We had a bumper gathering of 9 members to discuss the book. Hendrick Groen is the pseudonym of Pietr De Smet, until we met most of us hadn’t realised that this might not be a real diary or that the author was half the age of his literary alter ego.
We felt that the book gives a perspective of old age that could benefit many, old and young alike. It would be a useful book to have read when we were younger but we wondered how many younger people would actually read it. The book is well observed, pointing out the absurdities of life and how life changes with age. It made us chuckle rather than laugh out loud and has some very poignant moments
None of the group felt we would read any other books by this author.
We gave the book a marking of 5.7 out of 10.