Hendrik is 83 and lives in a nursing or assisted living type place. He has no family that visits him, he had a daughter and his wife is in an institution, but he has this circle of friends, his tribe if you will, who have come to come to care for each other.
Hendrik has decided to keep a journal for a year, a place where after he is gone his thoughts he hadn't been able to voice outlaid could be shared. What we are left with is an intimate, at times funny, at times painful, and at times cringe worthy look into the lives of the old and forgotten.
There are some thoughts he has or comments he reports others voicing (a few times it isn't 100% clear if it's his belief of that of those around him and if he is displeased by them and being snarky) that are racist or anti-immigrant. I read this through my lens of experience as an American with liberal leanings, but this book was written 4 years ago in the Netherlands and so some of the cultural differences could be lost in translation.
That being said, this book had a lot of heart and a few really good laughs. It was a sad and happy, interesting and frustrating, real feeling look into the lives of Hendrik and his peers and I couldn't help but love him!!
(Finished June 1, 2018)
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