Rituals

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Om Rituals
Amsterdam of the fifties, sixties and seventies is viewed from the perspective of Inni Wintrop, a man who leads a capricious life, floating comfortably on possibilities. After a failed suicide attempt, the unexpected gift of life returned lends him the curiosity to observe the lives and routines of others. Inni's opposite, the one-eyed former champion downhill skier Arnold Taads measures his life by the clock, while his disowned son Philip follows Japanese rituals which themselves seem to render his existence meaningless. Wry, witty and incisive, Rituals is a novel for those who seek to unravel our mysterious, apparently directionless lives.
'Nooteboom is a fabulist who tells profound, elegant and disturbing stories, and meditates on the way stories are essential parts of our lives and thoughts.' A.S. Byatt. 'Among the most admired European novelists of our day, his short novels - dreamy, fable- like, self-reflective - should appeal to anyone who likes, say Italo Calvino or Paul Auster.' Michael Dirda, Washington Times. 'Sharp, elegant prose. . . It recalls, in tone, Vladimir Nabokov. The language is, by turns, delicately allusive and rich, even ripely comic.' D.J. Enright.