The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

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Hendrik Groen resides in a Nursing Home funded by the state in North Amsterdam. He decides to start writing a diary. He has two people he can rely on. One being Evert also a resident of the home and Anja the assistant to the Administrator for the home. But when Hendrik learns of a plan to close the home down he realises life outside it could be much worse. He and the gang must stop the closure before it's too late. Or drop dead trying . . .

Hendrik Groen (Author of Pogingen iets van het leven te maken) - Goodreads Hendrik Groen (Author of Pogingen iets van het leven te maken) -

Attempts to make something of life in 2016 won the Audience Award for the Dutch Book. This prize was not personally collected by the author. For years it was unknown who was hiding behind the pseudonym. This led to speculation about who it could be. Names from Sylvia Witteman to Arnon Grunberg were mentioned. Both De Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad revealed almost simultaneously in 2016 that Peter de Smet Hendrik Groen, pseudonym of Peter de Smet, is a Dutch writer. He is the author of the book Pogingen iets van het leven te maken: Het geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 83¼ jaar ( The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old) published in 2014. That book was awarded in 2016 with the Audience Award for the Dutch Book. The sequel Zolang er leven is: het tweede geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 85 jaar ( On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen) appeared in 2016. For years it was unknown who was hiding behind the pseudonym. This led to speculation about who it could be. Names from Sylvia Witteman to Arnon Grunberg were mentioned. Both De Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad revealed almost simultaneously in 2016 that Peter de Smet was 62-year-old. De Smet responded with the words that 'he is not waiting for publicity' and 'has no sense in the fuss about fame'. Hendrik Groen is 83 years old and living in a retirement home in Amsterdam. His secret diary is both funny and sad as he records the daily hassles of aging and of living with a host of other people in the same boat.Hendrik Groen, pseudoniem van Peter de Smet, is een Nederlands schrijver. [1] Hij is de auteur van het in 2014 verschenen boek Pogingen iets van het leven te maken: Het geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 83¼ jaar. Het vervolg Zolang er Leven is: Het nieuwe geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 85 jaar verscheen in 2016. Beide boeken wonnen de Publieksprijs voor het Nederlandse Boek / de NS Publieksprijs. As part of her plan of action to combat the dementia, Grietje has composed, with my help, two new notes she is to carry with her at all times: ‘What to do if I get lost’ and ‘What to do if I don’t remember exactly who someone is.’ Both notes start with: ‘Please forgive me, but I’m a bit forgetful.’ Since he lives in a retirement home, he starts documenting the daily grind against which he rebels and in the process writes a very juicy and nearly scandalous expose. The work would spend more than 30 weeks on the bestselling lists in the Netherlands. The work was written as the diary of a man in his eighties who is fed up with the indignities of aging. When the elevator door slid open, there were already two rollators and one mobility scooter inside, but Mrs. Groenteman thought there was still room for herself and her scooter. She revved the engine a little to hard, sweeping the others into a great pileup. It took half an hour to extricate all the dinged metal and trampled oldies.

Hendrik Groen Series by Hendrik Groen - Goodreads Hendrik Groen Series by Hendrik Groen - Goodreads

This is a funny, heartbreaking day by day revelation of how eccentric residents spend their time and the Old But Not Yet Dead Club they set up where support is given to each other due to their declining health and tragedy. Jarenlang was onbekend wie er schuilging achter het pseudoniem. Dit leidde tot allerlei speculaties. Namen uiteenlopend van Sylvia Witteman tot Arnon Grunberg werden genoemd. De Volkskrant en NRC Handelsblad onthulden in 2016 vrijwel gelijktijdig dat het ging om de toen 62-jarige Peter de Smet. [2] De Smet reageerde daarop met de woorden dat hij 'niet zit te wachten op publiciteit' en dat hij geen zin had 'in de heisa van bekendheid'. Hendrik Groen doesn't like old people. Their zimmer frame shuffle, unreasonable impatience, endless complaints, their tea and biscuits, smells or creaking bodies. Although he himself is 83 years old and lives in a residential care home in the Netherlands. His old club fell apart but every now and then there is a reunion where the former residents get to enjoy some beer and catch up. Hendrik’s diary entries are not simple prose but lengthy rants about whatever has got Hendrik’s goat that day. The language used is not simple but very mature and his range of vocabulary is spectacular.Let me say right here and now, that if I ever end up in a care home, I pray that there is a Hendrik and an Evert to brighten up my remaining days, I just LOVE Hendrik! Determined not to be a whinger, he forms the Old But Not Dead Club with a few like-minded souls. Together they escape the confines of the home to take trips to cookery classes, Pixar movies and golf clubs, expeditions that ensure the resentment and anger of others who are not allowed to join their exclusive society. It was a joy to rediscover a word that has been out of my vocabulary since my mums passing, that glorious word "Kerfuffle". I shall remind myself to keep it in circulation. Mum always used it with such flair. The Old But not Dead Club then spawned a monthly cooking club, plus another two members - Ria and Antoine Travemundi. Among them are the kind hearted and thoughtful, Eefje Brand, who recently moved into a room Mrs De Gans "vacated" and to whom he strikes up a sweet, close and heart warming friendship. His cheeky and mischievous friend Evert Duiker, who lives independently around the corner in sheltered accommodation with his dog Mo who farts a lot. Whenever Everts grout plays up Walter visits and takes his dog for a walk, helps him out with things or just enjoys an afternoon chat and "a glass of something or other" - usually wine, gin, brandy or whisky.