I think it’s time for a sequel to my post Rated R, where I literally translated some Dutch swear words and phrases into English. So here are several words I used when I was a kid in the early seventies. They’re not as R-rated as the first post. I found these “retro swear words” on this site.
flapdrol — floppy turd
domoor — stupid ear
druiloor — droopy ear
etter — pus
etterbak — bowl of pus
knuppel — baseball bat
kwal — jellyfish
uilenbal — owl pellet
schijtlijster — shitting thrush
In the late 60s Richard Proenneke built his own cabin in the Alaskan wilderness with only a few simple tools. He spent most of the rest of his life there. Sam Keith fleshed out Proenneke's diary of his first 16 months, when he was making his home by a lake. I love these kinds of books!
An old Oji-Cree healer and her nephew canoe down a river in Canada, away from the world of white people. They both have to come to terms with their past. The woman has lost most of her tribe and the young man is traumatized from his recent experience in the Belgian trenches of World War One. My second book by Boyden. Can't say enough about him.
An incredibly comprehensive history of everything related to slavery in the Southern United States, from the beginning of the colonies to the end of the Civil War. Over 700 pages and I took over 30 pages of notes. I will be sharing over many posts to come!
Hamid's debut novel. I love this author. A young man in Lahore, Pakistan, is the victim of love, drugs, obsession, the class system and his complete lack of self-awareness.
A golem, created in Poland and brought to life on a ship to America, and a jinni who was trapped in a flask a thousand years ago and released in New York -- the most unusual immigrants you'll ever meet.
The only part of her life a Korean woman can control is her body, so she withdraws into it. Harrowing.
Autobiography lightly disguised as a novel about the son of Southern migrants growing up on the streets of Harlem, New York City, in the 1940s and 50s. Written like you're hearing the whole story in a bar. Quite a feat.
The story of a man struggling to make a living in Morocco. No plot, no clearly defined characters, but fascinating in its authenticity.
Pakistani man tells an American about his experience as a college student and employee of an assessment firm in America years ago. Smart, nuanced and pretty darn honest considering the unreliable narrator.
Wow! The answer to the inane platitudes about how all parents love their children and how children should always respect their parents. The protagonist must come to terms with his deeply flawed immigrant parents in order to change himself.
Seven short stories about life during the Kim Il-sung regime, by a writer who still lives and works in North Korea, were smuggled out of the country and translated. Mind-boggling stuff.
A 15-year-old autistic narrator wants to know who killed a neighbor's dog, and ends up much further out of his comfort zone than he planned. Wonderful read!
In politics, education, religion, agriculture, business--it turns out that dumbing down has been here from the start.
Fifty years of Istanbul seen through the eyes of a street vendor who migrates to the city as a young boy. It's also a window into the complicated dance between men and women in Turkey.
Hey, don't laugh, at least I'm trying.
A Norwegian immigrant is cooped up with six other people on a tiny island off the coast of Maine all winter in 1873. A woman in the present researching the Norwegian immigrant is cooped up with three other people on a tiny sailboat. What could possibly go wrong?
A man stuck between two worlds in more ways than one. Fascinating!
Historical novel about early contacts between first nations and the French in Canada. Beautifully written story that doesn't pull any punches. I bought his other two novels right away.
Beautifully written. By my children's favorite English and Creative Writing teacher! It's got rave reviews and we're all very proud of her.
Suki Kim is a Korean-American journalist. She poses as an evangelical Christian posing as an English teacher at a school for the sons of North Korea's elite. Her experience and the information she manages to get via writing assignments are incredible. Definitely a lot more eye-opening that any CNN special.
This. Explains. Everything!!!
Why has Islam not undergone a reformation like Christianity? Why is it so easy for Islamic extremist groups like IS to recruit young muslims? What would it take for Islam in fundamentalist Islamic countries to enter modernity? Does the West have a role to play?
Amazing! A man wanders endlessly through a dreamscape, becoming other people, himself in the past, everything is fluid. Kafkaesque disconnect between people and their different needs.
A multi-layered novel about the history of Libya. A fast read, but one you can repeat and find something new each time.
Twelve Americans go missing in Burma/Myanmar during a tour. Touching and hilarious, but mostly hilarious.
The most unusual murder mystery I've ever read. Incredible writing. It haunted me for days.
The quote on the front mentions that these stories are exhilerating. I couldn't disagree more. They are almost unbearably painful to read, and yet I couldn't put them down. Very well done, apart from the third story, which is written in the second tense. Please let me know if you know of ONE story that works in second tense.
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I read the ‘Rated R’ post and commented, then noticed how long ago it was written! Some of the ones here are hilarious!
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Thanks. I welcome comments on all my posts. Most of them aren’t that time-sensitive (yet).
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I was reading online about WWII collaboration and moffenmeidens – and discovered your website. You’re really funny! I subscribed to your website to see new posts. I’m like you – a stranger in a strange land – I’m an american living in japan for 11 years (so far) as a permanent resident.
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Hi Nelson. Thanks, I think. I hope I wasn’t funny about moffenmeiden. So tell me, what’s an American in Japan doing googling moffenmeiden?
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Oh no you weren’t being funny about moffenmeiden. I rewatched an old wwII movie “a bridge too far” the other day and I got interested in the history of nazi occupation of the netherlands. I have also in the past read a lot about vichy france and the fate of collaborators. I saw some photos of moffenmeiden on the internet and i felt very sorry for them. I did a reverse-google search of one image and came to your website. I was enjoying your stories of winding up in austin TX with a cat. I was born in Pasadena TX but really never lived in texas for any length of time. Anyway; we’re the same age and I have enjoyed reading your posts.
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Well, about the moffenmeiden, don’t feel too sorry for them. They were women who collaborated with the Germans, or who at the very least enjoyed the privileges that came with being their whores while the rest of the country suffered. Who knows how many people were caught because of them? But on the other hand, there was a posse feeling about the whole hair cutting thing; I’m sure several people were punished while they may have actually been working for the resistance as spies.
Since you live in Japan, maybe you’re interested in the connection between Japan and the Netherlands during WWII. There were many Dutch families in Indonesia at the time, since it was still a Dutch colony, and the Japanese put the women and children in camps and the men were put to work on the railroads. Jeroen Brouwers wrote a novel about life in those camps from a child’s perspective, titled Sunken Red.
I’ve never been to Pasadena, TX. Where else have you lived in the States?
Thanks for visiting.
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