Arnold Jansen op de Haar

Like most young soldiers, Tijmen Kleide Gildekamp wants to be a hero, and relishes the opportunity to partake in a real war as a peacekeeper. So, when Tijmen and his men are given a mission in Bosnia, they are all over the moon. However, Tijmen soon realises that war isn't quite as he had imagined it, and finds himself questioning whether or not he wishes to continue as a soldier, or if he'd rather follow his other lifelong dream...

I enjoyed this novel. The author, Arnold Jansen op de Haar, was in fact a Dutch army captain who secured Tuzla airbase for the UN in Bosnia during the conflict, so he has firsthand experience of this war and has decided to stick to what he knows, which has served him well. The style of the novel is different to what I am used to, and there were some things I really loved, such as the diary extracts towards the end, and finishing the novel with a poem. In terms of language quality, as a translation there are some things in the text that need to be considered in context, as anyone accustomed to reading translations will have come across. However, in general I'd certainly recommend this novel.… (mehr)