Gimmick!- Joost Zwagerman

[Amanda]

This is one of those elusive non-english 1001 books. I bought the ebook in German, converted it to pdf, and then had the pdf translated. I suppose I can't be sure of the actual quality of the writing because of this, but I gave it a 2 stars regardless because I was truly unmoved by the subject matter.

Gimmick! was written in the late 80s and follows a group of artists, club kids, and yuppies that are big into the nightlife and drug scene in Amsterdam. Specifically, Raam, a succesful modern artist is followed, as he tries to win back his ex girlfriend while personally spiralling in his lifestyle.

I know these kinds of stories/topic matter really engage some people but I usually find these narratives kind of shallow and boring unless they seem to have a message I find intriguing. This one didn't seem to.

Here a link (translation required) for anyone who wants to here more about the book: https://www.historischnieuwsblad.nl/n....

For me, I'm mostly just satisfied that it is off my non-translated read list (there are about 10 books total- 2 of which I've read now).

[Diane]

Rating: 1 star


I have been learning Dutch for the few years in anticipation of reading the non-translated works written in Dutch. This is the first adult novel I have attempted to read in Dutch. Prior to this I have only read children's books, poetry, and cookbooks in Dutch. Still, I had to look up many words. Not as many as I anticipated however, since there is an overuse of profanity and there isn't a wealth of complicated language.

The book is about the 1980's drug and sex scene of Amsterdam. I found it difficult to relate to the characters or care about their lives. While some of this may be to my discomfort with a new language, I feel most of it is about reading a subject matter I dislike combined with a weak plot, blatant misogyny, and what may possibly be poor quaity writing. It is hard for me to definitively say it is poor quality writing as I am not a native speaker of Dutch.

Overall, totally not impressed. This is completely not my cup of tea and way too graphic, gratuitous, and explicit. The only redeeming qualities were the culture references of the '80's.