Saturday, February 14, 2009

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading

Friends;
The audio book I'm listening to is by a/the book reviewer for NPR, Maureen Corrigan: Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading. It is reviews of the various books she has read - if you like her NPR reviews I suppose you'll like this 7 CD book. I have to drive with my dictionary open - if there is a common word that can be replaced with a graduate level literature lecture word, then she selects the later.

Maybe I wouldn't need the dictionary if I'd read some of the books to which she refers but I haven't heard anyone use "sysaphean" task in quite some time (ok, never). And I don't think I've ever heard the word "fictive". It isn't a big word but who uses it? I looked it up in wiktionary and sure enough, the very first definition is "fictional" - why not use it in place of fictive in one or two places?

The author is/was a literature professor and spends a lot of time comparing her theory on "female extreme adventure" to the male extreme adventure: Quindlen's Black & Blue to The Perfect Storm with many other examples. But I didn't sign up for a class in Extreme Adventure: Male or Female. I'm "just a reader" who hoped for some brief reviews of many of the books she has read.

Maureen must have been writing for a very small, specific audience but if you are looking for some interesting book suggestions you might plow through these CDs. I'm going to try to make it through the remainder of the CDs as she has some interesting biographical information tossed in. I'm really glad I didn't try to major in literature in college now and, after listening to her "faint praise" of her mother, I'm glad she isn't my daughter! And I'll bet we'll never be friends although I can use one obtuse word in a sentence: pedantic.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

E. Th (Theodore) Douwes Dekker



What I have found so far (thanks to everyone who helped!) is that the artist's name is E. Theodore Douwes Dekker. The last name is both names, just not hyphenated. He was born in 1915 and died in 1995.

There was an auction in 2006 of a water color done by Dekker. I can't read the details so am posting the information here in hopes that someone reading this can translate it for me. I'd also like help finding any children of his or the auction house where this auction was held (and selling price if possible). Thank you for any assistance you can provide.
Lot 67 : Aquarellen en tekeningen DOUWES DEKKER, E.Th. (Edward) (1915-ca. 1995 . Bietenveld. Aquarel. Gesign. & gedat. 1966/79 r.o. 40,5 x 62 cm. In lijst
Auction Location: Netherlands - 2006
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Artist E Douwes Dekker






I'm trying to find a reference to E. Tn (or In) Douwes Dekker, an artist who did a chalk of a beautiful dark skinned woman signed Oct. 1984.

I thought I had found him but 1st guy mentioned below died in 1950. I can't find a reference to a son of his but maybe if you have one of the books cited below you can help me out? I would like to know who the woman in the chalk is - his wife? Mother? Is she Islamic? When did the artist die and where? I own the art piece but can't find the artist listed anywhere. People always ask me who the woman is and I'd like to have the answer. I'll post the photo at: http://oldbaglady.blogspot.com this evening.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide. Madlyn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Douwes_Dekker

Dutch East Indies.
the younger Douwes Dekker was related to the famous writer, Eduard Douwes Dekker, author of Max Havelaar, who was his grandfather's brother.[2]

Later he was allowed to return to the East Indies. In 1922, he taught in Bandung in a lower school. Two years later as head of the school, he renamed it the "Ksatrian Institute". This institute was officially recognised by the government in 1926. In the same year, he married Johanna Mussel, one of its teachers, six years after divorcing his first wife

In February 1947, he changed his name to "Danudirja Setiabudi" which means 'powerful substance, faithful spirit'. In 8 March 1947 after divorcing his second wife, he married Haroemi Wanasita, in an Islamic ceremony

His life is recorded in a biography: 'Het Leven van EFE Douwes Dekker, by Frans Glissenaar in 1999.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multatuli
He spent his later years in Bandung, writing his autobiography, 70 Jaar Konsekwent (1950). Douwes Dekker died in 1950.
Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 1820 – 19 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli, was a Dutch writer famous for his satirical novel, Max Havelaar (1860) in which he denounced the abuses of colonialism in the colony of the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia).