In the latest edition of the book ‘The Low Sky: Understanding the Dutch’, Han van der Horst provides an instruction manual for anyone interested in trying to understand the Dutch .
like why three kisses instead of two, as well as more serious social and cultural issues. The book provides a critical look at contemporary Dutch society and offers insights into the complexity of Dutch conventions.
If you’re curious about the Dutch, (and presumably you are, if you’ve chosen to situate part of your life here at TU Delft) Han van der Horst’s The Low Sky is a revealing, critical look at the reasons behind certain peculiarities of Dutch culture. The first edition was published in 1995, but this latest edition, updated in November 2006, is highly charged with an awareness of the increasing “concern and unrest at the heart of Dutch society.” It is an incredibly relevant interpretation of what unseen influences are fueling the “radical changes” of contemporary society.
But readers beware: this is no picture book of windmills and tulip fields. Van der Horst is blunt in a way that may seem typically Dutch; the only difference is that this time the bluntness is used to clarify, precisely, why the Dutch are so…Dutch. For those of us coming from other countries, this book is almost a magic key into the secret world of underlying belief systems and values that stem from sources as oblique as the Calvinist history of the Netherlands, and the German occupation during WWII.
Van der Horst subtitles his book ‘Understanding the Dutch: the Book that Makes the Netherlands Familiar‘. While this may not be completely true, the book certainly does make the culture more accessible. A certain danger for the reader, however, lies in the fact that Van der Horst can’t help but employ generalities. ‘The Dutch do this because of that’ seems logical at first, but of course any nation of 16.5 million citizens is unlikely to be so uniform.
The author seems to focus on explanations of clichés, and while this is helpful in creating an impression, readers should be careful not to take the author’s words as a universally-applicable caricature of the Dutch mind.
So clichés are dangerous, but with that disclaimer in mind, this book is very helpful in looking deeper at the reasons behind the behavior of the Nederlanders. And this is what makes the book so interesting: Van der Horst stays away from observations (after all, we can see for ourselves), and instead researches the ‘why?’
The book is separated into chapters that focus on different aspects of the Dutch society as a whole. Van der Horst divides these into ‘Egalitarian, Utilitarian, Organized, Trade-oriented and Privacy-minded’. Within each of these chapters the author examines both the culture as a single entity, and how this applies to the individual within the community.
The last chapter, which is entitled, questioningly, ‘A Land That is Ticking Like a Time Bomb?’ holds the crux of the subtext that foreigners may find most interesting. Van der Horst traces the increase of attention to integration and immigration from the moment planes struck the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, to the present day situation in which all buitenlanders now find themselves.
Dutch people as well will find this book interesting, even if only as a reminder of how foreigners perceive them. And while they may be surprised by several of the more undesirable characteristics the author reveals, foreigners and natives alike will undoubtedly read this book with a nodding head and the occasional snort of laughter.
Van der Horst succeeds in combining a succinct history of the Netherlands with a brutally honest look at contemporary Dutch culture. The book is highly critical when it should be, but there is also a certain pride that seeps through the pages. Perhaps the best summary can be found at the end of the book in the quoted rap lyrics of Lange Frans and Baas B:
“I come from the land of red-white-blue and the golden lion/ which looted the world and called it the ‘Golden Age’/ I come from the land of weed plantations and cycling marathons/ the land where you can ask a junkie for a bike/ the land that was European champion in 1988/ the land of herring, dykes, and canals/ I come from the land with the most cultures per square meter/ but where people are afraid to have dinner with their neighbors/ This is my land.”
You can order the book online at www.amazon.com, www.scriptum.nl or www.hollandbooks.nl for about € 27. The Low Sky by Han van der Horst. 6th revised edition published November 2006 by Scriptum Publishers / Nuffic. ISBN 978-905594-405-7
If you’re curious about the Dutch, (and presumably you are, if you’ve chosen to situate part of your life here at TU Delft) Han van der Horst’s The Low Sky is a revealing, critical look at the reasons behind certain peculiarities of Dutch culture. The first edition was published in 1995, but this latest edition, updated in November 2006, is highly charged with an awareness of the increasing “concern and unrest at the heart of Dutch society.” It is an incredibly relevant interpretation of what unseen influences are fueling the “radical changes” of contemporary society.
But readers beware: this is no picture book of windmills and tulip fields. Van der Horst is blunt in a way that may seem typically Dutch; the only difference is that this time the bluntness is used to clarify, precisely, why the Dutch are so…Dutch. For those of us coming from other countries, this book is almost a magic key into the secret world of underlying belief systems and values that stem from sources as oblique as the Calvinist history of the Netherlands, and the German occupation during WWII.
Van der Horst subtitles his book ‘Understanding the Dutch: the Book that Makes the Netherlands Familiar‘. While this may not be completely true, the book certainly does make the culture more accessible. A certain danger for the reader, however, lies in the fact that Van der Horst can’t help but employ generalities. ‘The Dutch do this because of that’ seems logical at first, but of course any nation of 16.5 million citizens is unlikely to be so uniform.
The author seems to focus on explanations of clichés, and while this is helpful in creating an impression, readers should be careful not to take the author’s words as a universally-applicable caricature of the Dutch mind.
So clichés are dangerous, but with that disclaimer in mind, this book is very helpful in looking deeper at the reasons behind the behavior of the Nederlanders. And this is what makes the book so interesting: Van der Horst stays away from observations (after all, we can see for ourselves), and instead researches the ‘why?’
The book is separated into chapters that focus on different aspects of the Dutch society as a whole. Van der Horst divides these into ‘Egalitarian, Utilitarian, Organized, Trade-oriented and Privacy-minded’. Within each of these chapters the author examines both the culture as a single entity, and how this applies to the individual within the community.
The last chapter, which is entitled, questioningly, ‘A Land That is Ticking Like a Time Bomb?’ holds the crux of the subtext that foreigners may find most interesting. Van der Horst traces the increase of attention to integration and immigration from the moment planes struck the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, to the present day situation in which all buitenlanders now find themselves.
Dutch people as well will find this book interesting, even if only as a reminder of how foreigners perceive them. And while they may be surprised by several of the more undesirable characteristics the author reveals, foreigners and natives alike will undoubtedly read this book with a nodding head and the occasional snort of laughter.
Van der Horst succeeds in combining a succinct history of the Netherlands with a brutally honest look at contemporary Dutch culture. The book is highly critical when it should be, but there is also a certain pride that seeps through the pages. Perhaps the best summary can be found at the end of the book in the quoted rap lyrics of Lange Frans and Baas B:
“I come from the land of red-white-blue and the golden lion/ which looted the world and called it the ‘Golden Age’/ I come from the land of weed plantations and cycling marathons/ the land where you can ask a junkie for a bike/ the land that was European champion in 1988/ the land of herring, dykes, and canals/ I come from the land with the most cultures per square meter/ but where people are afraid to have dinner with their neighbors/ This is my land.”
You can order the book online at www.amazon.com, www.scriptum.nl or www.hollandbooks.nl for about € 27. The Low Sky by Han van der Horst. 6th revised edition published November 2006 by Scriptum Publishers / Nuffic. ISBN 978-905594-405-7
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