The secret diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 years old

by Hendrik Groen | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: Global Overview for this book

Registered by

dutch-book

of Heerenveen , Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on 12/31/2019

This Book is Currently in the Wild!

12 journalers for this copy...

Journal Entry 1 by

dutch-book

from Heerenveen , Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Tuesday, December 31, 2019

From the back:

Technically speaking, Hendrik Groen is....elderly. But at age 83 1/4, this feisty, indomitable curmudgeon has no plans to go out quietly. Bored of weak tea and potted geraniums, exasperated by the indignities of aging, Hendrik has decided to rebel--on his own terms. He begins writing an exposé: secretly recording the antics of day-to-day life in his retirement home, where he refuses to take himself, or his fellow "inmates," too seriously.
With an eccentric group of friends he founds the wickedly anarchic Old-But-Not-Dead Club--"Rule #3: No Whining Allowed"--and he and his best friend, Evert, gleefully stir up trouble, enraging the home's humorless director and turning themselves into unlikely heroes. And when a sweet and sassy widow moves in next door, he polishes his shoes, grooms what's left of his hair, and determines to savor every ounce of joy in the time he has left, with hilarious and tender consequences.

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This book is part of the 2019 Favourite Book Roundabout.

The reading order is:
1 Lamilla Belarus
2 Icila France
3 Billbooks Australia
4 Math-Girl40 Canada
5 Mcsar Canada
6 original-slicey USA
7 Valpete USA
8 Dark-Draco UK
9 Earthcaroleanne UK
10 Cross-Patch UK
11 greenbadger UK
12 Estelle1806 Ireland
13 Fifna Netherlands
and back to me... dutch-book

Journal Entry 2 by

dutch-book

at Heerenveen , Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Monday, January 13, 2020

Released 4 yrs ago (1/2/2020 UTC) at Heerenveen , Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Traveling to Lamilla.

Journal Entry 3 by Lamilla at Мінск / Minsk, Minsk Belarus on Saturday, January 25, 2020

Received today. Looks intriguing!

ETA: the style is engaging and I could imagine it could be fun to look at our lives from the point of view of an elderly person. However, the reality of living at old people home when retiring is too bleak for me to enjoy the story fully

Journal Entry 4 by Lamilla at Мінск / Minsk, Minsk Belarus on Monday, February 17, 2020

Released 4 yrs ago (2/17/2020 UTC) at Мінск / Minsk, Minsk Belarus

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

You've found a travelling book. Hurray!
The book's journey continues by its finder's cooperation and creativity. By making a journal entry on this book, you can add to the book's story as it travels from reader to reader around the world.
Enjoy your reading!

Привет!
Спасибо, что нашли время зайти на сайт и сделать запись в журнале! Напишите, когда и где вы нашли книгу.
Перед тем, как попасть к Вам, она побывала в других уголках света. История ее путешествий записана на сайте, и теперь к ней добавился еще один пункт. Я очень рада, что она нашла нового читателя в Вашем лице.

Journal Entry 5 by

Icila

at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Wednesday, February 26, 2020

The books is now with me. Seems promising.

Journal Entry 6 by

Icila

at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Sorry. I'm disappointed, not what I was looking forward to reading. Not funny at all for me. Other writers are a lot better with this topic which is fashionable these days.

Journal Entry 7 by

Icila

at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (5/6/2020 UTC) at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France

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Sending to Math-Girl in Canada. Hoping for the best.

Journal Entry 8 by mathgirl40 at Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Sunday, May 24, 2020

This book has arrived in Canada!

Journal Entry 9 by mathgirl40 at Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Parts of this book were quite enjoyable while others were downright bleak. I'm glad I'd read it, though, as elder care has been on my mind lately. My parents, in their mid-80's, are still living independently, but I fear it will not be for long. Also, COVID-19 has devastated many nursing homes here in Canada and exposed systemic problems with how we treat our elderly citizens. The book does a good job of examining these issues from Hendrik's somewhat curmudgeonly point-of-view.

Journal Entry 10 by mathgirl40 at Waterloo, Ontario Canada on Monday, June 22, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (6/21/2020 UTC) at Waterloo, Ontario Canada

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This book is on its way to mcsar now.

Journal Entry 11 by mcsar at Richmond, British Columbia Canada on Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Book is here. I look forward to this one. I have seen the title on a few bookshelves and have been intrigued.

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Updated August 6, 2020
I like the book. The reality of old age and sickness is depressing, but the friendship and the spirit of the main characters are uplifting.

Journal Entry 12 by mcsar at Richmond, British Columbia Canada on Friday, August 7, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (8/7/2020 UTC) at Richmond, British Columbia Canada

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On its way to Valpete. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 13 by valpete at Walnut Creek, California USA on Friday, August 14, 2020

Since I'm 81, almost as old as Hendrik, I may find this book to be depressing. I'm still living on my own and not looking forward to "old age."

Journal Entry 14 by valpete at Walnut Creek, California USA on Friday, September 4, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (9/4/2020 UTC) at Walnut Creek, California USA

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I really enjoyed this book, although it could have been cut by 100 pages or so. Touching, insightful, laugh out loud funny, poignant- Hendrik and his friends felt so real that I fell in love with each and every one of his little band of merrymakers.
Sending it on to the next reader in the Roundabout.

Journal Entry 15 by

dark-draco

at Ledbury, Herefordshire United Kingdom on Sunday, September 13, 2020

Received, thank you - not a book I have heard of before, so looking forward to reading it :)

Journal Entry 16 by

dark-draco

at Ledbury, Herefordshire United Kingdom on Monday, October 12, 2020

Sorry, not for me.

I stopped reading after about 60 pages. I couldn't find anything particularly funny or even likable about the characters. I've also found over the years that I have a problem with needless animal deaths in books, even worse when it's trying to be funny about it. In those 60 pages, a dog was put down at the pound, a budgie was sucked up by a vacuum and fish were killed being fed cake - I can understand that the author was trying to show how life would be in a care home, but it just made me too annoyed to read further :(

Journal Entry 17 by

dark-draco

at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Monday, October 19, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (10/19/2020 UTC) at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Off to the next reader on the roundabout.

Journal Entry 18 by

earthcaroleanne

at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, October 22, 2020

Just as I thought I was catching up on my reading ... this arrives.

Thank you.

Journal Entry 19 by

earthcaroleanne

at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Friday, November 20, 2020

Sorry but I've given up on this. I made my decision when I reached the sentence "After dinner, coffee. After coffee, TV. After TV, bed. It isn't particularly adventurous or edifying."

Journal Entry 20 by

earthcaroleanne

at South Croxton, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Saturday, November 28, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (11/30/2020 UTC) at South Croxton, Leicestershire United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending on in the Favourites Roundabout.

Journal Entry 21 by

Cross-patch

at Leicester, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Arrived in a parcel with my returning choice of Normal People by Sally Rooney. I have read this before as it was a choice in my book club. I found that it grew on me and I will be happy to visit once again with the miserable old curmudgeon that is Hendrik Groen. And he does make me laugh too.

Journal Entry 22 by

Cross-patch

at Leicester, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Friday, January 1, 2021

Even better for a second read. I think I had to get used to the tone, and then I really enjoyed the camaraderie and general bullishness of the coterie of characters. I also found the deterioration of the Dutch Social Care of the elderly fascinating.

Journal Entry 23 by

Cross-patch

at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Friday, January 1, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (12/30/2021 UTC) at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

To the next participant in the roundabout.

Journal Entry 24 by

greenbadger

at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, January 4, 2021

It's arrived, thank you.

Journal Entry 25 by

greenbadger

at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Friday, January 15, 2021

This is a really depressing book. The miserable life lived by the old people in the home Hendrik is based in, and the lack of care by the management of the home, is distressing to read because it's probably quite realistic. Groen tries to lighten it with little anecdotes but I found a lot of it quite boring, which again probably reflects the old folks' lives. Hendrik's attempts to improve the final years of his life: forming the 'Old But Not Dead Club' and a gentle romance, are inevitably doomed due to the downward slide into worse health of Hendrik and his friends. The bleak message to the reader is that things will only worsen as you get older.

Journal Entry 26 by

greenbadger

at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Released 3 yrs ago (1/19/2021 UTC) at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Off to estelle1806, next in the ring.

Journal Entry 27 by

estelle1806

at Clonsilla, Co. Dublin Ireland on Friday, January 22, 2021

Arrived very quickly, thanks!

Journal Entry 28 by

estelle1806

at Clonsilla, Co. Dublin Ireland on Tuesday, February 16, 2021

I enjoyed this read to a certain degree. Some parts were a bit long at first but overall it really reflects the reality of our ageing generations...
It addressed a lot of current issues and their different points of view with humour and bluntness.
I had issues with some of the Dutch references and annoyed that the temperatures were quoted in Fahrenheit...
6* out of 10

Journal Entry 29 by

estelle1806

at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Friday, February 19, 2021

Released 3 yrs ago (2/19/2021 UTC) at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Travelling to Fifna on the 2019 Favourite book roundabout.

Please let us know when you release it again...

Journal Entry 30 by

Fifna

at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Saturday, February 27, 2021

Arrived safely, thanks estelle1806! I have read this book, in Dutch. And as a translator I'll be interested to see how it has worked out in English.

Journal Entry 31 by

Fifna

at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Monday, May 3, 2021

I didn't read the whole book again, but skimmed through it, as I was mainly interested to see how it had turned out in English. The translation seems fine, but I do think a lot of the references would be lost on non-Dutch readers.
The television series was also quite good, funny and sad in equal measure.

Journal Entry 32 by

Fifna

at Heerenveen , Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Monday, May 3, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (5/3/2021 UTC) at Heerenveen , Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Travelling back home to dutch-book.

Journal Entry 33 by

dutch-book

at Heerenveen , Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Monday, July 5, 2021

This book arrived home probably on the 4th of May.
Thank you for all your journal entries. I'm happy this has finished its journey.

Journal Entry 34 by

dutch-book