De omweg wint de Independent Foreign Fiction prijs

De omweg van Gerbrand Bakker heeft de Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2013 gewonnen. De auteur en vertaler David Colmer van The Detour winnen elk 5.000 pond en een magnum champagne. De Britse prijs voor buitenlandse literatuur werd eerder gewonnen door o.a. Orhan Pamuk, Milan Kundera, José Saramago, W.G. Sebald, Per Olov Enquist, Per Petterson en Philippe Claudel. In 2008 won Paul Verhaeghen de prijs voor zijn eigen vertaling van zijn roman Omega Minor.

The Detour is inmiddels uitgegeven in Engeland, Amerika en Australië en ontving prachtige recensies. Het was onlangs nog Pick of the Week in Publisher’s Weekly:

‘Bakker’s spare prose gradually builds a sense of urgency beneath this haunting novel’s deceptively placid surface.’ – Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

‘Simple and devastating.’ – Independent

‘A wonderful novel. Wise and generous to a fault of all our human failing and frailties.’ – Lloyd Jones, schrijver van Mister Pip

‘The Detour is a beautiful, oddly moving work of fiction, a quiet read that lingers long in the mind.’ – Guardian

‘This is a novel full of hints and mysteries. It will almost certainly keep you rooted to your chair until the dénouement.’ – Spectator

‘Unlike anything I have read. In language deceptively spare and almost excruciatingly precise, it lays at our feet a host of secrets that will not yield to waking logic. It will stretch and vex and haunt, this novel; it has the queer, ruthless beauty of a dream.’ – Leah Hager Cohen, schrijver van The Grief of Others

‘Both heartbreaking and revivifying. This book stopped me in my tracks, and moved me beyond words.’ – Peter Cameron, schrijver van Someday This Pain Will Be Usefull to You

‘Bakker’s writing is fabulously clear, so clear that each sentence leaves a rippling wake.’ – Los Angeles Times

‘An accomplished work with many clear parallels to J.M. Coetzee.’ – Booktrust

‘Gripping, thrillingly fresh, galvanizing.’ – Irish Independent

‘Highly recommended.’ – The Age

Het boek is ook verschenen in Duitsland, Frankrijk en Denemarken en zal de komende tijd nog gaan verschijnen in Ethiopië, Libanon, Spanje, Catalonië en Turkije.



Publisher’s Weekly: www.publishersweekly.com
Kirkus Review: www.kirkusreviews.com