Letters To Poseidon

I had been looking for someone to write to for a long time, but how does a man write letters to a god?

From his Mediterranean garden on the island of Menorca, Cees Nooteboom writes to the trident-wielding deity, Poseidon, initiating a dialogue not only with the past, as Alberto Manguel observes in his Preface, but with an entire world that seemed lost for ever.

Offering a seductive interweaving of keen observation and the fruits of a vast knowledge, Nooteboom explores questions of human existence through the minutiae of the living world around him, and marvels at the secrets of the deep. He recalls figures in history, places he has travelled to, objets trouves, works of art and literature, and takes a fresh look at the ancient myths.

At once playful and poignant, beautiful and bizarre, Nooteboom's Letters to Poseidon are couched in the glittering prose of one of Europe's outstanding stylists.

“A sparkling little book, filled with wonder”

- Spectator

Cees Nooteboom was born in The Hague in 1933, and now lives in Amsterdam and on the island of Minorca. He is a poet and novelist who has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as the Pegasus Prize and the Aristeion Prize for his novels, which include Rituals (1983), The Following Story (1994), and All Souls' Day (2001). His books of travel writing, Roads to Santiago (1997) and Roads to Berlin (2012) have become backlist classics.

I had been looking for someone to write to for a long time, but how does a man write letters to a god? From his Mediterranean garden on the island of Menorca, Cees Nooteboom writes to the trident-wielding deity, Poseidon, initiating a dialogue not only with the past, as Alberto Manguel observes in his Preface, but with an entire world that seemed lost for ever.Offering a seductive interweaving of keen observation and the fruits of a vast knowledge, Nooteboom explores questions of human existence through the minutiae of the living world around him, and marvels at the secrets of the deep. He recalls figures in history, places he has travelled to, objets trouves, works of art and literature, and takes a fresh look at the ancient myths. At once playful and poignant, beautiful and bizarre, Nooteboom's Letters to Poseido n are couched in the glittering prose of one of Europe's outstanding stylists.

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