I could be there in Dutch of 1664
345325
Chevalier, the author, wrote a novel with a vivid imagination and based on facts. As a foreign reader, I could read the book without difficulty, which means she wrote it in everyday language. Of course it does not mean the style is rather light. While reading, I felt as if I were in Dutch of 1600s. She describled the artistic world of the painter Vermeer in a simple, but vivid language, along with the relations between a maid--Criet and the painter, then rich patron, and people around her. It is a romantic novel as well as a novel of the artistic world of the painter Vermeer.
If you want to read books simply out of the emptiness in your mind, I recommend this book. Read it and feel it.
1289331
I am using this in conjunction with http://memrise.com and http://duolingo.com and the match is nice and it provides a more detailed explanation and more practice in using Dutch.
1784501
I felt like I lived with the people during World War II on this island . I should like to go back.
2022567
My family came to America in 1650 to the New Amsterdam, Dutch American Colony, now New York City. Our family records and letters show our family fighting in this War and how some became POWs and were in prison in Quebec, Canada.  This video brings to life what many of my ancestors lived through.  Sad that the Native Americans lost all, no matter what side they were on!  Good product and service.
2650924
I was born and raised in The Netherlands (1957 - 1983) and lived in New Jersey thereafter, so for me, this was an interesting read.  All in all, I enjoyed the historic facts and extensive research that went into writing this book.  Although I respect the privacy of the family, I would have appreciated a more detailed ending and an update to what's happening today.
164210
I dread being so old that most of what I am trying to do slips from my mind before I can get anywhere. Being in a different place is part of a series of moments in 2014 that makes a dollar collapse on July 1, 2014 maybe a minor concern when I don't have a passport to go anywhere that won't be taking my money in the future. Timequake was in storage for me for years. In June 2014 it is something I want to read again for laughs because the more I recognize what I remember when I read, the better history is treating me. The deep feelings I identify with entertainment speech genres are still showing up in this book.
138901
As my husbands family was on the 1620 Mayflower and his son came later and married into another of the families, I was looking for the family listings showing births and marriages which I view on line.
866399
Brings me back to the Holy Land I visited 4 years ago. Thank you
4375088
I was born into a Dutch family but came to America when I was three. While my native tongue is Dutch, it's been decades since I spoke it with any regularity. I found this CD set of 10 lessons the perfect way to retune my ear to the pronunciation of basic words and phrases. Also, since I had never received any formal training in the language, I came away with a better understanding of meaning and use of many words.

Most of the time I listened to each lesson twice, once in each direction on my commute. I felt it was time very well spent. I'm ready to move on to more lessons.
4602393
Excellent book of my grandparents and father and "The Dutch 20" who came from Holland to the Canadian Prairie to start a new life. I couldn't put this book down! So many of the stories my Father, Cornelius Rientjes told me. So interesting and fun to relive their journey through this book.
4872081
I love knowing about my ancestors. If I found a small detail like that letter, I would have done the same thing and gone to Ireland. I was able to place myself in the story and loved it. I would read a follow up on the characters.
73361
I bought, Searching For Ichabod at the Concord Merchantile, an 1890's general store in the village of Springville (Ichabod's "Willink") . Its a memoir of the genealogical efforts of Julie Foster Van Camp, and as I read it I became immersed in the spirit of colonial America. Like so many engaged in genealogy, the author spends endless hours tracking down a particular ancestors life journey. Drawn into the quest by her g-g-g-grandfathers faithful diary notations at the turn of the 18th century, she tracks his journey from Rhode Island to his final resting place in the little town of Willink in Western New York. It's a great story, well told, and an inspiration for anyone who is serious about geneology.
1254677
I really enjoyed this book - a step back in time in Amsterdam. I enjoyed the scenery, learning about the hardships of every day life back then and the characters. The plot was interesting and full of twists. Great book!
4787805
This book is very easy to read, almost like a novel, yet, it contains highly detailed description of events that take place in 1602-1673.

Book contains several maps, graphs, and charts to visually aid the reader.

The major themes of the book are:

- The West India Company

- Territorial Commitment Establishment, 1623-1628

- Anglo-Dutch Rivalry and Abandonment of the Company Monopoly

- The People of New Netherland

- New Netherland and the Amsterdam Merchants

- Triumphs and Tragedies: New Netherland's Last Years.

This is an excellent source of information for someone who wants to learn more about Dutch colonization of North America in the seventeenth century.
2405445
While I knew about this period in English history, the novel gave me a sense of what it might be like to live during the time period.
2977958
I love this period of history and lived in the Holy Land for nearly 3 years.  This music puts me there.

James
1552640
What a time the first years of the seventeenth century were for Netherlandish still life painting! The first vanitas still lifes were painted by Jacques de Gheyn (1565-1629), the first flower still lifes by Ambrosius Bosschaert (1573-1621) and  as we now learn from the catalogue Slow food of an exhibition held in the spring of 2017 in the Mauritshuis, the first food still lifes by Osias Beert (1580-1624) and Clara Peeters (1585/90-after 1657). All of them were born in Antwerp in the not too distant past, the city where it was all happening in the sixteenth century. De Gheyn and Bosschaert moved north to the new Republic of the United Provinces, where they inspired emulation by a younger generation of artists, primarily in Haarlem and Delft. Younger painters who stayed in Antwerp picked up the specialty and practiced it well into later decades of the seventeenth century. The frontier between the two Netherlands meant nothing to these artists.

The painters of independent meal still lifes of course knew the work of predecessors in the Netherlands who painted foodstuffs of sometimes unbelievable profusion, variety and evocativeness in combination with portraits, history paintings or genre scenes. They may also have been aware of work by German masters of the sixteenth century. And it was not long before French, Italian and Spanish painters chimed in with their own fabulous contributions.

The Mauritshuis thankfully took it upon itself to devote a small, tasty exhibition to the Netherlandish meal still life  the term is theirs. The catalogue is the new standard source for paintings of this kind. The predecessors of the seventeenth century specialists are discussed insightfully by Zoran Kwak, the development of the genre by Quentin Buvelot, the mutual north-south influences by Fred Meijer, and the motifs in the paintings  table appointments as well as edibles  are surveyed by Anne Lenders and Yvonne Bleyerveld. Their essays are followed by 22 extensive entries on the paintings in the show, by all the main practitioners. The catalogue is richly illustrated with works not in the show, details both small and bleeding off the page, making it a feast for the eyes.

Meal still lifes are more than a feast for the eyes, though. With or without the conscious acquiescence of the viewer, his or her instinct to touch and taste, even to smell, are activated by these paintings. The multiplicity of the senses is particularly evident in a painting of 1611 by Clara Peeters: Still life with flowers and delicacies. In addition to food and drink there is also a vase with flowers and four blooms on the table that the catalogue calls nothing short of brilliant. Clara Peeters adds to the interest of her still lifes by including reflections of her own image on glass and metal vessels. This kind of self-consciousness will have been furthered by her being the first woman in the field. She was the subject of an exhibition of her own at the Rockox House Museum in Antwerp in 2016.

The essays and entries are well written, with nice evocative touches calling attention to details you might have missed. The translations from the Dutch in this English edition are by the outstanding translator Diane Webb. Her name in the credits is a guarantee for excellence.

There is a rare slip in the entry on Nicolaes Gillis, Still life with cheeses and fruit, 1612, in a private collection. A large piece of semi-matured cheese lies atop an older sheeps cheese, which owes its green colour to parsley or horseradish juice. Great information, but the greenish cheese is on top of the larger yellow cheese, not under it. In this way the catalogue rewards slow reading as well as slow food.