by Peter Buwalda
I read it on my vacation in Croatia, the spectacular Dalmation coast had a true contender of my attention. A family novel on my honeymoon travel, one of a broken family! Good, that I am not superstitious!
The structure is pretty complex, the story is told by three different people in retrospect: Siem Sigurius – the father, successful practitioner of Judo and famous mathematician, Joni – his stepdaughter, gifted, but rebellious, and Aaron Bever her former lover and admirer of Siem Sigurius. At first, I thought it would be hard to follow due to the constant changes of perspective and time levels. But as times goes by the whole story, that leads to the tragic end, is carved out beautifully. It appears like a relief.
The famous mathematician kills his previously abandoned son in blood, then himself on the boat, that was bought by his daughter with money prostituting herself in the internet. She ends up producing porn in California, and her boyfriend, who just wanted a child of her, is in recovery from a total nervous breakdown. The catalyst of the events was the abandoned son, Wilbert – a convicted murderer and constant troublemaker. Sigurius tried to suppress is own wild and uncontrolled wild side by mathematics and Judo, but his genes live in his son, which does not have these mechanisms of sublimation. It is raw and destructive power. Finally the genes impose themselves, despite of all efforts to create a civilized – driven by “noble” attitude – patchwork-family.
The pain to read it, is only softened by the exaggerated, funny plot. The book was for weeks on top of the Dutch bestseller list. Hernán, who lives now in Holland, recommended it. As it used to be in Chile, a very good suggestion.
The structure is pretty complex, the story is told by three different people in retrospect: Siem Sigurius – the father, successful practitioner of Judo and famous mathematician, Joni – his stepdaughter, gifted, but rebellious, and Aaron Bever her former lover and admirer of Siem Sigurius. At first, I thought it would be hard to follow due to the constant changes of perspective and time levels. But as times goes by the whole story, that leads to the tragic end, is carved out beautifully. It appears like a relief.
The famous mathematician kills his previously abandoned son in blood, then himself on the boat, that was bought by his daughter with money prostituting herself in the internet. She ends up producing porn in California, and her boyfriend, who just wanted a child of her, is in recovery from a total nervous breakdown. The catalyst of the events was the abandoned son, Wilbert – a convicted murderer and constant troublemaker. Sigurius tried to suppress is own wild and uncontrolled wild side by mathematics and Judo, but his genes live in his son, which does not have these mechanisms of sublimation. It is raw and destructive power. Finally the genes impose themselves, despite of all efforts to create a civilized – driven by “noble” attitude – patchwork-family.
The pain to read it, is only softened by the exaggerated, funny plot. The book was for weeks on top of the Dutch bestseller list. Hernán, who lives now in Holland, recommended it. As it used to be in Chile, a very good suggestion.
Facts:
English title: Bonita Avenue
Original title: Bonita Avenue
Published: 2010
