I would call it a birth party, though.
(Next week the weather will worsen, it seems)

It was the most beautifull day of the year so far !
Me and my friend Danny enjoyed the whole day on a trip to our uncle in Eupen and we will never forget this day because we all got a tile with a great aphorism with place (Eupen) and date (27 september) and this beautifull book Our Uncle. In combination with the tile the book looks like the bible.
At the end there was plenty of chicken so we were not afraid that it might be Arnon's part of the chicken we were enjoying.

A joyful day, a day to remember.
The tile deserves a spot above my worktable.

On visiting Eupen

Due to concidience Iwas in Eupen with a friend of mine. We asked the tourist information where 'die Buchvorstellung sein könnte'.
'Wissen wir gar nicht.' But I was sent to 'Logos Buchhandlung', where I was asked to spell the writer's name, of whom they had never heard.
After that I was directed to 'Kunst und Bühne' where I only saw two woman who were preoccupied by flowers. The government building was closed. The second 'Kunstzentrum' had never heard of neither Arnon Grunberg nor a bookpresentation in Eupen. She asked why a Dutch book wouldn't be presented in a Dutch speaking country, or region. I took the courtsey of explaining that 'der Schrifsteller hat sich mit jemandem gestritten.'

After that we gave up. Nonetheless I have fallen in love with Eupen.

I look forward to reading your new book but due to budget problems I will have to wait. I really enjoyed reading your reading.

eupen

Maybe next time in Jerusalem? Given the time of year?

Arnon

Went for a bike ride for 2 hours with my 4 year old daughter, Livia, and bought your new book on the way back home. Livia gave the book to the bookseller and said "Ik wil Onze Oom". She could hardly lift it. And than she asked the book seller: "When will Arnon's collection of Uruzgan stories come out?", in Dutch. The bookseller didn't know. Do you?

At Fnac's your book came in 2nd in the best selling list. The second day, and already on the second place. I didn't wonder so much about how well your book was selling, Mr. Arnon, but how little the others were.

Arnon

I was wondering if you would dare to launch a book at the "Haus am Wannsee" in Berlin. (The house where the Endlösung was decided upon during the so-called Wannseekonferenz). The very odd thing about this house is that it was built by a Jewish businessman (as were most villas along the Wannsee) and - despite this - obviously much admired in Nazi circles. Somehow, in the end, I feel your true audience is in Germany.

A bit hysterical?

This realy is to much of a fanclub, it seems as everybody wants to (or had?) sex with the writer, the man wants you all to come to Paraguay, after Eupen he's absolutely searching for more and heavier torturing, he wants to punish you all, that's clear.

Strasse

Perhaps Arnon's relationship with his mother has something to do with it.

(By the way, I agree that this blog is rather incestuous.)

Carlos

Your right if you call this blog incestious, but then there is only a very small part of his audience responding here. I always wonder about them.

Arnon

I will come to Paraguay if you take care of the lodging. I am not very demanding, a strawbed is just fine for me. It might be fun, imagine all your guests from saturday having a pyjamaparty in a big barn.

Carlos

Again my English fails. What I meant is that I always wonder about the readers who don't react on this blog. What do they really think of Arnon and most important what do they think of his work?

@Mieke - how about you start by telling us what you think of his work? One thing I'd like to discuss here is the injust phenomenon that Arnon has decided to set himself above (or apart) from Holland with his 'cordon sanitaire', whereas every single newspaper here in Holland still gives him (his new novel) coverage. I don't necessarily care about this whole incrowd battle-idiocy being played out within the media and by Arnon, but I do care about Arnon's readers. Arnon seems to forget where most of his readers come from (Holland) and that they are interested in reading about him through the very media coverage he so looks down on and this is to his benefit. I'm wondering: do you think all this doesn't matter and he'd still have as many readers if the Dutch media were to - in turn - boycot his work?
@David - I told you I'd start scratching (and obviously Arnon will follow the nanny's advice: ignore ignore ignore, or put them in the naughty corner).

Noa

A reader is entitled to a novel and probably a handful of reviews. All other things, book launches, interviews etcetera etcetera belong to the periphery and should take place in the periphery.
As to the boycot, I urge you to boycot me, dear Noa.

Pjötr

You should have sent Johannes an e-mail.

Carlos

"My true audience is in Germany."
Because both my parents were German?
Actually I have been thinking about becoming German and obtaining a German passport for a while. But I have my preferences: first a US passport then a German passport.

Noa

I honestly don't care about the writer himself (remember the discussion if Roth is a nice person or not, so what), readers should be interested in the books, and I think you can say a lot about the manipulative -or commercial, isn't that a bit the same?- behaviour of A.G. (forgive him, the man has to sell books, that is what he does for his living), but hell, he sure knows how to write some great novels.

@Strasse - so you see it all (this cordon sanitaire business) as one big marketing exercise. At the time, his anger/frustration seemed pretty genuine, but maybe time has helped subdue his anger and what's left now is an interesting and unforessen byproduct: a good marketing tool. Strasse, one of the reasons why I put forward a critical note was because you claimed this: "A bit hysterical?
This realy is to much of a fanclub, it seems as everybody wants to (or had?) sex with the writer, "
What you just now said about how fantastic etc etc his books are (that is a given to us, the people that frequent this blog, why would be here if we didn't like his novels?) makes me wonder whether you were speaking mainly for yourself?

@Arnon, so with periphery you mean Eupen? I really don't get it, however hard (or even the more) I think about it. If you were tpo say "well I was angry then and I made my point and now I'm just as happy people are giving me the exposure I need for my new book" then I'd get that. What I don't get is going to your neighbours and giving a (wedding) party there, yet inviting all the people that would have been at your party in your own house.

Noa

What do I think of Arnon's work? I could ask you the same, since untill now you didn't elaborate a lot about that neither.
I myself make a distinction between Arnon the novelist, the columnist and the journalist , altough there are some overlaps.
Most of his novels ,to me , are real pageturners. My personal favourite is the Jewish Messiah, after that the Asylum Seeker. Yesterday I've finished Onze Oom, but I still consider it a little too premature to comment about that one. It took me for instance a while before I could grasp Tirza . At the beginning I didn't think much of that novel, but now ,two years later, I've come to the conclusion that some of its characters are still on my mind.

Noa

About the by himself proclaimed cordon sanitaire. You never know how long these survive. Maybe it 's just a phase Arnon is going through, but as long as the Dutch media is going to report about Arnon, it won't do him much harm.

The point of view of an element of the audience

What's the point about where he gives his launch party? Does true audience need to be dutch and should Mr. Grunberg for that reason confine his limits to Holland? I think most part of his audience doesn't care where he has his launch parties. Let him go to the Gobi desert if he wants to. I'm not dutch nor do I have any contact with the country except for the fact that the scene of some of his novels is laid in Holland (I don't qualifie this as contact). The media circus goes completely past me. I discovered his novels because I loved some of his columsn in Humo, which I receive by oldschool mail. I didn't know about which media manipulations you were talking untill I read this but nevertheless I love reading his books, columns and blog-posts.
I don't care if he goes to Mongolia to give launch parties, manipulates the dutch media in the most sleazy way or fucks half the globe as long as the quality of his books doesn't decrease. Although...The more distinct he acts the better, because this way more people will become aware of his existence and maybe even discover that some of his novels are amazing. This way they will get more reachable.

@Calisha, so then great! The conclusion is: he's doing great and I will stop addressing the issues that were in fact turned into issues by himself,because as it now seems they were in fact never real issues from the very beginning.
I'm interested to know - could you put to words what you like about it? This is a sincere question, because I'd like to know what aspects appeal most to people who aren't Dutch and I can't judge this as I am (Dutch).

PS Calisha, for the record: I never said media maniuplations by the way. Someone else did and therefore turned my words into something they are not.

Noa

Never underestimate Arnon as a columnist. I especially love his columns in Humo, these tie me propably the most to him. For me 'Omdat ik U begeer' is a precious gift, in wich you get to know Arnon (almost ) as a private person.

@Mieke, I prefer his novels. Personally, the least I like of him are his journalistic pieces, but that's purely personal because I don't like newspapers much (nor do I like journalists). I prefer not to read newspapers or what journalists feel they have to tell me and be as happy and ignorant and totally self-convinced as Sarah Palin.

To Arnon Grunberg

As said my trip wasn't planned, and alas I don't travel with a laptop.

Noa

Of course I like A.G.'s books, if that does make me a fan I don't know, it sure doesn't make me a member of any club, I'm a reader, that's all and that's what I do on this blog, reading (and reacting, ok). You seem a little stressed, maybe a sauna and a massage?
Or otherwise the blog of A.F.Th.?

Noa

I don't acuse you of saying that Mr. Grunberg manipulates the media (I don't know, it was just an exagerate example to reflect how few I care). It moved me that you cared about the readers feelings. The only thing I was trying to make clear is that most readers probably don't pay so much attention to the fact if the launch party is in Eupen or in Holland. In my opinion it would just not be healthy if a normal reader who doesn't know an author personally takes the place where the author has his book launch party personally. It would probably be a sick nationalist or an obsessed fan who can't afford a ticket to Germany. If you're an acquaintance of Mr. Grunberg I can understand you feel a little deceived he didn't celebrate the launch in a place you could all have goneeasily. But those aren't the emotions an average reader has. They probably see it much more objectively.
Now I will try to answer your sincere question sincerely. I hope you won't notice the clumsy way in which I try to express myself (mentioning it is the best way to hide it, Calisha...), but it's hard to distil what you like about a novel.
Something almost all the Grunberg novels I have read till now have in common is that they really absorb you (except for "Figuranten", but maybe I was just desinteressed becauseI was tired). If you are reading Tirza or "Blauwe Maandagen" and there's an electric blackout, you go get candles as fast as possible to continue reading. You have to force yourself to drop them and do something else. "Blauwe Maandagen" was appealing to me because of the hilarious contrast between the ordinary situations ant the sharp thoughts the character had about them. Even though sometimes you were almost crying because it was so pathetical. Like all good novels, it was all very human and recognizable. It are patherns of thinking in which you can place yourself. I don't think that whether you have a dutch passport or an italian passport influences in your perception of the novel if it is very accurately translated. The fundaments (human emotions) remain untouched. Of course, there are details which could escape from your view if you didn't grow up in a dutch-speaking society. .. Not without shame I admit thatI had to ask my mother to explain me some aphorisms. Usually you can understand them through the context, but if you don't, you sometimes think the writer has gone mad (which he didn't, of course). Things like "fantoompijn" (is the character seeing ghosts?). Or "blauwe maandagen" (why blue? Wouldn't grey be more appropriate to express monotony than blue?). I got those two cleared up by now, but I'm still wondering about the exact signification of "oermoeder". And "oermoeder" doesn't exactly sound like a word you can find in a propper (in de zin van kuis, vroom) defining dictionary.
by now I've probably broken the Guiness Record for longest blog comment... The tapping noise of the keys is becoming prominent and that meand I've written more than enough... I genuinly hope it has been usefull to you.

@Strasse, you didn't get what I said - but I tend to have that problem here. An orgasm would do.

@Calisha, I loved that. Thank you, that was very insigtful and your examples are really funny on top of it (I'm Dutch and a mother, yet I still don't get the concept of oermoeder either ;)) I understand from your analysis that you read his work in Dutch - I'd also like to hear someone who doesn't know Holland at all and would like to share throughts on why he/she thinks Arnon's work is good.
Anyone?

Noa

It's normal that people don't understand each other, don't worry about that. Btw, it's impossible to explain why you like a Dali but are not so fond of Picasso, the same with books, in whatever language you read them.

@Strasse, no it's not - I like Dali because I can see what the objects he paints signify - a clock is a clock, a woman is a woman (yes she's floating in the air but she's still a woman) whereas with Picasso, at least his cubist work, I'm supposed understand that a triangle is a head. (Personally, I don't like Dali by the way, but this is just an example). The same goes for books.

Noa

Really, les gouts et les couleurs, ca ne se discute pas. (chique isn't it, French on this blog. ;-)

@Strasse, yes, agreed it's all personal taste (that's all I understood of the french you used "gouts"). But still personal taste can be put to words.