Admiral Piet van Rinnekom;
van Rijn -
- but not to "Piet van Rijn."
I probably did notice Piet van Rijn on a previous reading but did not then think to post about him. And now I come across his name as if for the first time. We do not know a text if we have read it only once.
Predictably, violence occurs in Chapter i, and our series detective character, Trygve Yamamura, is called in at the beginning of Chapter ii. The opening paragraphs of ii resound with significant place names:
the Bay
San Francisco
Treasure Island
Alcatraz
the Golden Gate
We are on our way.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Now that interested me, Piet VAN RIJN??? I too immediately thought: a possible ancestor of Nicholas van Rijn???
I agree, "We do not know a text if we have read it only once." I discussed that point with one of my friends, who was puzzled when I told her I was reading Stirling's THE PESHAWAR LANCERS for a third time. I tried to tell her that so much more can be found in a good book which has been repeatedly read than if we just read it once and then forever put it aside. But I discussed that at greater length in my article "A Defense of Rereading Books."
Sean
I think Poul didn't anticipate quite how quickly the traditional ties between the Netherlands and the East Indies, which were nearly 500 years old when he was writing, would atrophy after Indonesian independence.
Of course, that's more true in Asia than Europe. The Netherlands is still affected by this episode, and people resulting from it reside in Holland in considerable numbers.
Kaor, Mr. Stlrling!
But, wasn't it the deliberate policy of the Netherlands not to encourage the Dutch to emigrate to the East Indies and remold them as the English and Spanish had done to the countries where so many of these peoples had settled? NOT having the East Indies become "Dutchified" made them easier for the Dutch gov't to handle as they wished, in both bad and good ways.
And we can speculate that Nicholas van Rijn descended from East Indians who had emigrated to the Netherlands.
Sean
Kaor, Sean!
Regarding Nicholas van Rijn, we can speculate, although we’re not told just who his ancestors were, or where they lived. He does seem to have connections in Indonesia and thereabouts (SATAN’S WORLD), and has been heard muttering to himself in a language presumed to be Malay (“Hiding Place”), as well as being described as half-Indonesian, so I don’t think he just has East Indians way back in his family tree. It could be that, centuries after Indonesia achieved independence, a Dutchman fell in love with an Indonesian lass, and became the father of Anderson’s merchant prince, even or especially if, by that time, there were no close ties between the Netherlands and its former colony. We don’t know for sure.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Kaor, Nicholas!
I have to agree with your comments. Your suggestion is more plausible than the remoter connection to the former Dutch East Indies I speculated about. All we know for sure is that Nicholas van Rijn was of both Dutch and Indonesian/Malay descent. We also sometimes see Old Nick speaking in what I believe was Dutch. In height, size, and appearance Old Nick seems to show more his Dutch ancestry, btw.
Sean
Post a Comment