Hendrik Groen

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

Nadine 

I'm loving this book. It's loosely a parody of the Adrian Mole diary, but from the perspective of an 83 year old pensioner in the Netherlands. He makes wry comments about his own declining health and that of the people around him, decides to seize the day by forming a club of like-minded souls who want to get the most out of their last years, and they band together to help each other morally and physically. Some very sad moments, like an inmate slowly losing his limbs to diabetes, as another loses her mind to dementia. 
And a wake up call, that they way you use/abuse your body & mind when you're younger can have far reaching effects as you age.

Juliana Matias

I've got mixed feelings about this book. Again, maybe I'm just not the target audience.

On the one hand, I get why it's so acclaimed, and I'm glad it was written. It's a realistic close up on life for the elderly living in care homes. It's somewhat poignant. It brings forth some themes that tend to be forgotten, and I get it.

But on the other hand, it was so annoying. I listened to it as an audiobook, and it felt like someone griping and complaining in my ear on and on and on and on. It kind of reminded me of one of my coworkers, only much less fun.

I was over half of the way into the book, still waiting for something to happen to get the story started by the time I realized there was no story to be started. We'd get some glimpses of an interesting backstory (a dead daughter, a bipolar wife...), but the resolution never came. 

Life went on. It sucked. They tried to make the best of it, but really, what much could they do? It's depressing. People get sick, people die and all I got out of this book was: God, I hope I die young.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

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