Life on Earth
Slauerhoff drew from his experiences as a ship’s doctor in the 1920s when he wrote this spectacular novel set in China. Cameron, an Irish naval radio operator, meets a lieutenant who turns out to be an opium smoker, as well as a mysterious European woman in a Chinese dress, ‘like an overladen fruit tree’. He becomes infatuated by both the woman and opium.
FictionPrint
Original title
Het leven op aarde
Author
J. Slauerhoff
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His restless soul still shivers through in Dutch literature, incomparable to anyone.
Cees Nooteboom
J. Slauerhoff
The life of the ship’s doctor and poet Jan Jacob Slauerhoff (1898-1936) satisfies all the criteria for literary stardom. He was restless, adventurous, and intriguing, a tormented loner who suffered poor health and died young – a poète maudit in every way.