Netherlands Books

I accidentily bought this book while buying white roses online. What a delightful surprise! Robinson's prose is an infusion of fascinating description and humour. You find yourself travelling alongside David Robinson & his companions(sometimes all in his head) as you become immersed in this exhilarating traveller's tale. I found myself so absorbed in Robinson's journey, that I am inspired to travel around Luxumberg and The Grand Duchy myself. One of the most enchanting stories I've had the pleasure of reading. What a life this man has had! This great little book is jam packed full of travel genre scrapes and adventures, historical and cultural insights and bizarre recollections from the author. A wonderful read. If the front cover photograph of "The White Rose" is anything like the picture, then I'm in for a real treat when I get there. The inset photograph of the hat and umbrella says it all-pure Robinson. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll find him fascinating others at the bar in all his raconteur style. But he's probably moved on to the next unexplored terrain. One can only hope.

David Robinson's book offers a compelling foray into the life of an expat Brit living abroad in Luxembourg. The reader catches a glimpse into the true charm of the Grand Duchy through the quaint and often amusing anecdotes David so masterfully spins. I had the pleasure of meeting the author while traveling in Bratislava, and I can attest to the fact that "An Expat's Life" is an accurate reflection of David's razor-sharp whit and joi d'vive. It is confounding that "An Expat's Life" has dropped from 2,112,293rd to 2,115,269th in the Amazon.com Sales Ranking in just one day. This book should be ranked higher!

This book is unreadable. The horrid syntax is the best part of the book, the content ranges from patronizing to simply offensive. Mr. Robinson makes no effort to understand Luxembourg or learn anything about the languages, instead he makes wild generalized assumptions about those things he doesn't understand (most everything). He strikes me as a middle-aged man stuck in perpetual adolescence. He also has an annoying tendency to drift off subject in mid-paragraph. If you want to know anything factual about Luxembourg, this is not your book.

Why is this author so popular? I'm sorry but this is badly written trash- the plot isn't even very compelling. Mostly in the pulpy "bad cop" genre, roughing up bad guys and hitting on dames every other page. The only interesting thing was it showed that the Dutch are not as cool as I thought they were.

Way back when I had never heard of Janwillem van de Wetering, I picked up one of his novels off of a pile of used books just 'cause I liked the cover so much. Plus, I was out of ideas about what to read, having just suffered through a long exam period at school, which had left my brain feeling like a well-squeezed sponge. Anyway, I read "Hard Rain" in one night, finding that it was totally impossible to leave Grijpstra and de Gier and the commisaris in mid-chase. I won't give away the plot of this or any of the other great books that feature this oddball trio, but I will say that they are just about my favorite paperback detectives ever. I mean, yes, I still enjoy reading about Adam Dalgleish and Reg Wexford and Inspector Morse, but nobody's quite as likeable van de Wetering's characters, nor as much pure fun. Grijpstra is an out-of-shape realist with a fondness for drumming and a distinct lack of fondness for a nagging wife, de Gier is a judo-expert trumpet player who seeks answers to life's questions in Zen and women, and the commisaris is a keen-eyed old father-figure to both who keeps a pet turtle in his little garden. The three of them pursue murderers and other evil-doers through mostly non-traditional methods, reminding me sometimes of Hammett's Continental Op, who liked to throw monkey wrenches rather than follow clues, since that way he could often short-cut his way to a solution. In other words, the Grijpstra and de Gier books aren't really about solving puzzles, and really, the plots are often not nearly as important as the interplay of characters and the fleeting glimpses into the quirky texture of life in non-picturesque Amsterdam.

So, what I'm saying is, read at least one of the Grijpstra and de Gier books, just for the heck of it. But be aware that there's a pretty good chance you'll get addicted. Oh, and I still think the covers are great, at least the ones in the Soho Crime series; I have to put that plug in, though it's irrelevant to the stories, just because I'm a big fan of good book design.

This is the eleventh book in Janwillem van de Wetering's famous series about the Amsterdam police force and is something of a masterpiece in a series that is noted for exceptional writing. A death that might be an assassination and a group of junkie art thieves who suddenly die from using uncut heroin start a story that pits the commissaris against a boyhood antagonist who has become a crime king. For the first time we see both sides of this fatherly old man - the wry, wise-cracking senior officer who can turn into an avenging angel with little or no warning.

Aiding the commissaris are two able and eccentric officers, Sargeant de Gier and Adjutant Grijpstra. These two have played jazz, meditated, and painted their way the many volumes. They manage to be both detectives and plotters, lulling the reader with their easy banter while the tear holes in alibis and commit outrages in the spirit of justice. Villains my find themselves the victims of police heists when de Gier and Gripstra enter the scene.

This time the target of the investigation is Willem Fernandus, and urbane and powerful sociopath whose position in society is almost unassailable. The commissaris and his troops find themselves the victims of corruption in the very police force they serve and wind up carrying on a freelance hunt for the tricks that will bring Fernandus down. But Fernandus and the police in his pocket have made so many enemies that the detectives soon find they have almost too many volunteers - a police secretary plays prostitute, a host of witnesses move into the commissaris' house, and civil servants jump ship.

The comedy masks grim truths, and van de Wetering reminds us just often enough that the Fernandus is the pleasant face that masks the horrors of organized crime. For all that the commissaris' quest is a personal one, his target really is genuinely evil - a man who has abandoned everything except his own satisfaction. But the world he has created for himself is the means of his undoing as the three knights (and a host of supporters) collaborate to unravel his power.

Into all of this is mixed just enough literary and philosophical material to remind us that thinking and police work are not necessarily mutually exclusive. And that action and good writing can happen at the same time. Hard Rain does depend on the character work that preceded it, so the reader will get the most out of it by starting earlier in the series. But you won't want to miss this when it is time to read it.

This language CD is a good refresher for those that know a little of the language. It is certainly not realistic to absorb this information on the flight. You will need to listen to it for at least a couple weeks before your trip. I would have liked to see them repeat the phrases a couple of times, but it's nice to hear the phrases in the native language.

This CD is just for Basic dutch, but that's quite alot to learn even on long flight. Maybe I'm retarded, but after about a week of listening in my car daily, I retained about 80% of the phrases and words.
Ironically, people in the Nederlands speak English as a second language. So Listen to chapter 2, "Sprecken ya Anals?" (you speak English?) is all you need. I did pretty well talking dutch and it did impress my fellow travelers. I did introduce my buddy as my girlfriend a bit too many times, funny though.

An excellent quick introduction to Dutch, this CD doesn't pretend to give you a complete grounding in Dutch, but teaches you the important phrases you need when travelling in the Netherlands (where is the train station? How much is it? Good morning, etc.). One of the things I liked about it was, it was short and simple, short enough to listen to on the airplane (hence the name). After all, most people in the Netherlands speak very good English. I just wanted to learn enough Dutch to be courteous. Although the packaging said you can use it without the accompanying booklet, I wouldn't advise it! The phrases are spoken once without being repeated, and I needed the book to keep up. Besides, its useful to know how Dutch looks written.

Excellent information for the 20-something traveller who wants to do more than just see the "touristy" things while visiting Amsterdam. Extensive info on great restaurants off the beaten path as well as great info on coffeeshops and alternative lifestyles. I spent a lot of time reading this book before I got there which was good because trying to navigate the streets with this book was very difficult. The maps are broken up into neighborhoods and there is no simple way to see where you are going when you reach the edge of a neighborhood. I would recommend this book, but don't rely on the maps to help you get where you are going.

While the book told me about the most important attractions in town, I was disappointed by the maps and ended up wishing I had purchased another book. Restaurant and Hotel listings were less than adequate and the layout could have been better. I was also left feeling that the authors were pushing an agenda with their highly frequent tips and references geared to the gay travler. Let's Go's Germany book was equally as disappointing and I ended up throwing the book away and buying another guide while I was there.

I found this book helpful while living in the Netherlands. It has more than just the typical touristy things - tells about some unique museums and shops. Great restaurant reviews. The book also has some good advice about other cities in the NL to visit. Also has a very detailed history and culture of Amsterdam and the NL, which is helpful.

Although this is a small book, the patterns are very eye-catching and quickly finished. I used many of the patterns to embellish hand-made cards. There are nice color photographs of cards made using the designs which were helpful for me as a beginner to this craft. Anyone who enjoys iris folding, quilling, mola cutting or origami will benefit from this easy and interesting form of paper crafting. It only requires two tools,a paper piercer and a foam mat, both of which are very inexpensive. I recommend this book for crafty folks looking for an easy and quick new skill for using paper.

I bought this for a christmas gift for a dear friend. I did not have a suitable replacement in time for our gift exchange so was unable to return it and get something else. If I had purchased it for myself I would have returned it. It was a very small book. Actually i am not sure book is the proper descriptive for it - maybe pamplet would be better. The "patterns" were not done well at all. They were small and included as on the same page as the text. If you were going to use them you would need to enlarge them and because of the way they were presented along with the text it would have been difficult. I was very disappointed. Thankfully I received a discount and the item only cost me $8.00. However I still feel it was not worth the money.

This is a wonderful book full of nice patterns, and ideas for card making. The possibilities are almost endless, with this type of art. It really enhances my paper quilled cards. The only thing I didn't care for, is the patterns are all out of order, but that is explained due to how the book is written. For me, it was a must have book! I highly recommend it to anyone who makes cards, as the technique is very simple to master!

I found this guide to Paris an invaluable companion on my first trip to the city. Its detailed maps of the different quarters and breezy commentary was a great supplement to the simpler, heavily illustrated "Eyewitness" Guide I also used. The Rough Guide goes into greater detail, and has a lot more historical background, without being exhaustive like the famous "Blue Guide" series. It also has a good summary of the history of the city. The writing is winningly opinionated in places (declaring, for example, that the late 19th century realist paintings in the Musee D'Orsay are 'indigestible'), but doesn't seem demand that you agree with it. Maybe Paris just makes people opinionated in matters of taste. I'd recommend it for anybody who wants more than the tourist surface, but who doesn't want to be overwhelmed with too much background.

Multiple misplaced Metro stations (e.g., Porte Maillot, Miromesnil), buildings (e.g., Ministre de l'Interieur) and hotels (the one I stayed in) made this map useless - I spent about an hour in total walking the wrong way because of such mistakes on a map that claims to have been "thoroughly researched on the ground".
The tough waterproof paper is good; in fact it's essential as the manner in which the map is folded is so awkward you will come close to tearing it every time you use it.
I'd recommend a map book; even the crude maps in the Lonely Planet guide are better than this.

We went to many bookstores looking for a map of Paris. MY parner and I were going for the first time ever and had no clue what to expect. We went for 6 days and 5 nights. We thumbed thru about 100 different maps in total and purchased this one based on 3 things: it showed the street we were staying on, it divided the country into arrondisements (different districts) and it showed all the tourist spots!

The map was easy to read and through all our fighting over it and folding and unfolding, the map stayed in tact! It's also waterproof!

It was so worth the money! We got lost once when we travelled far off the map. But it really is the best map out there! We are keeping it for our next visit!

As a student of Stuart era British political and social history, I found this work a useful, serious introduction to Dutch economic and art history. Profusely illustrated, and quite readable (despite the intended academic audience), the book uses a detailed study of Dutch economics as a window into the world of Dutch art in the 17th century. A number of sources are translated here for the first time.

Of course, all art history interpretation is necessarily viewed through a personal prism, and Dr. Hochstrasser lets us know she is using a "Marxist" approach (which means that class consciousness is revealed by the art) with her frontispiece quote. For me the narrative made the still lives far more consequential and understandable - I've never been enamored of the pretty fruit type of picture before, but now understand why the subjects were important and why the owners of these works would be proud of their display. I came away with a deeper appreciation for the artwork of the period as well as the economic industry of the Dutch at this time, including the affliction of the slave trade, an odious counterpoint to the "golden age"

This affordable work would be welcomed by anyone with an interest in 17th century Europe, economic history, and Dutch art, of course!

A great idea and a wonderful exposition. The pictures are also beautiful. Interesting also for non-art historians

One opens a book of art criticism purporting to be a review of Dutch still life in the Golden Age in the hope that such a book might actually contain art criticism. Ms. Berger Hochstratter foregoes such bourgeois expectations and instead offers us her shock and horror that Dutch still lifes in the Seventeenth Century do not confess loudly the sins of the Dutch colonial expansion and the underlying exploitation of native peoples arising from such things as the spice trade. Oh yes, there are some lovely pictures included.

One is well forewarned of the impending screed by the opening epigram from that most eminent of art historians, Karl Marx. One abandons all hope upon reading the first sentence of Ms. Berger Hochstrasser's preface, which reads, "As I first sat down to draft this preface on 8 September 2001, the International Congress Against Racism was meeting in Durban, South Africa." Indeed.

For the next 280 or so pages, we are made to suffer along with Ms. Berger Hochstrasser as she delves ever deeper into her revulsion at the inhumanities the rich inflict on the poor. Oh, by the way, all those moralizing interpretations that many art historians have read into Dutch art of the period--the vanitas--well, it seems that since none of them really explicitly condemned slavery, international trade, racism, sexism, whateverism--all those interpretations are null and void. Interesting.

I think you get the picture. This is an ideologically driven, sophomoric book. One can admire the author's idealism and her sincerity. Did I mention that the pictures are lovely? Skip this book; read Schama instead.

Janwillem Van De Wetering is an odd duck; I understood his mysteries much better after reading his books on Zen Buddhism, which I highly recommend. Also, his book about Robert Van Gulick will lead you to the Judge Dee mysteries which are very fascinating, and there are a lot of them, so between Van de Wetering and Gulick, you don't run out of books to read for quite a while. That is a mystery lover's greatest fantasy, a LOT of interesting books to read.

The book blended interesting strands of South American voodoo and Amsterdman red-light district life. I liked the book, but did not find the end convincing. I could not believe the police would accept the "shocking truth". Still, I liked the book's atmosphere. A sort of Dutch, latter-day film noir.

I must agree with my friend from Forest Hills, New York. The ending does make you scratch your head a piece. However, I have read The Butterfly Hunter and The Japanese Corpse, and this is the man's style for sure. However, I have always detected something very very unusual in his work and something very very American here. The work rings of Heinrich Boll in places, but something intuitive tells me otherwise. You may find the vulgar racial resonations of Det. Grijpstra's work associates uninspiring, but alas.

I've always wondered what happened to Frank Serpico. He did vanish to the same part of the world as Van De Wetering, and he was fond of this kind of urban detective fiction. But maybe this is reaching . . . but not as reaching as the ending of this book. I enjoyed it none the less.

While I must agree with comments made by both of the previous reviewers of this book...

1) There is beauty in this book (midwest book review).
[maybe not because of Ms. Binet but certainly not despite of her efforts either]
2) I have seen better graphic designs and editing (a reader).
[which anyone who has attempted a portfolio of his/ her own knows is impossibly hard to pull off to absolute perfection]

I tend to agree more with Midwest Book Review than A Reader because it is what it is, a "SHOWCASE" book touching on the many forms of thinking about architecture that W. Arets applies to his works (evident in the title Works, Projects, Writtings.) This book does border four stars, but I do strongly recommend this book over the Massimo Faiferri text which I already reviewed as four stars. So, even seeing the point (a reader) had, I have to disagree and give this book an "A" grade because it is deserving of one (and should boost the sinfully low grade A Reader gave this book.)

P.S. I really dig the orange hardcover on my shelf.

Lastly, ALWAYS keep an eye out for An Alabaster Skin and Strange Bodies if you are a true Arets fan.

It is a shame that Princeton Architectural Press could not afford to hire a better graphic designer, as well as an editor that would make the work and its presentation shine. Sure, the book is a great collection of most of Arets' work as well as few essays, nevertheless the spirit that one expected from books such as "An Alabaster Skin" among others is completely missing.
All the beautiful drawings that describe Arets' attitude toward space and urban settings are exchanged for fairly ugly computer renderings and the photography of Helen Binet is not as beautiful as some customers noted.
I was looking forward to this book for a long time, nevertheless it became a great disappointment.

Aptly edited by Xavier Costa (Curator of Architecture, Mies van der Rohe Foundation), Wiel Arets is an impressive presentation showcasing the creations of architect Wiel Arets. The first full-length monograph of Arets' work, Wiel Arets features a thoughtful text commentary offered by a variety of learned writers concerning Arets' application of leveraging theory "oneirism", uses of grids and rhizomes, and much more. Yet the highlight of this outstanding coffee-table book is undoubtedly Helen Binet's photography - some in color, and some in black-and-white, all combined with an informative text joyously proffering evidence of Wiel Arets' architectural genius. Wiel Arets is a welcome and recommended addition to professional and academic architectural history reference collections.

As an architecture student and avid collector of books concerning architecture i was about to order this book from Amazon. But browsing through the selection of images i was very much put off by the big caption 'Neutelings Riedjik' which is supposed to be Neutelings Riedijk.

It comes across very amateurish and it makes me wonder if the writer of this book has an idea of the content he is writing about and isn't just collection nice photographs of famous dutch offices.

I bought this book for someone interested in Real Estate, and I didnt know what kind of souvenier to bring them from my trip to the Netherlands. It has plenty of beautiful photos of some great buildings, inside and out. It has descriptions too.