- Hardcover: 246 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; First Edition edition (19 Jun 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747547084
- ISBN-13: 978-0747547082
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
443,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #89 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > European > European Leagues
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
"1974 was actually very painful to us all," says Dutch psychoanalyst Anna Enquist. "We can't admit to ourselves that something can be so important. But it matters very much. There is still a deep, unresolved trauma about 1974. It's a very living pain, like an unresolved crime."
En Vincent zag het koren
En Einstein het getal
En Zeppelin de Zeppelin
En Johan zag de bal(And Vincent saw the corn
And Einstein the number
And Zeppelin the Zeppelin
And Johan saw the ball)
--Dutch cabaret song
The intellectualisation of football has always foundered on a simple problem--the players. Doing all your most rewarding thinking with your feet seems to dull the philosophical impulse. Unless, of course, you are Dutch. According to legend, Europeans played a moronic, muscular version of the world's game, until Holland proclaimed its vision of total football in the 1974 World Cup, and enlightenment dawned.
In Brilliant Orange--the neurotic genius of Dutch football, journalist David Winner explores his personal fascination with the land that gave the world Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Johan Cruyff--searching for reasons why such a tiny country has produced some of football's most intelligent, enigmatic and unfulfilled teams.
Winter talks with the players, past and present--including Johnny Rep and Ruud Krol from the losing World Cup Final sides of 1974 and 1978--uncovering their personal experience of the public triumphs and disasters. But it is the breadth of his enquiry into what it may mean to be Dutch--reconciling a colonial past with a multi-cultural present; living with the memories of wartime occupation and collaboration; the tensions between a fiercely individualistic, libertarian spirit and the principles of communality--that makes this such an extraordinary and wonderful book. --Alex Hankin
The Times
'Original and unconventional...Fascinating and individualistic.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite brilliant,
By A Customer
This review is from: Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Football (Hardcover)
Firstly let me get one thing straight - I'm not a football fan and I have no real interest in the Dutch. But with Brilliant Orange, David Winner seems to have cast these minor inconveniences aside and written a masterful analysis of the Dutch psyche, using football, (and specifically the 1970's team of Cruyff, Kieser, Rep et al) as a counterpoint to their particular and sometimes peculiar ways. Winner has really done his research - he brings in subjects as far and wide as "art and architects, cows and canals, anarchists, church painters, rabbis and airports", and deftly weaves them into the rich tapestry of footballing history. His real skill, however, is in bringing the matches to life and demonstrating the artistry of the game. I wasn't even born when the Cruyff team of 1974 lost against the German's in the World Cup final, but how I want to go back and see the match now. Winner manages to explain the Dutch flair, their inventiveness, their spatial awareness, their internal wranglings and their inevitable defeat at the hands of lesser opponents. (take their losing to the Italians in last night's semi-final as a perfect example) There's something of the grace of the Dutch footballing style in Winner's writing too; a light anecdotal touch by turns endearing, personal and very funny, which enables him to really engage the reader. Even if you're not a Dutch loving football-aficionado, this is a must read!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insight into the heart of all Dutch fans,
This review is from: Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football (Paperback)
For years my friends have wondered why I was so obsessed about the Dutch and their football (I'm a Malaysian living in England!). I struggled to make them understand but this book explains why so brilliantly. The Dutch play football so breathtakingly (when things are going well) but have so little success to show for it. Strangely, it is this frustrating underachievement that makes them so fascinating. In many ways, their well-documented self-destruction is very much a reflection of their culture (not just the footballing one). There are sections in the book where Dutch football legends would say "if only the Dutch had this , if only they had that...on top of their skill...they would be perfect footballers". But that would take away their Dutchness...One thing's for sure though...the day they finally win the World Cup, it won't be just the Dutch fans who would be cheering....it would mark the fulfilment of one of the greatest footballing phenomenons.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dutch Brains. Dutch Beauty.,
By Johnny Centreback (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football (Paperback)
Brilliant Orange, by David Winner, has to rank as one of the best soccer books I have read in a long time. This is a book with brains spilling out over the edge. It is much more than a story about Dutch Soccer. It is an inquiry into how ideas and philosophies present in Dutch society underpinned some of the greatest teams and players to have ever played the game. While it is an entertaining and stimulating read, it also manages to be instructive technically and tactically. Coaches and players will find this book very useful in terms of identifying what it takes to play the game at its highest level. And what fascinated me the most was Winner's study of beauty and the idea of the Beautiful Game. If you want to best understand what the Beautiful Game is about, you may want to read this book before any others on the subject, including Pele's My Life and the Beautiful Game.
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