Renate Dorrestein heeft (of had toen ze dit schreef) een chronische ziekte die even omstreden als slopend is, myalgische encephalomyelitis. Bij gebrek aan medische kennis veronderstellen veel artsen dat ME psychosomatisch is of zelfs louter in de geest van de lijder bestaat. Over dit obstakel en alle andere die het leven van een dweil compliceren schreef zij een aangrijpend en hilarisch boek. Het centrale thema is de vraag: Ben je nog wie je was als je niet meer kunt wat je kon?

Heden ik by Renate Dorrestein

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Uiteraard in het Nederlands gelezen.
This was feminist author Renate Dorrestein's account of her struggle with ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), as it is now more commonly known. She was struck down with it and lived with it for over ten years, all the while trying to find a way of curing it. When she was first affected, it was a new phenomenon. Conventional doctors considered it malingering, something that would go away of its own accord or a psychosomatic / psychiatric illness. After she had no joy with conventional medicine, she tried out a wide range of alternative therapies, together with one of her friends, Caroline. In spite of everything, they continue to see the funny side of it all. She wouldn't have been Renate Dorrestein if she hadn't poked fun at the system, but she was left feeling disillusioned. Surely more would have been done if it was a disease which struck down more men? More funding? More sympathy? More research? Eventually, she decided to write this book to chronicle it all. Each book sold donated money to the Dutch ME charity she founded.

Several years ago, our local library invited her to speak at the local secondary school. I'm so glad I managed to go and asked her to sign whichever of her books it was that I bought. Mijn zoon heeft een seksleven en ik lees mijn moeder Roodkapje voor I haven't read it yet; it keeps getting bumped down the reading pile. She is one of my favourite Dutch authors, if not the very favourite, partly because she is one of the few Dutch authors I have come across who isn't desperate to write disturbing sex scenes. Even if this particular book does mention a sex life and the other one I bought relatively recently is called Echt Sexy. In any case, I trust her to write something that will not make me close the book and give up.

In writing this review, I discovered that I had missed the fact that Renate Dorrestein died a couple of months ago, of inoperable oesophageal cancer. Ironically enough, on 4 May 2018, Rembrance of the Dead Day (Dodenherdenking). I think she would have appreciated that irony. RIP Renate Dorrestein.



View all my reviews

Tijdens de grote, gezellige strandmeeting bij Zoomers.
Dit boek is losgelaten voor de volgende BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - boeken lezen en loslaten, met bonuspunten voor een maandelijkse thema.
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - lezen en loslaten van TBR boeken die al voor het eind van het jaar ervoor op de plank stonden. Mijn leesdoel is 36 boeken.

Op het einde van de meeting meegenomen om elders vrij te laten.

Veel leesplezier!