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Die wêreld van Charlie Oeng
Tian Kilian se ouers is voor sy oë vermoor, die aand van die vuurwerke op Slootplaas. Nou reis hy, Amsterdam toe en na Kowloon, oral op die spoor van Charlie Oeng, oftewel Koekepan, oftewel Gelatenheid, oftewel Soutchinees. ‘n Ryke verskeidenheid karakters bevolk die verhaal, van die KLM-lugwaardin Jenny May tot die Chinees matriarg ouma Voetjies in Amsterdam en die blinde siener ouma Ogies in die Oos-Kaapse Karoo. Van Cor van Gogh, hy met die kleinood in die koker, tot die enigmatiese, naamlose Sy…
Die wêreld van Charlie Oeng staan in die tradisie van breed opgesette vertellings met veelvuldige verhaallyne en uitgebreide agtergrondbeskrywings. Feit en verdigsel is sjarmant verweef in hierdie verbluffende roman.
Die wêreld van Charlie Oeng staan in die tradisie van breed opgesette vertellings met veelvuldige verhaallyne en uitgebreide agtergrondbeskrywings. Feit en verdigsel is sjarmant verweef in hierdie verbluffende roman.
559 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2017
15 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Etienne van Heerden
40 books48 followersEtienne Roché van Heerden grew up in a dual medium household. After matriculating he decided to join the navy, but since he is blind in the right eye, was not called up for combat duty. Instead he served as a dog handler, playing his alsatian at major festivals.
Van Heerden initially studied law, and was admitted to the South African Side Bar as attorney. He freelanced as deputy sheriff for the Civil Court, and moved about in the townships around Cape Town, dispensing civil summonses and learning a great deal about life in these suppressed communities. As a young practitioner, his clients were mostly from the black and coloured crime-ridden communities around Cape Town.
Van Heerden also lectured Legal Practice at the Peninsula Technikon and spent two years in advertising. At age thirty, with the birth of his eldest daughter, Van Heerden left the routine of a budding Cape Town advertising agency. He and his family relocated to northern Natal where he started out on his academic career in Literature at the University of Zululand. His PhD was a study on engagement and postmodernism.
During the eighties he was member of a group of Afrikaans writers secretly meeting the banned ANC of Mandela and exiled writers at the (now famous) Victoria Falls Writers’ Conference, held in Zimbabwe.
He regularly teaches at universities in Europe, and has been Writer in Residence at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and the University of Antwerp in Belgium. He was a member of the University of Iowa’s prestigious International Writing Program in 1990, and has been back on visits to this university, of which he is an Honorary Fellow in Writing. He regularly reads his fiction at events such as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, the Winter Nights Festival in the Hague, Netherlands, the Time of the Writer Festival in Berlin, Germany, the Zimbabwe Book Fair and other festivals and events internationally.
Van Heerden now teaches at the University of Cape Town, where he is the Hofmeyr Professor in the School of Languages and Literatures, and chairs the Afrikaans and Netherlandic Studies Section. He is also the brain behind the literary e-zine "LitNet".
Van Heerden is married to Kaia, a practising doctor, and lives in Stellenbosch. The couple has two daughters, Imke and Menán.
Van Heerden initially studied law, and was admitted to the South African Side Bar as attorney. He freelanced as deputy sheriff for the Civil Court, and moved about in the townships around Cape Town, dispensing civil summonses and learning a great deal about life in these suppressed communities. As a young practitioner, his clients were mostly from the black and coloured crime-ridden communities around Cape Town.
Van Heerden also lectured Legal Practice at the Peninsula Technikon and spent two years in advertising. At age thirty, with the birth of his eldest daughter, Van Heerden left the routine of a budding Cape Town advertising agency. He and his family relocated to northern Natal where he started out on his academic career in Literature at the University of Zululand. His PhD was a study on engagement and postmodernism.
During the eighties he was member of a group of Afrikaans writers secretly meeting the banned ANC of Mandela and exiled writers at the (now famous) Victoria Falls Writers’ Conference, held in Zimbabwe.
He regularly teaches at universities in Europe, and has been Writer in Residence at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and the University of Antwerp in Belgium. He was a member of the University of Iowa’s prestigious International Writing Program in 1990, and has been back on visits to this university, of which he is an Honorary Fellow in Writing. He regularly reads his fiction at events such as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, the Winter Nights Festival in the Hague, Netherlands, the Time of the Writer Festival in Berlin, Germany, the Zimbabwe Book Fair and other festivals and events internationally.
Van Heerden now teaches at the University of Cape Town, where he is the Hofmeyr Professor in the School of Languages and Literatures, and chairs the Afrikaans and Netherlandic Studies Section. He is also the brain behind the literary e-zine "LitNet".
Van Heerden is married to Kaia, a practising doctor, and lives in Stellenbosch. The couple has two daughters, Imke and Menán.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 3, 2018
3.5 stars
Hierdie is die storie van Charlie Ng, of te wel Charlie Oeng, of Willie Foo, of Koekepan, of poepchinees. Agter elke naam skuil ‘n lewens geskiedenis.
Die storie word vertel in kinkels en kronkels wat jou vat van Karoo plaase tot Amsterdam, Hongkong en die Chinese mafia.
Die taalgebruik was uit die boonste rakke en dis hoekom hierdie boek gered word van ‘n 3.5 ster rating want eerlikwaar teen die einde het die storie bietjie uitgerek begin voel en ek het moeg geraak vir al die simboliek.
My gunsteling karakter was Ouma Ogies, ‘n bruin vrou wat deur die vorige plaas eienaar lewensreg het om te bly in haar pandokkie op die Killian plaas. Sy is van kind af al blind maar sien baie meer as die mense om haar.
Nou die Killian plaas is waar die storie begin en eindig met die moord van Tian Killian se ouers en alle vingers wys na Charloe Oeng as die skuldige. Die stil Chinees wat by die velskuur werk en skelm vuurwerke maak. Maar daar is baie meer aan hierdie geheimsinnige mannietjie as wat enige iemand sal kan dink.
Hierdie is pure boer kontrei waar die K woord nog mildelik gebruik word en die veiligheid polisie amok maak onder die plaas werkers. Want as jy eers selle toe gevat word kom jy nie gou weer terug nie.
Die storie is vol historiese feite ingekleur met magical realism en is absoluut die moeite werd al was dit nou wel die duurste blerrie boek wat ek in 'n lang tyd gekoop het.
Hierdie is die storie van Charlie Ng, of te wel Charlie Oeng, of Willie Foo, of Koekepan, of poepchinees. Agter elke naam skuil ‘n lewens geskiedenis.
Die storie word vertel in kinkels en kronkels wat jou vat van Karoo plaase tot Amsterdam, Hongkong en die Chinese mafia.
Die taalgebruik was uit die boonste rakke en dis hoekom hierdie boek gered word van ‘n 3.5 ster rating want eerlikwaar teen die einde het die storie bietjie uitgerek begin voel en ek het moeg geraak vir al die simboliek.
My gunsteling karakter was Ouma Ogies, ‘n bruin vrou wat deur die vorige plaas eienaar lewensreg het om te bly in haar pandokkie op die Killian plaas. Sy is van kind af al blind maar sien baie meer as die mense om haar.
Nou die Killian plaas is waar die storie begin en eindig met die moord van Tian Killian se ouers en alle vingers wys na Charloe Oeng as die skuldige. Die stil Chinees wat by die velskuur werk en skelm vuurwerke maak. Maar daar is baie meer aan hierdie geheimsinnige mannietjie as wat enige iemand sal kan dink.
Hierdie is pure boer kontrei waar die K woord nog mildelik gebruik word en die veiligheid polisie amok maak onder die plaas werkers. Want as jy eers selle toe gevat word kom jy nie gou weer terug nie.
Die storie is vol historiese feite ingekleur met magical realism en is absoluut die moeite werd al was dit nou wel die duurste blerrie boek wat ek in 'n lang tyd gekoop het.
July 22, 2018
Hy is soos 'n asem wat deur die drop trek, dink sy. 'n Boodskap van elders.
Soos deur die titel aangedui word is hierdie die storie van Charlie Oeng, ook bekend as Poepchinees, Willie Foo, Gelatenheid, Koekepan en Konfoes. Hy vervel sy ou name soos hy nuwe identiteite aanneem.
Moenie 'n storie met begin en einde verwag nie, maar eerder 'n ontdekking van vele plekke en mense, met prosa so mooi dat jy elke woord stadig moet proe en elke aksie of emosie moet deurdink voordat jy aanbeweeg. Die magiese verleen 'n ekstra towerkrag aan die meesleurende roman.
Vir my was dit 'n verhaal oor buitestaanders, Charlie ja, maar ook Tian, ouma Ogies, Sy, Witkant en Cor, en hoe almal hulle andersheid op 'n ander manier uitleef.
Die enigste rede hoekom die boek 'n ster verloor was omdat ek dink dat dit nog meer treffend sou wees, as dit bietjie korter was.
Ek beveel dit definitief aan vir enigeiemand wat Andre P Brink en PG du Plessis geniet.
November 23, 2018
"Hierdie wêreld, hierdie Afrika - dit vou oop soos 'n blom. Soos stuifmeel is die stories. Kakpraat is die kroonblare."
Dit was net 'n myl of 2 te lank. Verder het ek heerlik saam Charlie Oeng gereis.
Dit was net 'n myl of 2 te lank. Verder het ek heerlik saam Charlie Oeng gereis.
June 30, 2017
Die wag was die moeite werd! Verruklik, verbluffend, verrykend, verstommend!
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December 29, 2017I don't really like the metaphoric depth - sometimes didn't understand some things. Not that into this kind of writing style. I think true Etienne van Heerden fans must have liked it. I'm unfortunately not trying another one of his books after this.
April 19, 2019
Nog altyd my gunsteling skrywer en sy boeke stel my nooit teleur. Met Charlie het konsentrasie geverg en jy nooit kon weet waarheen sy storie jou neem nie ongelooflike skryfstyl
May 14, 2019
Voel nou of ek my katswink gelees het.
July 29, 2019
Dit is nie ‘n maklike lees nie, maar jy word met boeiende reise beloon.
February 23, 2020
Hierdie storie moet mens met jou siel verstaan, nie (noodwendig) jou kop nie. Die karakters gaan my (na die lees van die boek) nog 'n rukkie geselskap hou.
January 17, 2021
A phenomenal, multi-layered book with complicated, colorful and interesting characters.
July 22, 2021
I'm glad
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2017
Etienne van Heerden se beste nog!
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July 20, 2018As usual.. great from the pen of probably my favourite Afrikaans writer.. OK mnnn Breyten ..
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews