Author(s): Cees Nooteboom

Philosophy | Tim's picks

I had been looking for someone to write to for a long time, but how does a man write letters to a god? From his Mediterranean garden on the island of Menorca, Cees Nooteboom writes to the trident-wielding deity, Poseidon, initiating a dialogue not only with the past, as Alberto Manguel observes in his Preface, but with an entire world that seemed lost for ever. Offering a seductive interweaving of keen observation and the fruits of a vast knowledge, Nooteboom explores questions of human existence through the minutiae of the living world around him, and marvels at the secrets of the deep. He recalls figures in history, places he has travelled to, objets trouves, works of art and literature, and takes a fresh look at the ancient myths. At once playful and poignant, beautiful and bizarre, Nooteboom's Letters to Poseidon are couched in the glittering prose of one of Europe's outstanding stylists.