Inni knew that life was chaotic. He knew that there were two ways to live it. As he did, with indolence and lethargy, a dilettante drifting along. Or as Arnold and Philip did, each in his different way creating a personal system of ritual and control to keep the emptiness of the universe at bay.
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First Sentence
On the day that Inni Wintrop committed suicide, Philips shares stood at 149.60. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
On the day that Inni Wintrop committed suicide, Philips shares stood at 149.60. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
11 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughtful meditation on chaos and passion
15 Jun 2000
By "flavamartino"
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This book is also in my top five books of all time. I did a search under the keyword "rituals" and it did not pop up (I had to find it a backwards way), and I had a moment of profound sadness thinking that this most wonderful book could be out of print. "Rituals" truly does inspire me. I haven't read it in four years, but it still is one of the best books I've ever read. I loved the intoxication of love and the meaning of life search of the main character. What can induce you to get off of the floor and live? I've wondered that many times in my life, and Inni (the main character) explores what REALLY matters - if anything. It's not to say that this book is a dour questing life meaning book - rather it is a rich, bravado, humorous, cleansing book that has many many rewards. The part of this book that I often think about (and I hope this wouldn't be a spoiler) is the correlation of Inni's mad, chaotic city (Amsterdam if I remember correctly) with monks in Japan. Very funny and important book. I almost feel akin to all the other reviewers who have read this as if we're in a special club.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Human Rituals in Godless World
18 Jan 2000
By Andrew Karbovsky
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This small splendid book is full of ideas. Which is the main one? What is this novel about? A Bildungsroman. An import of human sexuality. An up-to-date evolution of Nietzsche's concept of "the death of God". A fate of art in modern society. A trip through time - the fifties, sixties, seventies... Confronted with soullessness of official religion Inni Wintrop, a protagonist of the book, Arnold and Philip Taads, two other main characters of the novel, lost their belief in God, but in cold emptiness and animosity of godless world they created their own rituals. Arnold Taads designed a ritual of strict time regulations of loneliness where even his former lover was not permitted to come in when she had appeared ten minutes before appointed time. Philip Taads turned to Japanese cults "stemmed from a culture and a tradition that were not his and could never become his". He devised his own East considering the real Japan a spoiled one. They both started with dislike to the milieu which inevitably turned into hatred pointed towards the whole world including themselves. This self-made rituals helped them only in one occasion - to commit suicides in conspicuous but rather stagy style. For Inni Wintrop women became his religion. In incessant love-making he lost something very important that makes Love. His sexual promiscuous rituals destroyed his marriage and put him on the verge of death in unsuccessful suicide. The tragic fate of Arnold and Philip Taads, his own meaningless life showed Inni fallaciousness of universal hatred but he still had no answers to the crucial questions of human existence in godless world. I recommend this book to everyone - the beautiful and sad novel of wise Dutch author Cees Nooteboom.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable on all levels
2 Feb 2003
By Victor Eijkhout
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book gives you something to chew on on every level. The prose is good, (the English translation can not capture some of the idiosyncrasies of Dutch, but is very good overall) right from its opening sentence "The day Inni Wintrop committed suicide, Philips shares stood ..." All of the characters in the book are memorable and wonderfully sketched. (As an introverted person, I'm always amused by the walk through the woods scene. Taats asks Inni a question which spurs a two-page train of thought, but he answers only in a mono-syllable.) And it goes up to the structure of the book: the first of the 3 parts is called "Intermezzo". Plenty of ideas here.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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