It’s a rare occasion when an English author appears in Middelburg, and so to celebrate the fact, Book Club agreed to forgo its usual chin wag round a table and headed off to the library to enjoy ”An English Evening with David Mitchell”
David Mitchell is the author of, amongst other novels, Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green. His latest book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, was published last year to great critical acclaim.
Mitchell is no stranger to Middelburg. A few years ago, he visited to hear the performance of a collaborative musical work written by Dutch composers, inspired by his book of interconnected novellas, Cloud Atlas.
His new novel is set on the Japanese trading island of Deshima and his chief character is the Domburger Jacob de Zoet.
Mitchell described Deshima as being a sort of cat flap connection between Japan, which was a country closed to foreigners, and the Dutch, the only foreign nation permitted to trade with the Japanese.
Deshima was a very small closed community of men employed by the Dutch East Indies Company (the V.O.C), who facilitated trade whilst rarely venturing onto Japanese soil.
They were aided in their work by Japanese translators who were able to speak Dutch.
The book, though ostensibly a historical novel, is also a love story, but David Mitchell’s Japanese heroine is no Madame Butterfly geisha type.
Mitchell is married to a Japanese woman who cautioned him against such outrageous stereotyping (“oh you big blonde handsome foreign stranger “ ) as this just doesn’t hack it nowadays.
The evening was conducted as a Q&A session between Mitchell and his Dutch publisher Lidewijde Paris.
I’d just like to mention here that, Lidewijde, we loved your outfit.
No shrinking violet or fashion slave, she wore a vertically striped black and white jacket and horizontally striped black and white skirt teamed with red tights.
This, coupled with her short black hair, gave the illusion, on bending forward in front of the audience as she did several times, of an Escher drawing, rather than a living person.
Almost from the beginning, David Mitchell endeared himself to his potentially hostile audience (he disses the V.O.C) by doing a slow striptease and declaring his love for the Hema from whence came his t- shirt.
He was happy to talk at length and gave the impression of a highly intelligent and likeable person with the capacity to both entertain and amuse his audience. At one point he discussed the huge amount of research necessary for the book and how he was helped by his enthusiastic Dutch team and by Dutch academics specializing in this period. Not an easy feat for an English author to tackle late 18th century Dutch records. He also gave high praise to his Dutch translators for their meticulous work in obtaining not only the best possible translation, but also by their achievement in gaining the correct tone of the novel.
After the interview, he happily sat and signed copies of his works.
I was so pleased to have remembered to stuff my copy of TTAOJDZ in my bag and it is now prettily adorned with his signature and little doodles.
We were further entertained by a very cross lady engaging the lovely Lidewijde in etymological debate. Actually when I strolled past, all glowy, clutching my signed book, they looked as though they were going to come to blows. The elderly lady was shaking her grey mop, banging her walking stick on the floor and audibly asserting herself.
Instead of slinking off thinking, “My God what have I done?” she later appeared in the refreshment area muttering, “stupid woman”.
So take heed ladies, this just goes to show that you’re never too old to embarrass yourself in public. If you were planning a grammatical ruck at the next book swap/ coffee morning, just stop for a moment and bear in mind the words of another illustrious Mitchell - “Shut It!”
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