At The rider a father lets his daughter from the city go into hiding with her grandfather who lives in the countryside. The girl has a loverboy-like relationship with the leader of a dangerous criminal gang. With his granddaughter's forced stay, not only two generations collide, but also past and present, city and country, man and nature. The only unifying factor is an old horse in the meadow. To him the grandfather can confide his lack, to him the granddaughter can express her insecurities. But the horse's listening ear, which seems able to narrow the gap between man and girl, cannot shut out the harsh reality.
The rider is Jan van Mersbergen's eighth novel. He has also written a novella, a novelisation and a literary thriller. His work has been translated in nine countries and two of his novels have been filmed. He has also been frequently nominated for literary prizes, winning the BNG New Literature Prize 2011 and the F. Bordewijk Prize in 2014. He regularly performs with bands that put music under his lyrics.
Excerpts from the podcast:
Some writers hear a melody in their head or think of certain music when they write, do you?
'No, never. I used to listen to Along the line When I was writing. At Radio 1, I could work well. These days I have the television on, Flodder is repeated in the afternoon. I really like Flodder with Sjakie and Kees. That's on then as a background noise. I can concentrate well with that. Music is far too intrusive.'
'When writing, I do use the rhythm of the way my parents and my family talk from Het land van Heusden en Altena in Brabant. That's a polder, a kind of no man's land to which the Biesbos is attached.'
Do you still have that dialect yourself?
'I adapted that even when I went to secondary school in Gorinchem. You had to adapt because otherwise you were seen as a backward peasant. When I moved to Amsterdam, I had to adapt again. People often think I'm from the North, but on Waterlooplein a salesman thought I was Belgian, while I'm from Brabant. You don't want that, of course.'
The narrator in this book is an old horse. Why?
'I really like American books about the countryside, countrybooks. I identify with that style of narration. My theory is that American books with a horse on the cover, are always good books. So I actually wanted a novel with a horse on the cover, and there are actually two on it. Choosing a horse as the narrator gives me more distance from the other characters. He can register what is happening and he knows exactly what is going on with someone as soon as they touch him.'
The horse says: 'Touch me and I know all about you.'
'That is my theory, though of course it is very difficult to prove.'
'People rarely touch each other. A touch can be very unpleasant. I always celebrate carnival in Venlo and there we are very physical. That makes you more emotional. It's very different during such a celebration than in normal life.'
The girl and her grandfather trust the horse. As a reader, you also immediately come to love the horse because he is so incredibly sweet, open, open-minded and sensitive. Is this love of a human being for such an animal a form of pure love?
'It is much easier to talk to an animal than to other people. They say animals are much better listeners. I don't know if it's love, it's a kind of security. I once had a couple of bantam chickens that I did have nice contact with, but it wasn't love, I think. I might write another novel about a chicken.'
Weren't you worried that the story would become sentimental?
'My stories are always sentimental, almost a kind of tearjerker sentiment. These are emotions I know and understand well. The best stories are metaphorical on a feeling level and not on a rational level.'
About this podcast
The podcast series The Story features writers talking about their books. The interviews are nice and long, about 45 minutes so there is plenty of time to go deeper into the content. Both fiction and non-fiction and more or less weekly. Also with famous and less famous Dutch and Flemish writers.
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
