Janwillem van de Wettering: Outsider In Amsterdam

[novella]

I picked up this crime book, Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem van de Wetering, at the 'berry. Got a few pages into it last night. Two detectives-- one in a trendy denim leisure suit and fancy scarf, one a slob-- deadpanning their way through a murder scene. Not sure yet whether I will be able to relate. And maybe the translation is problemmatic. There's something weird about it, a plodding quality, a lack of music in the language, a thing almost like a sense of humor but I might be reading into it.

Does anyone know anything about this author or his work? Apparently he is quite popular at home.

 

[Freya]

If nothing else, you've got to love the chap's name.

Janwillem van de Wetering

 

[novella]

Yeah, Wettering's wittering, on and on and on. Do you think you say it like petering or pettering? There must be a limerick here somewhere. Let me check under my pile of odes and haikus . . . oof, just have to move this bloody great prose pile. Maybe Martin will help us out with the correct pronunciation?

 

[Freya]

I'm putting my money on, Veee-ter-ing. Most probably with good pauses where the hyphens are. Maybe I'm just doing the auf Deutsch thing.

Or maybe, just maybe, I'm a linguistic genius?!

Apologies for the off-topic nature of my post, novella. I do hope we can soon return to the topic of the writing in question.