{"id":139370,"date":"2026-10-11T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T12:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/?p=139370"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:33:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T12:33:35","slug":"birneys-augustus-is-een-boeiende-stream-of-consciousness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/10\/birneys-augustus-is-een-boeiende-stream-of-consciousness\/","title":{"rendered":"Birney\u2019s *Augustus* is a captivating stream of consciousness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fiction |  <strong>August<\/strong> | Alfred Birney | De Geus, \u20ac25.49 | 272 pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>August<\/em> is the title of Alfred Birney\u2019s acclaimed new novel, which centres on a Dutch teacher suspected of sexual abuse of a pupil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is already ten years since the writer Alfred Birney, who turns 75 this month, published his impressive novel <em>The interpreter of Java<\/em> published. The book was awarded the Libris Literature Prize and the Henriette Roland Holst Prize, and marked his definitive breakthrough to the wider public \u2013 it became a bestseller. But shortly afterwards, he was admitted to hospital following a heart attack and had to undergo bypass surgery. His recovery took a long time, but his stay in hospital did result in a novel, <em>On hold<\/em> (2020), an inner monologue by a man lying in a hospital bed awaiting an operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Birney is very good at writing a compelling stream of consciousness. His new novel, too, <em>August<\/em>, the successor to <em>On hold<\/em>, is in fact one long monologue by a first-person narrator, a tangle of memories and events that are seamlessly woven together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The narrator is Augustus Kroos, known as August or Guus for short, named after the day on which he was abandoned as a baby. August is a Dutch teacher at a secondary school, but he has been suspended because the boyfriend of his pupil Tara, who was receiving private tuition from him, claims to have found them together in bed. That\u2019s true, says August, but it wasn\u2019t what it looked like: he and Tara had watched a film after the tuition session and had fallen asleep. He also claims that the allegation that he subsequently forced the boy out of the house is untrue; the boy is simply very jealous. But then, as a grown man, you\u2019re at a disadvantage, and so August is sitting at home, having to put his statement in writing for a mediator. He has little faith that it will help him keep his job, as public judgement has already been passed. And so August doesn\u2019t hold back; his defence statement, limited to ten pages, turns into a diary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is how we come to know a man who has been displaced since birth. Abandoned as a foundling, raised in a boarding school and having also spent time in a reformatory \u2013 it transpires he had previously been accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour. Vile phrases such as \u2018On a cold Sunday we were baptised (\u2026), whilst the churchgoers, in their fine Sunday best, stared at us with icy disdain as if we were bound for hell\u2019 beautifully illustrate the backdrop to his existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">August looks back with nostalgia on his lost love, Kasia, whom he let go because she wanted children and he did not. Kasia married another man and died shortly after the birth of her child. \u2018I still believe that Kasia would not have died prematurely if I\u2019d stayed with her,\u2019 writes August. In his isolation, he has taken up his old hobby again: keeping catfish in an aquarium. This enigmatic creature, which often symbolises the subconscious and the will to survive, but in Birney\u2019s work also represents the longing for love and the unattainable, inscrutable woman. Then, in defiance of the restraining order, Tara reappears too. And this well-written, entertaining story takes a surprising turn.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fictie | Augustus | Alfred Birney | De Geus, \u20ac 25,49 | 272 blz. Augustus heet de geslaagde nieuwe roman van Alfred Birney, die draait om een leraar Nederlands die verdacht wordt van ontucht met een leerlinge. Tien jaar geleden is het alweer dat schrijver Alfred Birney, die deze maand 75 jaar wordt, zijn indrukwekkende [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":330,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16518,4763,11687],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-139370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-literatuur-2","category-donatie-gevraagd","tag-recensie"],"featured_image_url":[],"post_author":"Vivian de Gier","assigned_categories":"featured, LITERAIR, WAARDEER &amp; DONEER!","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64746,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2020\/05\/mijn-dromen-gingen-steeds-over-de-dood-alfred-birney-over-zijn-nieuwe-roman-in-de-wacht\/","url_meta":{"origin":139370,"position":0},"title":"'My dreams were always about death.' Alfred Birney on his new novel 'On hold'","author":"Vivian de Gier","date":"11 May 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Kort nadat Alfred Birney in 2017 voor De tolk van Java de Libris Literatuurprijs kreeg, belandde hij met een hartinfarct in het ziekenhuis. In zijn nieuwe roman In de wacht ligt Birneys alter ego Alan Noland in het ziekenhuis te wachten op een openhartoperatie. Hij begon zich na zijn vijfvoudige\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;LITERAIR&quot;","block_context":{"text":"LITERAIR","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/literatuur-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Alfred_Birney_Eddo-Hartmann-kopie.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Alfred_Birney_Eddo-Hartmann-kopie.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Alfred_Birney_Eddo-Hartmann-kopie.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Alfred_Birney_Eddo-Hartmann-kopie.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Alfred_Birney_Eddo-Hartmann-kopie.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71069,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2021\/09\/71069\/","url_meta":{"origin":139370,"position":1},"title":"Literary festival ILFU adds new festival day on hot topics of our time\u00a0","author":"een van onze leden","date":"7 September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Lale G\u00fcl, Roberto Saviano and Alfred Birney, among others, make their appearance in Utrecht On Saturday 25 September, the first edition of Exploring Stories will take place: a special festival day at ILFU dedicated to the 'hot topics' or topical issues of our time. Exploring Stories will feature topics...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ilfuayaan.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ilfuayaan.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ilfuayaan.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ilfuayaan.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ilfuayaan.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ilfuayaan.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100607,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/02\/charlotte-kohler-prijs-voor-dichter-marwin-vos\/","url_meta":{"origin":139370,"position":2},"title":"Charlotte K\u00f6hler Prize for poet marwin vos","author":"een van onze leden","date":"2 February 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Charlotte K\u00f6hler Prize, a triennial award for writers of prose, poetry or drama, has been awarded this year to marwin vos (author\u2019s name written in lower case). She receives the prize of 15,000 euros for her entire body of work and in particular for the poetry collection Wilde Dood. The jury consisted of the poets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":71022,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2021\/08\/elena-ferrante-geeft-belle-van-zuylenlezing-op-het-ilfu-italiaanse-bestsellerauteur-ontvangt-belle-van-zuylenring-van-de-gemeente-utrecht\/","url_meta":{"origin":139370,"position":3},"title":"Elena Ferrante gives Belle van Zuylen lecture at ILFU - Italian bestselling author receives Belle van Zuylen ring from Utrecht municipality","author":"een van onze leden","date":"31 August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"On Thursday 23 September, Italian writer Elena Ferrante will deliver the thirteenth Belle van Zuylen lecture at the ILFU International Literature Festival Utrecht. She will also receive the Belle van Zuylenring, an international honorary award of the ILFU in cooperation with the municipality of Utrecht. Elena Ferrante is the author of, among others, the...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Alleen voor leden&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Alleen voor leden","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/service\/members-only\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/elena.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/elena.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/elena.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/elena.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/elena.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/elena.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66635,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2020\/08\/charlotte-kohler-prijs-2020-voor-manon-uphoff\/","url_meta":{"origin":139370,"position":4},"title":"Charlotte K\u00f6hler Prize 2020 for Manon Uphoff","author":"een van onze leden","date":"31 August 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This year's Charlotte K\u00f6hler Prize, a triennial award for writers of literary works, has been awarded to Manon Uphoff (1962). Uphoff receives the \u20ac15,000 prize for her entire oeuvre and in particular for the novel Vallen is als vliegen (2019), which is rooted in reality.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Alleen voor leden&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Alleen voor leden","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/service\/members-only\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/jury.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":71246,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2021\/09\/mahat-arab-wint-ilfu-verhalenwedstrijd-2021-uit-723-inzendingen-werd-zijn-spoken-word-opname-part-time-vaders-tot-beste-verhaal-verkozen\/","url_meta":{"origin":139370,"position":5},"title":"Mahat Arab wins ILFU Storytelling Competition 2021:  Out of 723 entries, his spoken word recording 'Part-time fathers' was voted best story","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"26 September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Mahat Arab (born 1996) is the winner of the second edition of ILFU's Storytelling Competition. He won with a spoken word recording titled \u2018Part-time fathers\u2019. During festival day Exploring Stories, he received the grand prize of five thousand euros, from the hands of ILFU's organisation. More than 700 people entered the ILFU Storytelling Competition;...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ACTUEEL&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ACTUEEL","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/nieuws\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/btWVU3TK8QzinIZ2cdkXgqSVyvfqhU890tyayXrcNjYQWOSwqXFMojJBAzZzO5oGFVTmq8y5rxj10T6mrstU303-GhRLI3IrkMZ_uzIAIy1w4Hsb4Qj4cD9FJKGlTXTAouuIZHsE=s0","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/btWVU3TK8QzinIZ2cdkXgqSVyvfqhU890tyayXrcNjYQWOSwqXFMojJBAzZzO5oGFVTmq8y5rxj10T6mrstU303-GhRLI3IrkMZ_uzIAIy1w4Hsb4Qj4cD9FJKGlTXTAouuIZHsE=s0 1x, https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/btWVU3TK8QzinIZ2cdkXgqSVyvfqhU890tyayXrcNjYQWOSwqXFMojJBAzZzO5oGFVTmq8y5rxj10T6mrstU303-GhRLI3IrkMZ_uzIAIy1w4Hsb4Qj4cD9FJKGlTXTAouuIZHsE=s0 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3yKke-AfU","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/330"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139373,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139370\/revisions\/139373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}