533 Days

“Nooteboom’s real subject is the one that’s defined his career—mainly, the persistent strangeness of existence and its refusal to be fully resolved by religion, philosophy, or science. . . . His journal, which extends beyond his cactus garden to record encounters with owls and geckos, donkeys and spiders, moths and tortoises, can seem like a medieval bestiary, a nature chronicle with the vividness of a dream.”—Danny Heitman, Wall Street Journal

“[Nooteboom] merits Nobel Prize consideration. . . . In 533 Days the Dutch writer describes his daily routines on the Spanish island of Menorca. There, following Candide’s advice, he cultivates his garden . . . and reflects on life and literature. Laura Watkinson’s deft English translation never reads like one.”—Michael Dirda, Washington Post

“Cees Nooteboom’s [volume] is a lyrical, meditative ‘book of days’ inspired by the house and garden he has lovingly tended over decades on the island of Menorca, with excursions to the snowbound German village where he spends the winter months. . . . [A] bejewelled prose mosaic of plants, creatures, books, and memories.”—Boyd Tonkin, Financial Times

“Nooteboom’s long, multi-clause sentences, elegantly translated by Laura Watkinson, can span light-years. . . . [A] humane, insightful, and deeply cultured book.”—Nat Segnit, Times Literary Supplement

“Intent, even relentless, rhythmic observation . . . that is fundamentally poetic. . . . [In] 533 Days . . . as rendered by Laura Watkinson (and elegantly brought out by Yale University Press’s Margellos World Republic of Letters), from its first sentences the texture of Nooteboom’s distinctive sensibility is carried into English translation. . . . Alternately heady and acerbic . . . thoughtful perspectives and gorgeous verbal music. . . . [R]ich and beautiful . . . with episodes of illumination stumbled upon as though by coincidence.”—Mary Maxwell, On the Seawall

“Remarkable. . . . [Nooteboom] revels in and reveals the limits of subjectivity.”—David L. Ulin, 4Columns

“Charming and enjoyable.”—M. A. Orthofer, Complete Review