Books of 2020

So this was a funny year. Enough has been said about that in many other places, but compiling the list of books I've read this year brought the message home again; the virus and the following lockdown had their effect on the books I've read this year too. Funny how you don't notice that when you're in the middle of things.
I read 29 books this year, which is slightly higher than my average of the past years. Some of these were pretty lengthy, but to compensate I read some really short ones too, so the overall page number should be comparable. The amount of rereads is much higher than it was in other years, and I think there you can see the corona effect; most of the year it was impossible to just wander into a bookshop and browse, so I had to make do with what was already on my bookshelves. 

Anyway, before I dive into the analysis, let's first look at the complete list:

1 Sweet Sorrow

2 Levels of Life

3 Koning van Katoren

4 Northanger Abbey

5 Girl, Woman, Other

6 Het wonder van Frieswijk

7 One Day

8 The Count of Monte Christo

9 Spring

10 Dune

11 The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying up

12 Leah on the Off Beat

13 How to be both

14 Pleidooi tegen enthousiasme

15 Het water komt

16 Piep

17 Wild

18 Eat pray love

19 The Accidental

20 Grote Verwachtingen

21 The Bone Clocks

22 The Testaments

23 Stoorzender

24 The Underground Railroad

25 Het recht van de snelste

26 Just like you

27 Pride & Prejudice and Misletoe

28 Me & Mr Darcy

29 The Rosie Project

Wow, I did not end on a high note, that's for sure. The stream of reread romantic novels stems from the illness I had in the beginning of December, which drove me to reading quick and easy novels. Not that one should make excuses for reading something light every now and then, but seeing three of them grouped together looks a bit sorry.

Anyway, more rereads than ever, as I said; Koning van Katoren, Northanger Abbey, One Day, Eat pray love, The Bone Clocks, and the final 3 romantic novels make 8 rereads in total. Only one 'classic' novel, The Count of Monte Christo, which in page number probably equals all the rereads. Unless you want to count Dune amongst the classics too, of course. Lots of Ali Smith (Spring, How to be both and The Accidental), which is probably no surprise since I put her as my best 'new' author of 2019. I was planning on ready more from Anna Burns too, but I didn't get her first novel until Christmas, so she will have to wait until 2021.

Best English novel

1 Spring

2 How to be both

3 Girl, Woman, Other

This category was pretty hard this year, mainly because I read so many rereads, non-fiction works and plainly bad books. But there were some great ones in there too. 

Spring is of course by the lovely Ali Smith, the third instalment of her seasonal novels. I am very much looking forward to the final novel (which is already out but not in the edition I need to complete my quartet), as I read an interview with her in which she states all the connections between the novels should become clear then (apart from some references to Shakespeare, classical musicians and contemporary artists that she already pointed out in the article and which I've missed so far anyway). How to be both is also by Ali Smith, making it the first time two novels from the same author find their way into my top 3. But Spring is definitely the better of the two. I read Girl, Woman, Other first of all these novels, which puts it in danger of slipping away in the mind, which it sort of did. It was one of the Man Booker prize winners of 2019 (look for the other one down below) so maybe it should have stuck with me more than it did. Anyway, it was still a great novel, a female view on contemporary Britain.

Honourable mention goes out to Just Like You by Nick Hornby, who just didn't make the cut.

I've just had a quick look back, and this is the first year that all novels in my top 3 were written by a woman. This may be a reflection of my changes in reading preferences, or it may be a reflection of me not buying books that have come out by male authors I usually love to read, such as Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell, The Man in the Red Coat by Julian Barnes or State of the Union by Nick Hornby.

Best Dutch novel

The only Dutch novel I read that could go in this category is Koning van Katoren, which is a reread (Het Wonder van Frieswijk is also a Dutch children's book but it is so thin it is more a novella). All the other Dutch books I read this year were non-fiction.

Best classic

1 The Count of Monte Christo

If you only read one classic novel, the outcome is easily predicted. But I really liked this novel, as I've written before; despite the huge number of pages I flew through. Must really read more by Dumas in next year.

Best non-fiction

1 Grote Verwachtingen

2 Piep

3 Stoorzender

So these are all Dutch and wildly differing in their topic and size; Grote Verwachtingen is a pretty sizeable book on the years 2000-2019, which I started somewhere in 2019 and just finished this year. It is a nice read, a good follow-up to In Europa 1900-2000, but it took me a while to get through. Piep on the other hand is a really small collection of stories by biologist Midas Dekkers, in which he combines biology and (Dutch) literature; two of my favourite things. Stoorzender is an autobiography of one my favourite comedians (to name just one of the categories you can put him in) Arjen Lubach. Funnily enough, when the theatres were open, I heard several bits of this book spoken aloud by him without even knowing there was a book coming up. The bits he read out were the best bits of the book, it must be said. 

I have been reading three non-fiction books in English for the last couple of weeks, I put them down because of the illness but will probably finish them sometime early 2021, so next year this list will probably include more English titles.

Best short-story collection

I read no short story collections at all this year, something I just realised when putting in this category. I have several ready to read now, so this will be amended next year, but it is a sad realisation.

Best scifi/fantasy

1 Dune

Again, if you only read one... But this novel too was better than expected; really one of the classics in terms of character/society/plot building.

Best 'new' author

1 Bernardine Evaristo

Again, this was not a good year for finding new novels or authors. But I really liked Girl, Woman, Other from Bernardine Evaristo and have bought several of her older novels. So she is still a good new addition to my literary perspective.

Most disappointing novel

1 The Testaments

2 Sweet Sorrow

3 The Underground Railroad

So this was a toss up between the first two. I've written about my disappointment with The Testaments and Sweet Sorrow before, so I won't repeat myself except to say that Atwood gets first place because I expected so much more from her novel. I've read not-so-great novels by David Nicholls before, but never a novel by Atwood that was this bad. It makes me sad, putting two authors I generally like in the disappointing pile, but I've done the same in 2018 and 2019, so maybe their writing styles and my tastes are starting to grow apart somewhat. The Underground Railroad makes third place not because it was so bad, but because it could have been so much better. Again, it is all to do with the expectations you have; The Nickel Boys was my favourite novel of 2019 and Whitehead was in my list of best 'new' authors.

Honourable mention goes out to Levels of Life by Julian Barnes, which I haven't written about, had actually forgotten I'd read until I started to compile this list and then had to look up for what it was about. This is not a good sign, for a novel and a novelist that I've enjoyed so much before.

Authors I read more than once

Ali Smith (3x)

David Nicholls (2x)

Spicy kletskoppen by Yvette

Kletskoppen are a typical Dutch biscuit, or rather a typical Dutch variety of the biscuit family that concerns itself with buttery/sugary biscuits. Think brandy snaps, only not rolled up. The name 'kletskop' literally means 'bald heads', not sure where that comes from; maybe 'fat belly' would have been a better name as these cookies are pretty fat and the type that you just have to keep on eating.

Anyway, I was in charge of the dessert for Christmas (again) this year and I'd decided to make cranberry/walnut brownies by Paul with ice cream. But since those are both 'soft' foods, I wanted to add something with a crunch. Hence the kletskoppen, which some restaurants also serve when you order brownies for dessert (better steal a good idea than think up a bad one, as we say in Dutch).
So, I looked up kletskoppen recipes and of course Yvette has one. It is one of the easiest recipes I've ever seen from her, perfect for a rainy afternoon where you don't know what to do with yourself. It needed a couple of things I didn't have, as I conceived of this plan in the early hours of Christmas day, but I made do with what I had. I'll put in the actual recipe and what I made of it.

Ingredients

250 g light muscovado sugar

75 g almonds, chopped (I did not have 75 grams, but I'm guessing 50 is the lowest you can go)

125 g flour

125 g butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon five-spice powder (I didn't have this, but I added some of the separate ingredients: cinnamon, nutmeg (should really be cloves, but they're close to the same thing), pepper and fennel, the only thing missing was star anise)

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Line a baking tin with baking parchment. Yvette actually tells you to butter a baking tin, but as these things already emit loads of butter upon baking, I decided to use paper instead.

Quickly combine all the ingredients into a ball. Separate the big ball into smaller balls, about 25 in total.

Put the smaller balls in groups of 6 or 8 on your baking tin, leaving lots of space in between. 

Lots of space means lots of space.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, keeping a constant watch. They're done when they're flat and brown.

Take the tin out of the oven, leave the biscuits to cool for a little while and then remove them with a pallet knife to cool and harden completely. 

Keep in an airtight tin, otherwise they'll become soft pretty quickly.

As you can see, these are the same six balls, only now they're kletskoppen.

I took them out after 8 minutes, which I think may have been a bit too soon; some were really nice and dark brown, with that characteristic caramel taste, but some of them were still a bit doughy or soft. But the taste was still really good, much more spicy then those you buy from the supermarket. And they worked really nice with the brownie and ice cream, too!

Christmas dessert combo.

Apple crumble pie by Yvette

When I was a student, I made lots of apple crumbles. Whenever we'd forgotten to buy desert, I'd just dice some apples, mix butter, flour and sugar into a somewhat lumpy mixture, stick it all in a pan and put in the oven. It always came out hot and tart and delicious. Somehow, I forgot about all that.
So when my birthday was coming up (the one for which I also made the ultimate chocolate birthday cake) and I saw an apple crumble recipe by Yvette van Boven, I knew this was one of the things I wanted to make. I always make an apple pie for my birthday, this year it would be something different. As with all Yvette recipes, this involved a little bit more work than I usually do, but the end result was amazing, as always.

Ingredients:
For the dough:

175 g butter

200 g flour

50 g icing sugar

pinch of salt

For the apple filling:

750 g apples, diced

75 g light muscovado sugar

zest and juice of half a lemon

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ginger powder

3 bay leaves

pinch of salt

60 g butter

half a jar of blackberry jam (I could not find this, so I substituted with fruits of the forest jam instead)

For the crumble:

125 g light muscovado sugar

100 g butter, in small cubes

175 g flour

Yvette says to use a 25 x 33 cm baking tin; I have no idea what size mine is, but something close to this will do. Grease and line with baking parchment.

First, make the pastry, which is of the shortcrust variety (not one of my strengths).

Combine the flour, icing sugar and salt.

Using a mixer, whisk the butter until it is creamy. Quickly combine with the flour mixture. Push the mixture into the baking tin and leave to cool in the fridge for at least an hour (I had time on my hands, so I made this the evening before).

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Bake the bottom the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

In the meantime, combine the apples, sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, bay leaves and salt.

Melt the butter in a pan. Pour in the apple mixture and add about 100 mL water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the fire and leave to simmer until the apples are done and most of the water is evaporated, around 15-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

Now for the crumble; this part I knew. Combine the sugar, butter and flour until you have the characteristic crumble lumps. I usually start off by rubbing the ingredients together until they form the 'fine breadcrumbs' stage, then combine it into a crumbly ball which I then separate into smaller crumbles again. But whichever way works for you.

Spread a thin layer of jam on the doughy bottom. Pour the apple mixture on top and spread the crumble mixture on top of the apples. Bake (again at 180) for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin and/or slicing.

Forgot to take pictures of the process, but this was the end result.

I would never have thought to put bay leaves in an apple crumble, but that is Yvette for you. The pie was sweet, tangy, with a hint of acidity. It's probably even better with actual blackberry jam, so if you can find that, do use it. It was pretty heavy; the recipe stated 4 people but it was more like 14. It keeps for a long time in the fridge, so ideal for a birthday spread out over several days!

Ultimate chocolate birthday cake

So my birthday was almost two months ago, but I did some baking for it and since I haven't posted any baking recipes for a while now, I thought I'd add some more. 

Naturally my birthday was a bit different this year, spread out over several days with small groups of people coming to visit. Instead of my usual three cakes, I made two; an apple crumble by Yvette and what the recipe called 'the ultimate chocolate birthday cake'. This involved some washing up in the middle, as it requires three bowls and then some more. Also, it involves making a chocolate ganache, something I've seen on the Great British Bake-Off lots of times but hadn't actually made myself. It all came out pretty neat, in a massive amount of chocolate and frosting. I advise you to make the slices small; it's not as bad as the Icelandic devil's food cake, but it's pretty close.

Ingredients
For the cake:

100 g milk chocolate (in pieces)

200 g butter

200 g creme fraiche

200 g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon sault

4 eggs

200 g sugar

For the ganache:

400 g dark chocolate (in pieces)

250 ml cream

50 g icing sugar

Preheat the oven at 165 C.

Line your (24 cm) tin with baking parchment and butter.

Put the milk chocolate, butter and creme fraiche in a bowl a top a pan of simmering water. When everything is melted, take the bowl off the pan, stir to combine and leave to cool until lukewarm.

Put the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and salt in one bowl and mix together,

In another bowl, mix the eggs and sugar until they are a smooth, pale mixture.

The three bowl set; dry ingredients, egg mixture and chocolate.

Gently stir the molten chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. When it is all combined, add the flour mixture and combine again.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for about 50 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 20 minutes, then turn it out and cool completely. You can do this the day before; store the cake wrapped up in the fridge.

Next, make the ganache. Put the dark chocolate and cream in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (sounds familiar?). When everything is combined, take off the pan and leave to cool completely.

Finally, add the icing sugar and whisk until combined. You can make the ganache one day earlier too, just put it in the fridge until you are going to finish the cake.

To assemble, cut the cake halfway. Spoon one third of the ganache on the bottom half and spread all over, careful not to let it run off the sides. Put the top half back on and spread the rest of the ganache over the top. You can decorate this in any way you like; nuts, chocolate swirls, et cetera. I chose to keep mine plain, partly because it is such a heavy cake already and partly because it was just so shiny.

Pretty pretty cake with an attempt at swirls on top.

It was rich and tasty, and making ganache is so much easier than it sounds! Not sure if this was the 'ultimate' birthday cake, but it was a pretty good one!

Just Like You

A new novel by Nick Hornby! Or rather; a second new novel by Nick Hornby, since I've somehow missed his State of the Union novel that came out last year. But I asked both that one and Just Like You, his 2020 novel, for my birthday and got the latter. Fate, it would seem, wants me to read the last novel first.
The title gave me a momentary flashback to Machines Like You, the Ian McEwan disappointment of 2019, but luckily this novel is also about something current but at the same time completely different; Brexit. This is strangely topical again, even though the novel is set mostly in 2016 (which only makes you realise how long that whole process has taken). However, Brexit is merely the background against which the novel plays out, so I can see why there isn't a play on that word in the title, which is of course a song reference (no Hornby novel is without music). 

The actual story is a romance between two people as unalike as possible; a twenty-something working class black guy and a forty-something middle class white woman. If that sounds like a hard pill to swallow, you don't know Nick Hornby; he has written novels about the most painful of subjects that are still light-hearted and fun while carrying a deeper message underneath.

Another apt title for this novel could have been Pride & Prejudice in the 21st Century. The combination of younger man and older woman is one I haven't read that often (the same can not be said for the other way around) and this novel brought home how ingrained class differences still are in the UK. Added to that, the racial stereotyping is far worse than I've ever experienced myself, going from this novel. But maybe that is just me speaking from my privileged bubble. Anyway, the characters themselves are not exempt from stereotyping, hard as they try not to give in to it (reading the title as "That is just like you!"). Lucy is disappointed that Joseph's church doesn't come with gospel singing and dancing. Joseph is sure Lucy's dinner party will be boring as he will have nothing in common with the people there. But it's mostly the people around them making a fuss, almost everybody has an opinion about the situation save Lucy's two sons, who are happy to just play FIFA with Joseph and not be bothered about his age, race or social class.

Lucy and Joseph fall in love without either of them really knowing it; Hornby is a master of the 'show, don't tell' craft. They encounter the predictable bumps in the road, some of which exist more in their own minds than in reality, but overall they see mainly the things that connect them (reading the title as "I feel just like you!"). This is the light-hearted, happy part of the novel.

Things go a bit sour when Hornby himself steps in some stereotyping traps; some characters are flat as a board, only existing to serve as contrast to others. Brexit is one such topic where everything is either black or white; all Josephs circle vote leave, while everybody Lucy knows is a Remainer. I cannot help but think that surely there were shades of grey in between there somewhere? Josephs solution, to vote both sides just to not disappoint anyone, is maybe one Nick Hornby himself could have taken on several occasions where he turns up the contrast a bit to high.

But in the end Brexit is merely a backdrop against which a unique and ultimately pretty believable romance plays out. This is the saving grace of the novel; how Lucy and Joseph feel like people you might actually meet, with all their insecurities and doubts, people you are rooting for to make it together.

ETA: I just discovered that the Dutch translation of the novel is called 'Op het eerste gezicht', which translates as 'At first sight'. Or if you want to be more poetical; 'First Impressions', which is the original title Jane Austen gave to Pride & Prejudice. And so it all comes full circle.

The Underground Railroad

 So with all that writing going on, I also actually did some reading. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, a novel I'd been looking forward to ever since I read and was amazed by The Nickel Boys. Both are Pulizer Prize winners, so I was hoping for an equally great read. As with the other novel, I'd left this one on the shelf for a while, afraid of the possible horrors within. The Underground Railroad is set during the time that slavery was still pretty common in the Southern US and I was not sure whether I actually wanted to read about all the horrors that happened. But after finally biting the bullet, The Nickel Boys was my favourite novel last year, so this one would probably also hold high rewards when I got through it.
Now the premise of the story is pretty good; not the slavery part, but the part where the underground railroad is an actual underground railroad, complete with stations, stationmasters, tracks and steam trains driving on those tracks. I loved that image, of this vast network of trains running underneath the slave owners, bringing people to safety. Sadly, that was just about all I loved about this novel.

The main character, Cora; I couldn't really be bothered about her. I mean; she just really doesn't have a personality. Her grandmother and mother, they have strong personalities, they make choices and stick by them. Cora impresses once, when she defends her plot of land against some guy who built his dog house on it, but we never really find out why, where she gets this strength from. We never really find out anything about her or her personality, not even why she decides to leave with Caesar when he asks her to flee with him. Sure, she's just had a bad experience, but we never find out her inner workings, because sadly, the novel is written in the third person. A first person perspective from Cora would really have helped.

They flee and get into all sorts of trouble, which somehow Cora doesn't seem to realise until it is upon her, at which point someone else has to take care of her again. She never seems to make any big decisions of her own. At one point, the plot is entirely stuck, with her hidden in a place she cannot get out of. The story wants this to be suspenseful, but you already know she will get caught; there is no realistic way for things to move on otherwise. Where The Nickel Boys was full of surprises, this story seemed pretty bland and uninspired. Also; no emotional investment. Like I said; the character never really came to life for me.

Enough about Cora; the 'in between' chapters focus on other characters in the novel, which means they are somehow more fleshed-out than the main character is. Especially the chapter on her mother was one that touched me somewhat; more of that kind of writing would have been nice.

The whole setting, of pre-Civil War America, didn't work for me because I didn't know what it was actually like back then. So when she finds herself in North Carolina, I had no clue whether this was the way North Carolina actually was during that time, or whether we were entering a metaphor. Turns out, this was a metaphor, but I had no clue. Given the number of (mainly American) awards this novel has won, knowing these extra layers probably makes you enjoy the novel more, but for me it was just plain strange.

So all in all; not a success for me. I really cannot see how you could award this novel the same prize as The Nickel Boys, which has so much more depth of character and such a wonderful plot. But, given all the positive critiques, this may be my lack of knowledge on the time period or the subject matter in general. Either way, this was not one for me.

NaNo Days 18 to 27: From lagger to winner

I did it! 50,000 NaNo words are done! I am an official NaNoWriMo 2020 winner!

If my last blogpost was the last thing you heard about my NaNo'ing, you're probably not surprised, but the final week really was a lot harder than it should have been. I'll leave my daily word count graph here to illustrate:

See that massive drop after day 21? That's what we call writer's fatigue. Not writer's block, I had a firm idea of where this story was going, but I was just tired of writing it all down. This crash coincided with me coming home from the November trip I take each year and plunging into a big pile of work stuff and home stuff and social stuff that was waiting for me. My brain just couldn't be bothered to also add NaNo'ing to the list. So after a day (23) of not writing anything at all, I pulled myself together and decided on at least 1,000 words a day. The bare minimum, which some days took me an hour and a half. But I stuck in there, and still managed to finish three days ahead of par.

Now my story is far from finished. That may actually be one of the issues; I'd actually plotted out the story this year, using my fancy whiteboard and magnets and everything. The whole book consists of twelve chapters in total, but since each chapter was going to be around 8,000 to 10,000 words, I would probably only make it halfway through. Which would be fine, of course, the goal here is to write 50,000 words, not to write an entire novel. But all the little bits and pieces I'd already written down in flashes of inspiration only went into those first six chapters. Those were the ones I'd thought out in detail; the rest are still rough sketches. And around day 23, I was at the end of chapter six. Not that all chapters were completely finished, there are some bits where I put what needed to be written between brackets [like so] and then went off and wrote the next bit that came after. So I came to my endpoint a bit quicker than expected; 5,000 words quicker, to be exact. And writing a whole new piece, a bit you haven't actually thought that much about, a bit you thought you might not write until maybe November 2021, that is hard going. I got there, in the end, but I'm pretty sure the last 5,000 words wouldn't make the cut in an editing round.

Doesn't matter; I finished. And I still like most of my story. I like my characters, I like my story arch, I like where everything is going. Some bits I was truly inspired, writing as fast as I could to get all the ideas and sentences that were flowing from my head on the paper. Of course, there are some bits I don't like, but the overall feeling is pretty positive. But I am done with it now; I won't be doing any more writing for the rest of this year (except for blog posts of course!). A couple of weeks ago I thought the positive writing vibe would carry me onwards, but I know see that I need some time to recuperate and start collecting those little inspirational snippets again, to one day braid into the story again. So we'll see again next year!

NaNo Days 10 to 17: (way) more than halfway

 I'm still writing! That I'm not writing about the writing doesn't mean the writing itself is not taking place! If that makes any sense at all.
But yes; the NaNo writing is still happening. I just finished for today at 34,521 words, which is more than 6,000 words over the par of Day 17. My daily writing average is a little over 2,000 words, which is probably one of the highest I've had since I've done NaNoWriMo and had a job.

Daily word counts up to day 17.

Story wise, I've managed to get a better grip on my main character and while planning the next couple of chapters actually discovered a repetitive pattern that I hadn't planned on being there, but which now turns out to have quietly emerged. This is nice, because I have no idea what will happen in the latter half of the story; I have only the first six chapters planned out. Those will  probably get me to 50,000 words, but at that point the story isn't over yet. The real discovery will be what will happen after that; will I continue writing to finish it, or will I be content with my 50,000 words and leave the whole thing unfinished as it is? Only time will tell...

NaNo Days 6 to 9: I am a palindrome!

So my last NaNo update was pretty brief and I could repeat most of what I said there in this post, since not much has changed. It is the usual roller coaster ups and downs of the work week, with the added bonus of actually doing stuff in the weekends. So usually I write around 4,000 to 5,000 words on Saturday or Sunday, but now they're more or less the same as the work week pattern. I think it would work, as a Roller Coaster Tycoon concoction:

Daily word count for days 1 to 9.

I did manage to write at least 1,000 words each day, so that's good.

And my total word count as of this moment is 18,181, a palindrome worthy of the NaNo palindrome club. When I reached this point yesterday evening I was debating whether to keep on writing or stop for the night, but such a nice number deserves to be the end point for at least 12 hours. I'll add more words this afternoon, hopefully getting up to 20,000 words today.

Story wise everything is going as expected; the main character thinks and does as she pleases, several side characters have developed personalities far removed from what I'd actually anticipated and several major plot points have moved up or down the story as a consequence of the above. This is okay; I am not forcing the writing into the ideas I've plotted out, but I'm letting the story flow naturally. Hopefully, this will get me to the finish line with an end product I actually like!

NaNo Days 2 to 5: 10k in the pocket

Just a short update this time, to let you know I'm still actually NaNo'ing. So this week was a work week. A busy work week, to be exact, with lots of meetings and presentations and tomorrow even a complete convention (all digital, of course). Not a lot of time to write, as expected. But I still managed to squeeze in at least 1,000 words every day, with two days of over 2,000 words. My total word count is now at 11,506, so I have crossed the 20% mark at 10,000. So far, so good; I'm liking my story, I'm liking my characters and I'm liking where this is going!

NaNo Day 1: the road to 5k

So today turned out to be not the rainy, grey depression that was predicted, but a nice sunny morning that gave me the opportunity to actually do some stuff in the garden. This meant I started my NaNo'ing a bit later than I'd planned, but I still made it to 4,737 words before my head turned to mush and I had to stop. Which, as always,  happened quite suddenly but also quite completely.

That I actually almost reached 5k on the first day is pretty unexpected (despite setting my goal there) as I didn't have as clear an image of what I was going to write as other years. This may sound strange since I'm working with my plotting board, but the first card simply said 'character lies in bed reminiscing about the past'. Which is what she did for the first 3,500 words, but to actually spend that many words writing about not really that much happening without it being one big chunk of exposition is not that easy. So I'm glad I pulled that off, and I was also glad when I could actually move over to the second of my main plot points for this chapter. I stopped writing in the middle of that, because I already know where it is going to go and that gives me a quicker start next time (something I learned the hard way on some earlier NaNo years; always stop in a place you still know where you're working towards).
So NaNoWriMo is off to a good start on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Let's see if this holds up on a much busier Monday!

NaNoWriMo 2020

 What in the world... it's October 31st already! NaNoWriMo is less than 12 hours away! Luckily, I have actually been thinking about NaNo 2020 for quite some time, have registered on the website, have even donated for the greater good, but I hadn't actually blogged about doing all that. Time to amend this. (Last year my post came at the end of September, so maybe this is just making up for my earliness (is this a word?) then).
It is strange to think NaNo really is around the corner, especially in this weird corona year when time seems to go a lot faster than usual, although nothing much happens or changes over the cause of the days or weeks. You'd think finding time to write 50,000 words is going to be really easy, but if finding the time to blog about it is already hard, that may not really be the case... As I say every year; we shall see how that goes.

The good news is; I actually have a plan! I have a theme, a main character, some character development, several other characters, and a plot. I have even gone as far as to buy myself a whiteboard, coloured pieces of paper and lots of cute little magnets, to map out my storyline. And file little background pieces for all of my characters. But, as every year, I don't know everything already, so those little snippets will be filled out when I suddenly discover they have five siblings under the age of ten, went on holiday to North Korea or have tapdancing for a hobby. Characters never cease to surprise. So I'll still call myself a 'plantser'; someone who has somewhat plotted out their novel, but is mostly 'pantsing', that is; seeing what will come up.

The last couple of years (apart from some diversions into fantasy or romance) I have been writing in the 'realism' genre, which were mostly variations on my very successful 2015 NaNo story. This year, I'm sticking with the style I like, and it is going to be a realistic novel, but I chose 'literary' as my genre nonetheless. I am hoping to get a bit more Sally Rooney/Ali Smithesque vibe going. I have been debating whether I want to write first person narrator or omniscient narrator, and the answer might even be; both, depending on the section. I am a big fan of consistency though, so again; we shall see how that goes. And I am writing in Dutch, yet again.

And as always, I will keep you up to date with my writing progress. There are some nifty new badges on the website, so I may even try to update my wordcount every day. Also, as November 1st is a Sunday, I hope to put in at least 5,000 words tomorrow, to give me some headway in the busier workdays ahead. And then we'll see how much all that plotting and preparing is going to pay off...

The Testaments

Finally, The Testaments, that other Man Booker winner from that strange year where there were two. I'd read Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo in April already, but had to wait for this Atwood novel to come out in paperback. Yes, yes, I'm one of those people, who wants all their novels to be the same binding and size so they line up prettily in their bookcases. The fact that Atwood moved her novels from the publisher with the little apple on the side to Vintage has been bugging me for a couple of books now; everything lines up nicely until we get to The heart goes last. Which is her most disappointing novel, for more than one reason.

Anyway, The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale nobody actually saw coming. I'd heard so much about this novel already, from reviews and interviews and analyses of why there were two Man Booker winners, that it felt like I already knew what it was going to be about. Added to that, The Handmaid's Tale has become a tv series (or rather; internet series, in my case) which must have influenced the novel in some way. Maybe not for Atwood while she was writing it, but at least for me while I was reading it. So I knew I would be travelling back to Gilead, the dystopian future-USA where after a coup by religious extremists society has been turned upside down.

I also already knew that the novel consisted of the writings of three females from after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, and that one of these women was the dreadful Aunt Lydia. Now in the tv series Aunt Lydia is more horrendous than she is in the novel, at least in my memory, for in the novel there are more named Aunts. So I thought she would be an interesting character to find out more about; why her beliefs had led her to become who she was and act the way she does. Sadly, none of that. We find out (spoiler alert here) that Aunt Lydia doesn't even belief in all the Gilead social rules. She isn't a founding member, or even a convert. She just wanted to save her own skin.

That made me really sad. This way, the character is on the same side as the reader, which deprives us of understanding how that society came to be. Why not delve into the minds of some one who really believes these actions, these social constraints, the foundation of this society?  Of course, women aren't considered very capable in these circles, but the tv series solved this by having one of the Wives as one of the founding members, who really stood for her beliefs, and was slightly horrified but also accepting when she discovered what that did to her own position in society. I can see how Atwood wanted to keep her story as her own and not copy the tv premise, but having Aunt Lydia as a sort of double agent, working her way to bring about the downfall of Gilead, is just a cheap act to save yourself from writing someone truly evil. (Incidentally, I read in an interview with some crime writers that they never write a fully evil person, as readers don't want to see someone who is evil without a justifiable cause. So there always has to be a bad childhood experience or other external factor that causes someone to become evil. Same goes for Aunt Lydia; she suffered at the outset of Gilead and that turned her against her fellow women to save her own skin. As I said, a missed chance). This way, the whole Gilean society remains as unplausible as it was in 1985.

The other two 'writers' are two younger women, one living in Gilead and one in Canada. Their stories are very exposition-heavy, combined with teenage voices and thoughts. The one in Gilead was somewhat interesting, because she actually bought into the whole social system (not having a lot of other options since she was born there), until she found out what it would mean for her life as a Wife. With the added elements of peer pressure, group dynamics in adolescent girls, and her genuine surprise at the hypocricy of Gilean high society made her story quite interesting. The Canadian girl was a typical teenager, far less believable, mostly because she was as flat as a board. She had no personality and functioned mainly as an outside-in view of Gilead, until events took over and she actually became a playing piece for the plot to move forward.

Ah, the plot. More than any other Atwood novel, this one is very plot driven. Actions are set into motion, most of them deliberately by Aunt Lydia, and they propel towards an inevitable end. This plot focus feels at odds with the form of the novel, the written personal accounts. Personal accounts, I might add, which in two of the three characters describe actions that happened some time ago.  Because the writings date from after the action, we already know they are going to survive the main part of the story. Again, not a smart choice in a novel that is so focussed on what is happening and tries to build some kind of suspense in the outcome. I didn't feel that suspense once; we already knew a happy ending was on its way.

I finished the novel over a week ago, but put off writing this review hoping that I'd find some second thought, some extra layer or depth of meaning to add something to the experience of reading it. Sadly, there isn't really one. Sure, this is a feminist novel with some pretty strong female characters, and the message is crystal clear, but that's about it. The characters are flat and uninteresting, the plot is unrealistic and uninspired and there are no deeper questions or insights into the how, or why a society like Gilead ever came into being. Readers will feel relief at that it eventually ended, but if that is the main reason for awarding Margaret Atwood a Man Booker prize, I can think of some other novels that should have gotten one too, starting with Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows. 

So maybe we should think of this as the Man Booker making up for the fact they didn't give her one for The Handmaid's Tale, a novel that shows far more depth of character, psychology and society. Since that is still one of the best novels from the last 50 years (one that didn't need a sequel at all, mind you), I'll grant Atwood that. But let's forget about this unnecessary, blown-out-of-proportions sequel as fast as we can.

Etappes 12 & 13 - Holten naar Laren & Laren naar Vorden

Waar etappe 11 met 16 km kort genoeg was om er nog even 2,5 km vooraf te lopen, waren etappe 12 en 13 met respectievelijk 15 en 13 km kort genoeg om samen te lopen. In één keer 28 kilometer lopen, ik had niet verwacht dat ik het ooit vrijwillig zou doen, maar we waren er nu toch. En, dan zouden we het eerste Pieterpad boekje helemaal uit hebben, 9 weken nadat we begonnen waren!

Holten naar Laren

In het boekje waren we in het laatste kleurblokje aangekomen; De Achterhoek. Geen natuurgebieden en heuvelruggen meer, maar vooral agrarische vergezichten van 'superboeren' en beekdalen, gemengd met grote landhuizen. De 12e etappe gaat niet alleen van Holten naar Laren, maar ook van Overijssel naar Gelderland, waarmee we onze vierde provincie in zouden wandelen.

Vanaf het station Holten liepen we 'het centrum' in; een mooi marktplein midden in het dorp. Nou is Holten niet zo groot, dus al gauw liepen we het dorp weer uit en de velden in. De route ging weer veelal over asfaltwegen, maar waar mogelijk hadden de makers duidelijk geprobeerd om de zandpaden die er waren er ook in op te nemen.

Zandpad detour over de Beuseberg.

Nadat we de A1 overgestoken waren kwamen we bij de Schipbeek, de eerste van de beloofde beken. Hier ging de route over een mooie beukenlaan langs het water, bijna onNederlands mooi.

Beukenlaan langs de Schipbeek.

Helaas kwamen er na dit mooie stukje weer een flink aantal kilometers rechte wegen over boerenland. Uiteindelijk konden we linksaf staan Landgoed Verwolde in, de eerste van de grote landhuizen. Het landgoed bestond vooral uit rechte bospaden en lanen, met hier en daar een paadje langs een weiland. Niet een heel inspirerend uitzicht, op weg naar Laren.

Landgoed Verwolde, inclusief tuinhekje.

Tijdens deze etappe kwamen we meerdere wandelaars tegen die we twee dagen eerder ook hadden gezien op de etappe van Hellendoorn naar Holten. De meesten liepen net als wij beide etappes aaneengesloten en hadden de tussenliggende regendag een pauze ingelast. Het was in die zin best een 'gezellige' etappe; soms tref je mede Pieterpadders die vooral met het wandelen bezig zijn, maar deze etappe hadden we verschillende gesprekjes, één keer terwijl het andere stel bezig was ons in te halen.

Uiteindelijk kwamen we in Laren, bij de kerk, het einde van deze etappe. We hadden gehoopt ergens wat te kunnen drinken, maar aangezien alles dicht was en we niet te ver van de route wilden dwalen, liepen we maar door richting Vorden.

Gelopen: 27-8-2020
Afstand: 15,0 km
Tijd: 3:10

Laren naar Vorden
Etappe 13 begon zoals etappe 12; asfaltwegen en hier en daar een zandpad door boerenland. Wel meer open velden, waarschijnlijk omdat we nu echt uit de Sallandse kronkels waren.

Rond Groot Dochteren.

Nadat we de spoorlijn naar Enschede waren over gestoken staken we ook het Twentekanaal en de Berkel over. De eerste twee waren rechte lijnen, de laatste gaf nog enigszins een gevoel van een natuurlijk landschap. Daarna liepen we weer het bos in, dit keer van Landgoed Velhorst. 

Pad en uitzicht rond Het Enzerinck.

Inmiddels kwamen we vrijwel niemand anders meer tegen, want het liep tegen het einde van de middag. Alleen rond de verschillende landhuizen waren wat anderen, met name op de fiets. Na Velhorst passeerden we Het Enzerinck en Den Bramel. Dit soort landhuizen doen me altijd aan de boeken van Jane Austen denken, hoewel deze vaak wat nieuwer zijn dan de families uit haar verhalen.

Den Bramel.

Na de landgoederen kwamen we aan in Vorden. Het officiële einde van de etappe is bij Kasteel Vorden, waar het Pieterpad in 1983 is geopend. Maar dat is bijna een kilometer ten zuiden van het station, het station waar we uiteindelijk weer naar terug moesten. Dus besloten we het einde van deze etappe iets eerder te nemen, en de laatste kilometer bij de eerste etappe van het volgende boekje op te tellen. 

Dat was stiekem ook wel nodig, want 28 kilometer lopen, ga er maar aan staan. Aan mij waren de mooie gebouwen van Vorden in elk geval niet besteed; ik was blij toen we de laatste stappen gezet hadden en konden gaan zitten. Bijna 3 uur lopen over 13 kilometer is ook wel een tikje traag... Na een dikke 200 kilometer is mijn wandelconditie een flink stuk beter dan begin juni, maar dit was toch echt wel een flink eind.

Maar, op die laatste kilometer na hadden we nu wel het hele eerste boekje uit! We zijn nog niet helemaal halverwege, want Kasteel Vorden ligt niet precies op de helft (want moet in beide boekjes staan), maar het voelt wel alsof we een deel kunnen afsluiten. Het boekje van het tweede deel ligt al op ons te wachten, maar omdat we steeds verder van Groningen af komen zullen we deze etappes nog meer moeten plannen, met overnachtingen op strategische locaties en meerdere opeenvolgende dagen wandelen. Ook komen er verschillende etappes met veerboten, wat heel leuk is maar die niet altijd varen. Iets meer organisatie dus, maar hopelijk kunnen we wel een redelijk 'wandel regime' volhouden, want naast het continue veranderen van het landschap is ook het veranderen van het weer van zomers naar koeler, met de herfstkleuren in de bossen, iets om zoveel mogelijk mee te maken. We gaan het zien!

Gelopen: 27-8-2020
Afstand: 13,0 km
Tijd: 2:54

Etappe 11 - Hellendoorn naar Holten

Het ritme van 'elk weekend een etappe' Pieterpadden was er niet voor niets; vanaf 24 augustus hadden we een huisje gehuurd in Holten, zodat we die week de etappe naar en de etappe van Holten konden lopen zonder uren in de auto te hoeven zitten. Maar dan moesten we wel toe zijn aan die etappes. En dat waren we, precies op tijd.
Zoals ik bij etappe 10 al zei is Hellendoorn eigenlijk niet te bereiken met het OV. Maar omdat de etappe naar Holten 'maar' 16 km zou zijn (ik had nooit verwacht dat ik ooit 16 km 'niet zo ver' zou vinden), besloten we voor deze etappe de trein naar Nijverdal te nemen, en dan vanaf Nijverdal naar het beginpunt in Hellendoorn te lopen. Dit was 'maar' 2,5 km, dus onze totale afstand zou nog minder zijn dan een gemiddelde etappe, en een mooie rechte weg naar de kerk. Onderweg kwamen we verschillende andere wandelaars tegen; sommigen fietsten ons voorbij, anderen werden afgezet met een auto of kwamen 'gewoon' aanlopen. Het is echt een etappe om creatief te zijn in het begin.

We zaten nog steeds midden in (op?) de Sallandse Heuvelrug, en na Hellendoorn uit gelopen te zijn kwamen we al gauw weer in de bossen die we aan het eind van etappe 10 verlaten hadden. De eerste 5 kilometer waren in het bos, op brede zandpaden met een klein uitstapje naar asfalt waar we onder de spoorlijn en de N35 door gingen.

Bospad en fietspad.

Na die eerste kilometers, steeds geleidelijk stijgend, kwamen we op de eerste 'berg' van deze etappe; de rand van de Haarlerberg, weer een prachtig uitgestrekt heideveld. Op het uitkijkpunt kwamen we verschillende groepen andere wandelaars tegen, maar minder dan je zou verwachten met zo'n mooi uitzicht.

Het pad gaat een stuk langs de rand en snijdt dan een klein stukje door de heide heen, langs uitgesleten groeven die 'slenken' heten (met avontuurlijke namen als 'Rietslenk' en 'Wolfsslenk'). Ik kende slenken alleen van de kwelder op de waddeneilanden, als de geulen waardoor het water naar de zee loopt, maar hier zijn het de oude stroomdalen van smeltend ijs uit de ijstijd. Je moet het maar weten.

Uitzicht vanaf de Haarlerberg.

Over de hei.

Na de afdaling door de heide konden we door het volgende bos aan de volgende klim beginnen; de Holterberg op. Waar het pad over de heide mooi slingert, zijn deze bospaden veel rechttoe rechtaan aangelegde wegen, waarschijnlijk omdat het productiebossen zijn. Logisch, maar het wandelen wordt er niet mooier op.

Na dit bos kwamen we vrij plotseling op het uitkijkpunt van de Holterberg, weer aan de rand van een heideveld (hetzelfde heideveld waar we daarvoor ook liepen; het is ongelofelijk hoeveel aaneengesloten natuur hier is). Ook op dit uitkijkpunt kwamen we weer een aantal andere wandelaars tegen, maar weer minder dan ik zou verwachten.

Uitzicht vanaf de Holterberg (ja, dat lijkt verdacht veel op de vorige).

Na de Holterberg ging de etappe in 1 rechte lijn 'bergafwaarts' richting station Holten. Het eerste stuk was weer door het bos, maar op de bosrand kwamen we langs een plukje toeristische attracties en horeca, waardoor het ineens heel druk werd. Er was een fietspad naast het zandpad, waarop verschillende groepjes fietsers een pad omhoog zwoegden. Vooral daardoor hadden we door dat het best een klimmetje is, die Holterberg. Voor ons was het vlot naar beneden wandelen.

Het laatste stukje voor het station was een 'fraaie beukenlaan', die inderdaad erg mooi was. En toen ineens waren we er al. 16 kilometer is inderdaad niet zo ver, als je gewend bent om 20 te lopen.

Op het stukje asfalt in Hellendoorn en Holten na, en het stukje bij het tunneltje onder het spoor door, was de etappe helemaal onverhard. En hoewel we door een paar van de mooiste stukjes van de Sallandse Heuvelrug liepen, kwamen we dus vrijwel geen anderen tegen. Er waren vooral fietsers, en die kunnen niet zoveel op al die kronkelende zandweggetjes. Het weer hielp waarschijnlijk ook niet mee; in de middag zou het gaan regenen, dus wij waren vroeg op pad en voor de buien weer in ons huisje. Maar je zou toch verwachten dat in een jaar waarin je eigenlijk niet naar het buitenland op vakantie kunt, de mooiste plekjes in eigen land drukker bezocht worden. Niet dat ik klaag, overigens, het is mooi om dit soort plekken in alle rust te kunnen ontdekken.

Gelopen: 25-8-2020
Afstand: 16,5 km
Tijd: 3:28

Etappe 10 - Ommen naar Hellendoorn

En we zijn aangekomen in het vijfde kleurblokje in het Pieterpad boekje; de Sallandse Heuvelrug. Dat klonk vagelijk bekend toen ik het las, maar ik heb geen bewuste herinnering dat ik hier ooit geweest ben, los van natuurlijk avonturenpark Hellendoorn. Misschien komt dat omdat het een vrijwel onbereikbaar stukje van de wereld is; alle Pieterpad OV websites waarschuwen voor deze etappes, omdat er geen buslijnen meer richting Hellendoorn gaan. De handigste oplossing (van diezelfde websites) is om met de 'wandeltaxi' te gaan, een taxi bedrijf dat zich specialiseert in ritjes tussen Hellendoorn en Ommen en Hellendoorn en Holten. Dat hadden wij dus ook maar geregeld. Na een stressvol ritje richting Hellendoorn, achter zondagsrijders die toch echt 60 reden op een 100 km weg, kwamen we precies op tijd aan bij de kerk, waar we net een ander stel in 'ons' taxibusje zagen stappen. Al snel bleek dat zij ook om 10:00 een ritje wilden, en zo konden we de taxiprijs delen en stonden we een kwartiertje later weer op station Ommen.

Omdat we de drukte van Ommen al gehad hadden, konden we meteen de hooilanden in lopen, op weg naar de eerste 'berg' van de route. We zouden deze etappe meerdere 'bergen' van de Sallandse Heuvelrug gaan beklimmen; misschien is het een idee om hier óf de Besthemenerheuvel, Lemelerheuvel etc van te maken, óf de Sallandse Bergrug te introduceren. Hoe dan ook, de Besthmenerberg dus, mooi gelegen bij een klein heideveld, met er bovenop een uitkijktoren zodat we het Vechtdal aan de ene kant, en de volgende 'bergen' aan de andere kant konden bewonderen. Het was verrassend rustig, mogelijk omdat er regenbuien voorspeld waren, maar we hadden hoe dan ook de uitkijktoren voor onszelf.

Pad op de Besthmenerberg, met uitkijktoren.

Uitzicht richting het noorden/Ommen.

Uitzicht richting het zuiden/Archemerberg.

Wat een mooi stukje Nederland. En het zou nog veel mooier worden. Eerst kwamen we langs de Steile Oever van de Beneden Regge, waar het water tientallen meters lager dan het pad stroomt. Je waant je in de Ardennen, of nog hogere bergen.

De Steile Oever (goeie naam wel).

Daarna staken we de Beneden Regge over en kwamen in het volgende heuvel (berg) gebied; de prachtige heidevelden van de Archemer- en Lemelerbergen. Het had in de verte iets van de Gasterense Duinen van al die etappes eerder, maar dan ook weer totaal niet, omdat het echt een flink hoogteverschil is. De Archemerberg steekt meer dan 70 meter boven het landschap uit, waardoor je echt een prachtig uitzicht rondom hebt. Het uitzichtpunt van de Lemelerberg hebben we gemist, omdat de route daar niet helemaal langs liep, maar die geeft vast ook een mooi uitzicht naar het zuiden.

De Archemerberg op.

De Archemerberg af (het pad kronkelt in de verte door het bos).

Na deze heidepracht kwamen we in een wat minder idyllisch stukje met eerst de bossen bij Lemele, daarna Lemele zelf, en toen de velden onder Lemele. Vlak nadat we het Overijsselsch Kanaal waren overgestoken barstte de bui die al een tijdje in de lucht hing los. We liepen door het open veld en konden weinig anders doen dan onze capuchon goed op ons hoofd houden en doorlopen. Gelukkig was het pad nog steeds onverhard, en we hadden uitzicht op de laatste 'top' van deze etappe; de Eelerberg.

Het glooiende dennenbos is de Eelerberg.

Na de open weidsheid van de eerdere 'bergen' was deze heuvel iets minder indrukwekkend, maar wel een fijne glooiende wandeling door het bos. Altijd beter dan de rechttoe rechtaan paden door de weilanden. Via een lange asfaltweg (langs het attractiepark, met continue geschreeuw op de achtergrond) liepen we Hellendoorn weer in, een korte pauze van het bos waar de de volgende etappe weer in verder zouden gaan.

Dit was verreweg een van de mooiste etappes tot nu toe. Vreemd genoeg waren er vrijwel geen andere wandelaars of überhaupt andere mensen, terwijl dit stukje Nederland vele malen mooier is dan dat rondom Hardenberg/Ommen, waar we hele drommen tegenkwamen. Misschien trekt het attractiepark alle mensen uit de bossen, of het was toch het regenachtige weer. Hoe dan ook, ondanks het weer was het een prachtige wandeling, on-Nederlands in de zandpaden, glooiingen en weidse uitzichten.

Gelopen: 23-8-2020

Afstand: 21,0 km

Tijd: 4:43

Etappe 9 - Hardenberg naar Ommen

Omdat we ergens tussendoor een weekend niet hadden gelopen, moesten we om goed uit te komen 2 etappes in 1 weekend lopen. Het weer was nog steeds niet helemaal fantastisch, met 's ochtends regenbuien en 's middags rond de 28 graden, maar wie Pieterburen heeft gezegd, moet ook Hardenberg - Ommen zeggen. Gelukkig liggen die twee plaatsen weer heel fijn op dezelfde spoorlijn, dus reden we naar Ommen en stapten het perron op waar al twee Pieterpadders klaar zaten voor de trein. "Gaan jullie ook naar Holten?" vroegen zij. Dat gaf even verwarring alom, want Holten is twee etappes naar het zuiden, en wij namen de trein naar het noorden om naar het zuiden te lopen. Maar uiteindelijk bleek dat je om naar het zuiden te gaan op dit stuk spoor daadwerkelijk eerst naar het noorden en oosten moet, en konden we met een gerust hart in de trein stappen.

Aangekomen in Hardenberg moesten we eerst de kilometer terug naar het marktplein lopen, en daarna de route terugvinden. Ondanks de prachtige wandelnetwerk Overijssel bordjes was het begin weer een lastige speurtocht; het lijkt bijna alsof de markeringen in de plaatsen door mensen weg gehaald worden. Maar uiteindelijk vonden we het pad, staken met een brug de Vecht over, en liepen een heel stuk langs een nieuwbouwwijk door een soort parkje aan het water. Daarna gingen we gelukkig gauw de velden in, met hier en daar een bosje. Hardenberg en Ommen zijn beide toeristische centra, maar de stukken ertussen kunnen er ook wat van; overal campings, boerengolf en B&Bs. 

Landelijk doorkijkje.

Na het toeristische gebeuren rond Rheeze kwamen we op een onverhard pad door het bos (dat weer 'Diffelerveld' heet, omdat het ooit daadwerkelijk een heideveld was dat beplant is met bomen). Dit was een welkome verademing, want het was intussen opgeklaard en al behoorlijk warm. Midden in het bos moesten we de N36, waar auto's en vrachtwagens rustig 100 km/uur rijden, oversteken. 

Rechte zandpaden langs rechte rijen bomen.

Na dit eerste bos kwamen we bij 'De stuw bij Junne', die al uitgebreid aangegeven stond en op zichzelf ook een soort toeristische attractie bleek te zijn. De stuw is aangelegd omdat men erachter kwam dat het toch niet zo'n heel goed idee is om een rivier helemaal recht te trekken; in de winter heb je wateroverlast en in de zomer stroomt het te snel weg. Dan maar een stuw erin, met een vistrap er naast zodat de vissen ook nog stroomopwaarts kunnen komen.

'Afgestorven' arm van de Vecht, met in de achtergrond de rivier en de stuw.

Na de stuw liepen we het tweede bos deel in, dat mooi ten zuiden van de Vecht langs slingerde. Hier was het vreemd genoeg een stuk rustiger, terwijl het bos zelf mooier was; het pad slingerde tussen de bomen, er waren nog verschillende kleine stukjes heide te zien, en ook kleine hoogteverschillen die een voorbode waren voor de Sallandse Heuvels waar we naartoe liepen. Maar hier kwamen we vrijwel geen andere mensen tegen.

Dat veranderde zo gauw we het bos uit kwamen en langs de spoorlijn en later langs de weg richting Ommen liepen. Wat een drukte. Overal groepjes fietsers druk in gesprek en zonder enig oog voor de andere mensen of natuur om hen heen. Het was inmiddels drukkend warm, de omgeving was niet heel uitnodigend en je moest constant opletten of je niet aangereden werd, zowel door fietsers als later door automobilisten die zonder op of om te kijken over de zebrapaden zoefden. Niet echt een heel fijn einde aan de etappe.

Combineren kun je leren, ook bij LAWs.

Nadat we op het eindpunt waren, bij de brug over de Vecht in Ommen waar we definitief afscheid namen van de rivier, zijn we nog 800 m doorgelopen naar het station van Ommen, dat een eind buiten het centrum ligt. Dit was al het eerste stukje van etappe 10 en het scheelde ons de volgende keer de toeristische drukte.

Dat was eigenlijk het grootste bezwaar aan de etappe; dat je door zulke toeristische hotspots komt, dat je eigenlijk geen oog hebt voor het pad waar je op loopt. Verder was het eerste bosrijke deel niet heel interessant, vergelijkbaar met het stuk rondom Sleen, terwijl het tweede heuvelige bos juist wel mooi was. En we hadden gewoon pech met het weer; drukkend warm na fikse regenbuien is geen ideaal wandelweer. Het voelde een beetje als een 'tussen etappe', de overbrugging van de Vecht naar de Sallandse Heuvelrug.

 
Gelopen: 21-8-2020
Afstand: 21,9 km
Tijd: 4:41

Pieterpad etappe 8 - Coevorden naar Hardenberg

Etappe 8 alweer, waarin we Drenthe achter ons zouden laten en onze derde provincie zouden betreden; Overijssel. Coevorden en Hardenberg liggen fijn op dezelfde spoorlijn, dus de verplaatsing naar ons startpunt was niet al te moeilijk. Omdat het heel warm zou worden maakten we grapjes over 'de eerste trein nemen' om zo vroeg mogelijk aan te kunnen komen, maar toen bleek dat die eerste trein pas om 8:20 rijdt op zondag, werd het een serieuze optie. Gedurende de dag bleek dat we niet de enigen waren; de 4 groepjes medelopers en 6 groepjes tegenliggers kwamen allemaal op een kluitje voorbij, om de drukkende warmte en de onweersbuien voor te zijn.

We begonnen de route met het slechtst aangegeven stukje Pieterpad ooit; Coevorden uit waren nauwelijks markeringen te vinden. De mensen op straat wensten ons hartelijk succes, misschien meer met het vinden van de route dan met het daadwerkelijke wandelen. Zo gauw we Drenthe uit waren was de route trouwens de beste aangegeven ooit; speciaal geplaatste paaltjes met alle mogelijke markeringen, zelfs een paaltje met pijlen naar rechts op een weg die een bocht naar rechts maakt (en waar je met de beste wil van de wereld geen andere kant op kunt, tenzij je de sloot over wilt springen en het maisveld in lopen). Kosten nog moeite gespaard, in elk geval; daar kan Drenthe nog wat van leren.

Maar voor we Overijssel in liepen, kwamen we eerst langs De Poort van Drenthe, een kunstwerk waarvan wij verwachtten dat het wel op de provinciegrens zou liggen. Later bleek die nog zeker een kilometer verderop te zijn, maar het was een mooi symbolisch punt voor de overgang.

De Poort van Drenthe, verstopt in een groenstrook tussen twee industrie terreinen.

Daarna liepen we een mooi stukje onverhard langs een vaart, met wel continue uitzicht op de immens grote windmolens van Coevorden. Daar hebben we de hele zevende etappe naartoe gelopen, nu konden we er gelukkig vanaf lopen, maar ze bleken de horizon domineren. Na het fijne stukje onverhard kwamen we op een asfaltweg tussen de aardappel- en maisvelden terecht. Maar geen vrees dat dit net zo'n klaagzang wordt als de vorige etappe, want de velden, de dorpjes, het 'landelijk gebied' van noord-Overijssel is een stuk aangenamer dan dat van zuid-Drenthe. Misschien is het de glooiing in het landschap, misschien dat er af en toe nog kleine bosjes staan die het landschap wat opbreken, misschien is het de rivier die er doorheen slingert, maar het deed zelfs een beetje buitenlands aan af en toe. In elk geval minder hoekig en eentonig dan het stuk rond Sleen. En dan was er natuurlijk de Vecht, die we in totaal drie keer overstaken deze etappe (we zitten immers in het blokje 'het Vechtdal').

Eerste blik op de Vecht (met spoorbrug).

Na de eerste oversteek, in het boekje omschreven als een 'spaghetti-kruispunt' waar de Vecht, het kanaal Almelo-De Haandrik en het Coevorden-Vecht kanaal samenkomen, liepen we Gramsbergen in. Ik kende Gramsbergen alleen van het treinstation op de rit tussen Zwolle en Emmen, maar wat een schattig dorpje! En ze hebben er een beeld voor Pieterpadders.

Doorstappende Pieterpadders te Gramsbergen.

Na Gramsbergen kwamen we door Ane en daarna over de Aner Esch. Zoals de naam al doet vermoeden is dit een grote open vlakte, aan de oostkant grenzend aan de N34. Het was inmiddels midden op de dag en flink warm. Dit was een stukje om snel door te komen, tot we de relatieve verkoeling van het Engelandsche Bosch in konden. Bij het pad erin zaten twee tieners hun relatieproblemen uit te praten op het hekje. Het bosje was nog geen 500 meter groot; aan het andere eind zaten twee zestigers met strooien hoeden op precies hetzelfde hekje. 

Randje mais en randje bos.

De laatste kilometers tot Hardenberg waren flink zwaar. Het was warm, er was nergens schaduw, en langs de hele dijk sprongen kinderen het water in ter verkoeling. In de verte konden we de buien zien opbouwen naar onweershoogte, dus we waren blij met onze vroege start. Ik heb dit laatste stuk weinig mee gekregen van de omgeving, behalve dat ik nooit heb geweten dat Hardenberg een bioscoop heeft (met maar liefst drie zalen, en wekelijks nieuwe films, zoals ze zelf heel groot op hun gevel hebben staan). 

Het was op zich een prima etappe voor een warme dag; weinig echt hele spectaculaire dingen waar je eigenlijk langer bij stil zou willen staan. Wel jammer dat de route op het eerste stukje na vrijwel helemaal over asfaltwegen ging, dat loopt toch minder lekker dan zandpaden. En er was behoorlijk weinig schaduw. Nu het nog even zo warm blijft, hoop ik in de komende etappes op meer bos, anders vrees ik daar ook weinig van mee te krijgen...

Gelopen: 16-8-2020
Afstand: 19,1 km
Tijd: 4:11