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The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 831/4 Years Old
Hendrik Groen
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€ 11.57
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Description for The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 831/4 Years Old
Paperback. Translator(s): Velmans, Hester. Num Pages: 368 pages. BIC Classification: FA; FYT. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 198 x 129. .
The hilarious international bestselling novel that has had pensioners ditching their sticks and zimmers to follow the age-defying, youth inducing antics inside The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old . . . 'Terrific. This geriatric Adrian Mole made me laugh' Woman and Home 'Funny and touching' BBC Radio 4 Meet Hendrik Groen. An octogenarian in a care home who has no intention of doing what he's told, or dying quietly. To that end, he creates the Old-But-Not-Dead Club and with his fellow members sets about living his final years with careless abandon. Such anarchism infuriates the care home director but pleases Eefje, the woman who makes Hendrik's frail heart palpitate. If it's never too late to have fun, then can it ever be too late to meet the love of your life? 'So much more than just a comedy' John Boyne 'A story with a great deal of heart' Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Project 'Amusing and wickedly accurate. A handbook of resistance for our time.' Sunday Express 'Very funny' Jeremy Paxman Financial Times
Product Details
Publisher
Penguin Books Ltd
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2017
Condition
New
Number of Pages
400
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781405924009
SKU
V9781405924009
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-99
About Hendrik Groen
Hendrik Groen started his diaries on the literary website of Torpedo magazine. His first diary The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old has been translated into over thirty languages and On The Bright Side went straight to number 1 in its native Netherlands. Hester Velmans is the author of two popular children's novels and a translator specializing in modern fiction. Her translation of Renate Dorrestein's A Heart of Stone won the Vondel Prize for Translation and was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her translation of Lulu Wang's The Lily Theater was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her children's book Isabel of the Whales now has a sibling: the second in the Whales Series, Jessaloup's Song (age 10 and up). Hester Velmans is a translator specializing in contemporary Dutch and French literature. Her translation of Renate Dorrestein's A Heart of Stone won the Authors' Society's Vondel Prize, and in 2014 she was awarded an NEA Translation Fellowship to translate the neglected novelist Herman Franke. She is also the author of the popular children's books Isabel of the Whales and Jessaloup's Song, and the historical novel Slipper.
Reviews for The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 831/4 Years Old
Hendrik pens an expose of his care home, sets up the Old-But-Not-Dead club and relishes the arrival of a new female resident. This geriatric Adrian Mole made me laugh and think. Terrific
Fanny Blake
Woman and Home
Highly entertaining ... a delightful and touching saga of one man's way of coping with old age ... we may assume that Hendrik Groen is a character of fiction. But it is a fiction so closely based on the observation of real life that it is utterly convincing
Daily Express
Hendrik Groen is king
Ray Kluun Amusing [and] wickedly accurate ... I was constantly put in mind of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, another comi-tragedy concerning the tyranny of institutions of the unwanted. Enjoy Groen's light touch but do not be fooled by it. We live in an ageing society. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is a handbook of resistance for our time.
FIVE STARS
Daily Express
A joy to read, as much concerned with friendship and dignity as it is with the debilitating effects of aging ... An entertaining and uplifting story of a man in the winter of his days, stoic in the face of bureaucratic nonsense and an unabashed need to wear a nappy. Imagined or not, this is the diary of someone who wants nothing more than to be allowed see out his days with dignity and respect. It's not too much to ask, really, is it?
John Boyne
Irish Independent
Full of off-beat charm and quirky characters
Cathy Rentzenbrink
Stylist
Thoughtful, anxious and gruff... Laced with humour
The Best New Fiction
Mail on Sunday
A story with a great deal of heart, it pulled me in with its self-deprecating humour, finely drawn characters and important themes. Anyone who hopes to grow old with dignity will have much to reflect on
Graeme Simsion, author of international phenomenon
The Rosie Project
'A great deal of heart' Graeme Simsion 'Praised for its wit' BBC Radio 4 Front Row 'When I'm an old man, I want to be Hendrik Groen' John Boyne 'I laughed until I cried' David Suchet 'Thoughtful, anxious and gruff... Laced with humour' Mail on Sunday 'Amusing [and] wickedly accurate' Sunday Express
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Fanny Blake
Woman and Home
Highly entertaining ... a delightful and touching saga of one man's way of coping with old age ... we may assume that Hendrik Groen is a character of fiction. But it is a fiction so closely based on the observation of real life that it is utterly convincing
Daily Express
Hendrik Groen is king
Ray Kluun Amusing [and] wickedly accurate ... I was constantly put in mind of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, another comi-tragedy concerning the tyranny of institutions of the unwanted. Enjoy Groen's light touch but do not be fooled by it. We live in an ageing society. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is a handbook of resistance for our time.
FIVE STARS
Daily Express
A joy to read, as much concerned with friendship and dignity as it is with the debilitating effects of aging ... An entertaining and uplifting story of a man in the winter of his days, stoic in the face of bureaucratic nonsense and an unabashed need to wear a nappy. Imagined or not, this is the diary of someone who wants nothing more than to be allowed see out his days with dignity and respect. It's not too much to ask, really, is it?
John Boyne
Irish Independent
Full of off-beat charm and quirky characters
Cathy Rentzenbrink
Stylist
Thoughtful, anxious and gruff... Laced with humour
The Best New Fiction
Mail on Sunday
A story with a great deal of heart, it pulled me in with its self-deprecating humour, finely drawn characters and important themes. Anyone who hopes to grow old with dignity will have much to reflect on
Graeme Simsion, author of international phenomenon
The Rosie Project
'A great deal of heart' Graeme Simsion 'Praised for its wit' BBC Radio 4 Front Row 'When I'm an old man, I want to be Hendrik Groen' John Boyne 'I laughed until I cried' David Suchet 'Thoughtful, anxious and gruff... Laced with humour' Mail on Sunday 'Amusing [and] wickedly accurate' Sunday Express
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