Life on Earth
Slauerhoff drew from his experiences as a ship’s doctor in the 1920s when he wrote this spectacular novel set in China. Cameron, an Irish naval radio operator, meets a lieutenant who turns out to be an opium smoker, as well as a mysterious European woman in a Chinese dress, ‘like an overladen fruit tree’. He becomes infatuated by both the woman and opium.
The love story is framed by an exciting narrative concerning Cameron’s involvement in arms smuggling, masterminded by the criminal Hsiu. With bold and firm strokes, Slauerhoff paints the life of a European in China who is in search of a purpose, which he ultimately finds in life itself.
Slauerhoff wrote the book in 1933 and 1934, by which time he had gained sufficient distance from his own personal experiences (including the opium use) and was able to revisit the intoxicating romanticism of his adventure.
Cees Nooteboom presented a television documentary about Slauerhoff and wrote introductions to the Spanish and Italian editions of his work: La révolte de Guadalaja (Circé, 2008) and La rivolta di Guadalajara (Milan, 1999).
Translated into German by Albert Vigoleis Thelen.
“His restless soul still shivers through in Dutch literature, incomparable to anyone.”
