Bright Side

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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'. Book 2 in the Hendrik Groen Secret Diary series, and this octogenarian doesn't let age deter him from keeping his diary up to date - and making plans for the future, not to mention having great fun along the way.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography

A lot has changed for Hendrik in those 2 years. He still tells a good tale but this is not a comfortable and cosy read. The first book was quite bright and happy but this book although realistic is a shade depressing. Hendrik is clearly not enjoying his old age as much in 2015 as he did in 2013.Living in the Netherlands myself, I see how elderly people are treated here; as if they have no right to live anymore, as if they have nothing left to share, no value. Every day, there is some 'news' in the papers about the horrible influence of there living so many old people people in this country. I don’t read many celebrity memoirs, but it only takes a few to recognize patterns. Please see if my observations match your own experiences. I’ll use Eric Idle’s recent book to drive the points home. From international bestselling author KIM HOLDEN comes an inspiring, life-changing story about the power of love in all its forms, having the courage to live life to the fullest, and always looking on the bright side. I liked how things were put into perspective by how Hendrik swapped his daily entries from pressing global and international issues to the very parochial trivia that consumed the residents of his care home. The joviality of the first book was still there in places but the overall take I got from this book was of a sadness brought about by coping with declining health, death of residents and a negative outlook on old age. The optimism of the first book has gone and I felt like the residents were just hanging around waiting to die. The first, and only truly difficult step, is to become famous. I’m not talking about the clichéd 15 minutes of fame here. That may be good for couch time on Good Morning America, but not a full length book. I think the bar for celebrity renown probably needs to be set high enough to appear on Saturday Night Live. Short of that, sales would be meager. Note that I’m excluding politicians and other infamous figures in this analysis since their memoirs are of a different sort. Of course, Eric Idle is a pretty recognizable name, at least among those old enough to know Monty Python. And he did host SNL several times.

Bright Side by Kim Holden - AbeBooks Bright Side by Kim Holden - AbeBooks

Der rüstige Rentner Hendrik Groen erzählte in seinem ersten Tagebuch „Eierlikörtage“ von seinem Dasein als Rentner in einem Amsterdamer Altersheim, seinen Freunden, und wie er gemeinsam mit ihnen den Alt-aber-nicht-tot-Club (Alanito) gründete. Hendrik und Co. sind nun etwas älter geworden, strahlen aber noch immer jede Menge Lebensfreude aus und so schildert Hendrik in „Tanztee“ die neusten Ereignisse und Veränderungen aus seinem Rentneralltag, erzählt von den Unternehmungen des Alanito Clubs und lässt ganz nebenbei seine Sicht auf die Welt einfließen. When I was given the opportunity to read this sequel to The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old I hurried to read the first book before I embarked on the second. Wondering now whether the second would work as a stand-alone I am inclined to think it would but a great deal of the poignancy of Hendrik’s story would suffer. When On the Bright Side opens, one of his friends has died and one is suffering from dementia and has been moved to a different part of the home. His friendships with both continue to be very important to him and that doesn’t quite come across in the sequel. Nor do the experiences he has already shared with the other members of the Old But Not Dead club. Read the first one first is my advice. I will start by saying that I am not the biggest fan of biographies - of any kind. Yes there are numerous ones out there and no doubt covering off some of heroes and other fascinating people but at some point or other I feel they descend in to name dropping narcissistic demonstration of why they are famous and you are not. So, to say that there is some repetition in plot points from the first book would be a fair criticism. But it would also be fair to point out that you don’t really notice until the end of the book, and then you don’t really care. Readers of the first book will be relieved to hear that a second book means the sweet and funny Hendrik is still around.As one Goodreads reviewer says, "She wasn't writing about Covid, but the timing's perfect." This theme was echoed in a cover endorsement from Plum Johnson -- author of my favourite books of 2015, "They Left Us Everything" (reviewed here) -- who called it "the perfect antidote to a tough year." Und obwohl mir mein Vater das wunderbare Lebensmotto »Nicht ärgern, nur wundern« mitgegeben hat, kann ich einfach nicht aus meiner Haut und ärgere mich dumm und dämlich." (Seite 367) On the Brightside is the 2nd book in the Hendrik Groen Series. I have read the first one and I enjoyed it immensely, so I was looking forward to reading this one. Hendrik is now 85 years old set in 2015 and it tells of the life in a Care home in Amsterdam, and as a founding member of the Old-but-Not-Dead-Club. It tells of the outings they go on and also the fine dining restaurants and the relationships he has with the other members of the club and the other people in the Care home. They still try and have fun and live life to the fullest the best way they can. But Hendrik finds out that his best mate Evert has Cancer, an another of the residents has dementia. Not only that, they think that home future is unstable and maybe one day close.

On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen

Basically, it's everything you could want from a celebrity tell all, and yet LOVELY. I can only think of one story that is unflattering to anyone (*cough*Deeprak Chopra is a prat*cough*). Instead Idle writes with love, with kindness, with admiration, and above all with humor, about the people and events that have shaped his life. He freely admits to his own mistakes, he brushes aside his own jealousies and frustrations in favor of telling the story that will make the reader smile, laugh, and even tear up. (I have never cared one way or the other about George Harrison, but I was ugly crying at the gym over his tribute to him.) Reading this wonderful book made me laugh and cry at the same time, and strangely enough gave me somewhat more hope for the (near) future... After all, I'm not much younger than Hendrik. I encountered the song before I saw the movie. My first year in high school we had a headmaster who always started the assemblies with a piece of classical music. One day the seventh form decided to sabotage him and swapped out his chosen piece of pompous boredom for "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". My enduring memory of this occasion is the majority of the other teachers trying not to laugh out loud. Few succeeded. Eric’s kind heart is obvious, as shown through his endearing friendships with George Harrison and Robin Williams, not to mention all the Pythons. He’s had a rich life full of love and good friends. Laughter really does bring people together. I’d love to hang out with him sometime. I’ll even supply the booze. On The Bright Side is the second instalment of The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, written by Dutch Care Facility resident, Hendrik Groen, alias Dutch librarian, Peter de Smet. Hendrik is now eighty-five and, after a year’s hiatus due to grief over the passing of his good friend, Eefje Brand, he has once again decided to note down the year’s events, starting in January 2015.

As soon as I read a review of "The Bright Side" by Canadian journalist Cathrin Bradbury, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy.