It may even be his best book, but to make sure I would need to read it again. Well, some day tomorrow...
Although Mr. Freeling has been known as one of the most successful crime/mystery authors, it needs to be said up front that Some Day Tomorrow is not a crime novel, even though the plot involves a murder, police investigation, court actions, etc. Readers who look for a police procedural or a crime drama, ones who are interested in "Who has done it?" should steer away. There are no solid answers given and the readers are welcome to construct their own explanations and make their own decisions. Also, this novel is clearly not about the plot: the story is less important than the way it is told.
For the most part, the prose in the novel is a stream of consciousness of one Hubertus van Bijl, Bert for short, an almost 70-year old Dutch horticulturist, an owner of a well prospering "Planten & Bloemen Handel" business, on the brink of retirement. Despite having a loving and caring wife of 40 years, a wife whom he also truly loves and respects, he happens to have brief sexual affairs: one with a 17-year-old girl and the other with a 60-odd-year-old wife of his best friend. Bert has recently undergone a radical operation for prostate cancer, his world seems to be crumbling, and he is inclined to reflect on his life. When Carla, a 20-year old student is found murdered in the dunes, Bert naturally becomes the main suspect in the murder: he has been seen with her in town, he frequently takes walks in the dunes, and an even younger girl admitted having sex with him.
The novel is a stunningly written, realistically rambling account of a sixty-year story (from the 1930s to 1990s) of three generations of van Bijls business and family. It is a sweeping panorama of changing cultural and societal mores in the Netherlands, a study of the Dutch national character and of Dutch foibles and habits, and a captivating portrayal of the Zandvoort area of Holland. The novel also offers an unconventional, frightfully penetrating study of a basically decent and honest man, who tries to understand and explain to himself the motives of his behavior.
It is exceedingly rare to find well-written, non-gratuitous sex scenes. In almost all books I know (with over 50 years of rather heavy reading) such scenes are either ridiculous, highly technical (i.e., driven by anatomy, spatial geometry, or physiology), or - at best - pornographic. The two scenes in Some Day Tomorrow - one between a late sexagenarian and a teenager and the other between two sexagenarians - feel completely natural: the writing does not exhibit any erotic or pornographic tone, and is certainly free of ludicrous euphemisms and hyperboles. And the Carmen Sternwood reference is precious!
To end this overlong review, I need to mention two problems I am having with interpretation (these are my problems, not the author's). Mr. Freeling uses quite an unconventional literary technique in the novel: most of Bert's stream of consciousness is told - obviously - in the first person. Yet, quite often the author switches to the "he, Bert" narrative form. I have failed trying to find a pattern, a rule that would explain the changes. It is possible that the novel's "I" is Mr. Freeling himself, who pops in and out of Bert's personality. After all, the 72-year-old author is almost the same age as Mr. van Bijl, and he switches identities whenever it is convenient.
But the greatest mystery of the novel is its cryptic last part, which seemingly does not have much in common with the remainder of the story. Mr. Freeling writes about Carlos Castaneda's book The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, without even once mentioning the author or the title; some detective work on the Internet has been needed to find the references. This has been a fascinating task, but the mystery remains. Maybe Mr. van Bijl is descending into madness. Or maybe Nicolas Freeling is. Maybe some day tomorrow I will understand...
Four and a quarter stars.
This is an outstanding book to begin the 2016 reading year: beautifully written, for the most part totally captivating, thought provoking, and inviting the reader to work really hard on understanding. Some Day Tomorrow is the fortieth (yes, 40th) book by Nicolas Freeling that I have read and reviewed here; I am already worrying about the coming pains of withdrawal - only one more book is left. Anyway, after some weaker entries from Mr. Freeling that I have recently read, this is one of the best works by my favorite "popular" - how misleading the word is - author. It may even be his best book, but to make sure I would need to read it again. Well, some day tomorrow...
Although Mr. Freeling has been known as one of the most successful crime/mystery authors, it needs to be said up front that Some Day Tomorrow is not a crime novel, even though the plot involves a murder, police investigation, court actions, etc. Readers who look for a police procedural or a crime drama, ones who are interested in "Who has done it?" should steer away. There are no solid answers given and the readers are welcome to construct their own explanations and make their own decisions. Also, this novel is clearly not about the plot: the story is less important than the way it is told.
For the most part, the prose in the novel is a stream of consciousness of one Hubertus van Bijl, Bert for short, an almost 70-year old Dutch horticulturist, an owner of a well prospering "Planten & Bloemen Handel" business, on the brink of retirement. Despite having a loving and caring wife of 40 years, a wife whom he also truly loves and respects, he happens to have brief sexual affairs: one with a 17-year-old girl and the other with a 60-odd-year-old wife of his best friend. Bert has recently undergone a radical operation for prostate cancer, his world seems to be crumbling, and he is inclined to reflect on his life. When Carla, a 20-year old student is found murdered in the dunes, Bert naturally becomes the main suspect in the murder: he has been seen with her in town, he frequently takes walks in the dunes, and an even younger girl admitted having sex with him.
The novel is a stunningly written, realistically rambling account of a sixty-year story (from the 1930s to 1990s) of three generations of van Bijls business and family. It is a sweeping panorama of changing cultural and societal mores in the Netherlands, a study of the Dutch national character and of Dutch foibles and habits, and a captivating portrayal of the Zandvoort area of Holland. The novel also offers an unconventional, frightfully penetrating study of a basically decent and honest man, who tries to understand and explain to himself the motives of his behavior.
It is exceedingly rare to find well-written, non-gratuitous sex scenes. In almost all books I know (with over 50 years of rather heavy reading) such scenes are either ridiculous, highly technical (i.e., driven by anatomy, spatial geometry, or physiology), or - at best - pornographic. The two scenes in Some Day Tomorrow - one between a late sexagenarian and a teenager and the other between two sexagenarians - feel completely natural: the writing does not exhibit any erotic or pornographic tone, and is certainly free of ludicrous euphemisms and hyperboles. And the Carmen Sternwood reference is precious!
To end this overlong review, I need to mention two problems I am having with interpretation (these are my problems, not the author's). Mr. Freeling uses quite an unconventional literary technique in the novel: most of Bert's stream of consciousness is told - obviously - in the first person. Yet, quite often the author switches to the "he, Bert" narrative form. I have failed trying to find a pattern, a rule that would explain the changes. It is possible that the novel's "I" is Mr. Freeling himself, who pops in and out of Bert's personality. After all, the 72-year-old author is almost the same age as Mr. van Bijl, and he switches identities whenever it is convenient.
But the greatest mystery of the novel is its cryptic last part, which seemingly does not have much in common with the remainder of the story. Mr. Freeling writes about Carlos Castaneda's book The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, without even once mentioning the author or the title; some detective work on the Internet has been needed to find the references. This has been a fascinating task, but the mystery remains. Maybe Mr. van Bijl is descending into madness. Or maybe Nicolas Freeling is. Maybe some day tomorrow I will understand...
Four and a quarter stars.
January 1, 2022
Bert, the unreliable narrator, is an utterly repellant personality, and the tone of the book overall is very bleak.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-...
May 1, 2020
Is this the story of a schizophrenic, a murderer, a sexual predator, an ageing narcissist or a harmless botanist? Maybe all of them but I doubt you will know by the end of this book which takes a left turn of gargantuan proportions late in the book. The perspective of the narrator is important but here it drops in and out of first and second party viewpoints. One moment it is 'I' and the next the narrator is talking of this other 'Bert' which we know is himself. No chapter divisions means a stream of consciousness style for "Hubertus van Bijl" - the Bert who is talked about by the narrator. He is getting on, over 60, and prosperous through his floral business in Zandvoort/ Amsterdam and demonically interested in sex as if he realises one day his ability must fade naturally. His forbearing wife is loyal and faithful though Bert rarely is. At the first opportunity in the book he has sex with a 16 year old Lolita character in the sand dunes, and a teasing encounter with a 20 year old university student Carla, both re-affirmations that he has not yet lost his ability to attract women and his potency. Then fate twists the knife cruelly and Bert loses his sexual proficiency after a prostate cancer operation. That doesn't stop him having a gentle sexual encounter with the 60 year old wife of a friend. Bert continues to delve deeply into deep reflection of his life. Carla is found murdered in the dunes and because Bert has lied about knowing her he becomes the main suspect in the murder. The police procedural element in this book is secondary and it takes 3/4 of the book for the police to pursue Bert properly. With a lack of evidence Bert is released and it is never explained fully why the police are then empowered by evidence (not revealed) to re-arrest him. Except, Bert prods the hornets nest with a letter to the Law demanding he be charged or exonerated publicly. We don't know if that is the catalyst fir what happens next. In the finale of the book Bert is in 'special custody' leaving the reader to speculate as I did on schizophrenia as being the root of the book. Are there two people in this body? Hubertus the botanist still in love with his wife and Bert the sexual predator and possible murderer. You wont be given the answer. Perhaps that is what Freeling wanted from the start. To subvert the police procedural of Van der Valk novels in favour of the existentialism of the mind of a 70 year old still ardent in his mind but betrayed by illness, disease and impotency to the point where he becomes something else. That is something you will have to find out for yourself. A challenging read.
July 21, 2016
OK, I'm going to admit it. I didn't read this book -- I read the first 21 pages. I found it too much work to burrow through the who is writing this book and what is going on mystery beginning. I then leafed through the back and decided it was about one man's perspective on some women, and couldn't get myself to care about him.
This isn't a good review at all -- it's just a note that this book was difficult for me find any interest in.
This isn't a good review at all -- it's just a note that this book was difficult for me find any interest in.
December 6, 2014
A mystery with a promising beginning, more readable than some of Freeling's other novels, but with an ultimately disappointing non-ending. Ambiguous endings are one thing, but this one just sort of fizzles out. I guess we're supposed to think Bert is the murderer, but his unreliable narration left me feeling uncertain of anything for sure.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews