{"id":98948,"date":"2025-10-18T11:53:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T09:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/?p=98948"},"modified":"2025-10-11T15:02:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:02:41","slug":"schijnoffers-van-daan-heerma-van-voss-onevenwichtig-maar-met-een-prachtig-einde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2025\/10\/schijnoffers-van-daan-heerma-van-voss-onevenwichtig-maar-met-een-prachtig-einde\/","title":{"rendered":"Schijnoffers by Daan Heerma van Voss: unbalanced, but with a wonderful ending"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>After the autobiographical novels The Frightened Man and No Goodbye Today, writer Daan Heerma van Voss comes out with a new novel set in the unfathomable world of chess grandmasters. For the reader, will it be draw or checkmate?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since his debut more than 15 years ago, now 39-year-old Amsterdam-based Daan Heerma van Voss has written a comprehensive body of work. Novels, essays, interviews, stories, journalistic articles and thrillers - he practises almost all genres. Daan Heerma van Voss is a prolific writer who is not afraid to try new things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He does the same with his new book Schijnoffers, a family novel that takes the reader into the rather hidden world of chess via two storylines. The first storyline concerns the life and memories of Surinamese woman Ella Leeuwin, who meets chess grandmaster Max de Nobel as a 22-year-old aspiring journalist. What begins as a half-hearted attempt at a reportage culminates in a relationship. For this, she gives up the dream of her own career. After a life of luxury, their union ends in divorce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Russians<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the second line, their son David, who did become a journalist, uncovers an intrigue as a result of a mysterious gift: top Russian chess players as well as the Dutch government have been involved in espionage activities. It seems that David's father Max, with whom he has had no contact for years, was also involved. Whereas his mother chose to throw her report into the fire because of her relationship with Max, David wants to try and find out what happened. And that leads him right to his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schijnoffers shows enthusiasm and daring; Daan Heerma van Voss has not made it easy on himself. That is precisely why it is unfortunate that the book is unbalanced, not yet sufficiently crystallised. Ella's narrative perspective is often not quite right, the development of the characters and motivation for their actions only moderately convincing. As a result, the main characters do not really come alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Strong sentences and metaphors sometimes clash with weak scenes and phrasing. And the story unfolds rather slowly. All this made this novel - at least for this reader - a struggling reading experience. Which is a pity, because those who persevere are rewarded with a beautiful ending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final chapters, in which David and his father Max reconnect, are among the best and most touching of the novel. That is where the power of this story, which Daan Heerma van Voss must undoubtedly have been concerned about from the start, shows itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div class=\"su-note\"  style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Daan Heerma van Voss, Schijnoffers<br \/>380 p.<br \/>AtlasContact, \u20ac24.99<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-af816f15 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-frm-modal-button wp-block-button\"><a data-toggle=\"modal\" data-bs-toggle=\"modal\" data-target=\"#frm-modal-0\" data-bs-target=\"#frm-modal-0\" class=\"wp-block-frm-modal-button__link wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">Appreciate this story!!!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Na de autobiografische romans De bange mens en Geen vaarwel vandaag komt schrijver Daan Heerma van Voss met een nieuwe roman, die zich afspeelt in de ondoorgrondelijke wereld van de schaakgrootmeesters. Wordt dat voor de lezer remise of schaakmat? Sinds zijn debuut, ruim vijftien geleden, schreef de nu 39-jarige Amsterdamse Daan Heerma van Voss een [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":330,"featured_media":98951,"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","wpai_meta_description":"","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":[4763],"tags":[15740],"class_list":["post-98948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literatuur-2","tag-recensie-2"],"views":697,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Daan-Heerma-van-Voss-rechtenvrije-bij-Schijnoffers-c-Tatjana-Almuli.jpeg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":78009,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2022\/05\/auteurs-jennifer-egan-en-douglas-stuart-op-bezoek-in-utrecht\/","url_meta":{"origin":98948,"position":0},"title":"Authors Jennifer Egan and Douglas Stuart visiting Utrecht","author":"een van onze leden","date":"3 May 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"ILFU welcomes award-winning author Jennifer Egan and Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart to Utrecht on 20 May 2020 for a unique double Book Talk. Both authors published new novels in early April, each commenting on (Western) society in its own way. In doing so, the novels align with the mission of the...","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\/2022\/05\/jennifer-egan-and-Douglas-Steward.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jennifer-egan-and-Douglas-Steward.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jennifer-egan-and-Douglas-Steward.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jennifer-egan-and-Douglas-Steward.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jennifer-egan-and-Douglas-Steward.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100607,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/02\/charlotte-kohler-prijs-voor-dichter-marwin-vos\/","url_meta":{"origin":98948,"position":1},"title":"Charlotte K\u00f6hler Prize for poet marwin vos","author":"een van onze leden","date":"2 February 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"De Charlotte K\u00f6hler Prijs, een driejaarlijkse prijs voor schrijvers van proza, po\u00ebzie of toneel, is dit jaar toegekend aan marwin vos (auteursnaam zonder hoofdletters). Zij ontvangt de prijs van 15.000 euro voor haar gehele oeuvre en in het bijzonder voor de dichtbundel wilde dood. De jury bestond uit de dichters\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":28270,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2016\/01\/rijen-tot-aan-deur-knausgard-op-winternachten-wu16-wn16\/","url_meta":{"origin":98948,"position":2},"title":"Queues to the door for Knausg\u00e5rd at Winternachten #wu16 #wn16","author":"A Quattro Mani","date":"17 January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Lots of audience and wonderful stories made the Saturday of the literary festival Winternachten a party. For the visit of Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausg\u00e5rd in the afternoon, queues stretched from the auditorium to the front door of the Theater aan het Spui. The festival's evening programming also...","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\/2014\/05\/Winternachten-za-7-sins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winternachten-za-7-sins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winternachten-za-7-sins.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winternachten-za-7-sins.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winternachten-za-7-sins.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winternachten-za-7-sins.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49124,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2017\/05\/noodzakelijk-en-prachtig-kijkje-chinese-ziel-dankzij-utrechts-festival-ilfu17\/","url_meta":{"origin":98948,"position":3},"title":"Necessary and wonderful glimpse into the Chinese soul thanks to Utrecht festival #ILFU17","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"13 May 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Good timing by the International Literature Festival Utrecht (ILFU) to put China at the centre of this year's edition. Just in time before the Chinese have connected the Betuwelijn to their own railway network on their own initiative, with their well-known decisiveness. High time to put the Chinese soul...","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\/2017\/05\/sun-li.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/sun-li.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/sun-li.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/sun-li.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101246,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/04\/maas-theater-en-dans-biedt-troost-bij-elk-afscheid\/","url_meta":{"origin":98948,"position":4},"title":"Maas Theatre and Dance offers comfort for any goodbye","author":"Wijbrand Schaap","date":"20 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"There are plenty of reasons to severely condemn Disney for Bambi. How many four-year-olds have had to sit through that cartoon in thick tears because of the saddest goodbye in the world? How much trauma has that caused and shouldn't it be included in the DSM-V? Reason enough for Maas Theatre and...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;DANS&quot;","block_context":{"text":"DANS","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/podiumkunst\/dans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/co9zps1DtlE\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28164,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2016\/01\/winternachten-gaat-ergens\/","url_meta":{"origin":98948,"position":5},"title":"Winternachten is about something","author":"A Quattro Mani","date":"13 January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Darkness is the theme of the international literary festival Winternachten, this coming weekend in The Hague. You just have to dare, in a time when everything has to be fun and cosy and we prefer not to deal with trouble or 'heavy topics' in our spare time. Therefore...","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\/2014\/05\/Publiek1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Publiek1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Publiek1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Publiek1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Publiek1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Publiek1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3yKke-pJW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98948","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=98948"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98953,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98948\/revisions\/98953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}