Because Hendrik finds walking more and more difficult, he invests in a mobility scooter. This gives him great pleasure and a sense of freedom he had forgotten. I really must make a point of asking my geriatrician next time if there’s anything that can be done about the leaky part or if I’ll just have to resign myself to wearing diapers. Not so long ago I used to think that was when one lost one’s last shred of dignity, but I realize that I have now lowered the bar a bit. The frog in the cooking pot, that’s me.” What a change this was from my usual genres, but I'm so glad I read it, it was a pleasure and an honour to share Hendrik's life, if only for a year! Edward Schermer who doesn't say much and is hard to understand because of his stroke, but when he does speak you know it'll be worth it.

Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old review: a nome de The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old review: a nome

Hendrik believes that time is no longer on his side as he has begun losing perspective and is more forgetful overall. Given that he has developed a tendency to bumble, he starts keeping his diary once again so that he can reread anything he forgets.

The man lives in a nursing care home in Amsterdam and tells a blow-by-blow account of the lives of the many eccentric characters living at the home. He also documents the many stupid rules that they are forced to follow in his diary. This is a wonderful heartrending, uplifting and hilarious read. It is obviously a take on Adrian Mole but featuring an elderly curmudgeon, Hendrik Groen. It is set in a north Amsterdam nursing care home which is going to experience a whistleblowing day to day account of the lives of an eccentric bunch of residents and the rules they are subjected to, documented in the diary. Hendrik is grumpy, cynical, politically incorrect, full of life, funny and a rebel with a cause. He has two friends, Evert and the assistant to the Administrator, Anja. The book does a stellar job in challenging the stereotypes and the invisibility of the elderly.

Hendrik Groen - Wikipedia Hendrik Groen - Wikipedia

What a wonderful old curmudgeon. Hendrik Groen is in a nursing home - he lives in the assisted living section. He decided to keep a journal for one year. He started his journal on January 1, 2013 when he was 83 years old. Seeing the world through his eyes - and the perspective of his closest friends - The Old But Not Dead Club - was a very humorous undertaking. From his mortification of his "dribbling" and leaving yellow stains in his white underpants, to the suggestion that people go to the "shit clinic" and quit bothering him with their whining about their daily constipation or diarrhea stories while he is trying to take afternoon tea and cake. Hendrik is the Grampa that everyone wishes they had. Everybody wants to live forever, said Jonathan Swift, but nobody wants to grow old. The satirist’s opinion might have been reinforced had he lived to read Hendrik Groen’s account of a year spent in an Amsterdam nursing home, a book that became an instant phenomenon when published in the Netherlands a couple of years ago. Hendrik Groen is spending his final years in a care home in Amsterdam – he still doesn’t like the elderly; complaining, whinging lot – and he’s 83 ¼ himself. His best friend is the mischievous troublemaker Evert – between the two of them the fish in the aquarium are destined to live a short life; the stuffy boss of the home is determined to discover the culprits but Evert and Hendrik think themselves safe.This book enables you to enter the very often closed world of life for 80 plus year olds in residential care homes. Although this book is set in Amsterdam, the attitudes, issues and problems are worldwide.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old - Goodreads The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old - Goodreads

Before long, he is searching for love and in his quest, he starts sprucing himself up. With the spark of rebellion already lit, the group of elderly residents supports each other through tragedies, declining health, and all manner of difficulties. As part of her plan of action to combat the dementia, Grietje has composed, with my help, two new notes she is to carry with her at all times: ‘What to do if I get lost’ and ‘What to do if I don’t remember exactly who someone is.’ Both notes start with: ‘Please forgive me, but I’m a bit forgetful.’ As he got to know more people and make some particularly special friends (who formed the Old But Not Dead Club - a truly inspired idea), he became involved in their lives and so did I. They consume a lot of wine and whisky and enjoy life. He is happily surprised. At the heart of the story lies a sweet and unsentimental relationship between Hendrik and Eefje, an elderly widow who takes up residence on his floor after a previous occupant has died. Eefje is a sparkling presence, as insubordinate as her new friend. Although the relationship remains platonic, a wonderful bond of mutual support and companionship develops between them. Determined not to be a whinger, he forms the Old But Not Dead Club with a few like-minded souls. Together they escape the confines of the home to take trips to cookery classes, Pixar movies and golf clubs, expeditions that ensure the resentment and anger of others who are not allowed to join their exclusive society.Hendrik Groen, pseudonym of Peter de Smet, is a Dutch writer. He is the author of the book Pogingen iets van het leven te maken: Het geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 83¼ jaar ( The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old) published in 2014. That book was awarded in 2016 with the Audience Award for the Dutch Book. The sequel Zolang er leven is: het tweede geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 85 jaar ( On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen) appeared in 2016. Pored niza duhovitih primedbi, anegdota i zabavnih komentara, ovo je knjiga o svim užasima starenja i društvenoj nevidljivosti ljudi u gerontološkim centrima. Uvek mi je zanimljivo kad čitam u popularnim časopisima o 'tabuima u kulturi' i uvek nekako izostave da pomenu da smo postali kultura koja se baš užasava starih ljudi i juri da ih skloni što dalje. Holandija ima zakon o eutanaziji i njemu je dat ogroman prostor u Hrunovom dnevniku, i premda se pominje usputno i ovlaš, jasno je da je to centralna etička dilema mnogih stanovnika staračkog doma, a i njihovih porodica i lekara. Among them are the kind hearted and thoughtful, Eefje Brand, who recently moved into a room Mrs De Gans "vacated" and to whom he strikes up a sweet, close and heart warming friendship. His cheeky and mischievous friend Evert Duiker, who lives independently around the corner in sheltered accommodation with his dog Mo who farts a lot. Whenever Everts grout plays up Walter visits and takes his dog for a walk, helps him out with things or just enjoys an afternoon chat and "a glass of something or other" - usually wine, gin, brandy or whisky.