Rituals

In Rituals, Amsterdam of the fifties, sixties and seventies is viewed from the perspective of the capricious Inni Wintrop. An unintentional suicide survivor, the unexpected gift of life returned lends him the curiousity, and impartiality, to survey others' lives and rountines.

Inni's opposite, the one-eyed downhill skier Arnold Taads measures his life by the clock, while his disowned son Philip follows Japanese rituals which themselves seem to render his existence meaningless.

A novel for those who seek to unravel our mysterious, apparently directionless lives...

“'Should appeal to anyone who likes Italo Calvino or Paul Auster' Michael Dirda, Washington Times.”

'Sharp, elegant prose ... It recalls, in tone, Vladimir Nabokov. The language is, by turns, delicately allusive and rich, even ripely comic' D.J. Enright, T.L.S. TLS
Washington Times

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.

Rituals plays out in Amsterdam across three decades, seen from the perspective of Inni Wintrop, a man leading a capricious life, floating comfortably on possibilities. After a failed suicide attempt, the unexpected gift of life returned lends hi m the curiosity, and the impartiality, to observe the lives and routines of others. Among those others are Inni's opposite, one-eyed former champion skier Arnold Taads, who obsessively measures his life by the clock, and Taads' disowned son Philip, who relentlessly follows Japanese rituals which themselves seem to rend his existence meaningless. Wry, witty and incisive, Rituals is a novel for those who relish philosophical musings and seek to unravel our mysterious, apparently directionless lives.

In Rituals, Amsterdam of the fifties, sixties and seventies is viewed from the perspective of the capricious Inni Wintrop. An unintentional suicide survivor, the unexpected gift of life returned lends him the curiousity, and impartiality, to survey others' lives and rountines. Inni's opposite, the one-eyed downhill skier Arnold Taads measures his life by the clock, while his disowned son Philip follows Japanese rituals which themselves seem to render his existence meaningless. A novel for those who seek to unravel our mysterious, apparently directionless lives...

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