Rudy Kousbroek and the Art of Memory

Kousbroek is the author of an oeuvre of mesmerising richness and diversity, ranging from poetry and language, photography, the archaeology of motorcars, travel, literature, children, cats and other animals, through memory, emotions and the study of the human mind, to critical scrutiny of the Dutch colonial past and the modern history of Indonesia and Japan. But whatever the subject matter, Kousbroek's essays are ultimatly dedicated to the art of memory. They are the work of a rationalist who explores this domain while in full possession of his intellectual powers, and who knows only too well that memory is deeply fraught with emotion, desire and imagination. (with two translated extracts by Rudy Kousbroek)