Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet).
One of my more recent hyperfixations is the buckriders folklore & history in the Netherlands. For those not in the know, in the 1700s there were a lot of ongoing trials against these "gangs" called the buckriders (bokkenrijders in Dutch).
There was a lot of hysteria surrounding them, leading to mass witch hunts where these Buckriders were taken captive, tortured and, in almost all cases, executed. There was also all kinds of more supernatural elements (supposely) that surrounded these buckriders. For example, they (supposedly) all had to take a satanic oath before becoming a part of a gang, and they'd ride flying billy goats through the night skies as they robbed churches and the rich.
A lot of it is probably exaggerated or not even true at all, but we do know this one thing: many people did suffer and ended up being killed during the buckrider trials.
Naus wrote a book based on this buckrider history, so let's have a look! Spoilers ahead.
Divided up into two timelines, we follow two main characters: Peter, a sixteenyearold in the 1700s down on his luck who ends up joining the buckriders, and Anna Beckers, a 21st-censtury Buckriders expert. In Peter's timeline, we learn how things went down back when, and how the persecution against anyone (rightfully or wrongfully) deemed a buckrider only got worse and worse. Anna, meanwhile, is recruited by a cop to look into various mysterious cases of what seem to be a modern resurgence of the buckrider gangs.
I was surprised with how much I liked this book. Don't get me wrong, I didn't intend to hate it, but usually when I read Dutch books I just really struggle with getting into them. Somehow the English language just reads "smoother" for me, like it costs less effort somehow. That's not to discredit any Dutch authors, it's just a personal preference.
But I surprisingly got into this book pretty much instantly. The two timelines, hundreds of years apart, also didn't bother me at all, while I definitely didn't expect it to be split up like that.
That aside, I just really liked the elements in this book. If I do have to pick a favorite of the two stories we follow here, it'd have to be Peter's, because it's more historical and was heavily based on real events. His chapters in the book qualify as historical fiction, but a lot of the characters we meet in his sections were actually real historical people/buckriders in the 1700s.
Anna Beckers' chapters were also great and I was definitely intrigued into her story as well, but it just didn't peek my interest as much as Peter's chapters did.
The characters were great. They're pretty flawed but I did really end up liking them. Even Ziggy, who I didn't expect to like, really grew on me. My favorites are probably Peter and his best friend, though.
Another element I really appreciated about the historical sections is how much attention to accuracy and detail was given. I'm by no means a buckrider expert, but I recently have taken to reading non-fiction books about the trials, and from what I can tell there's quite a lot of attention to detail and getting things right. There's a clear timeframe for when Peter's chapters take place, during the third buckrider trials (1771-1776). Like said before, real-life people surrounding the Buckriders era are referenced, but not just that. Real-life events and the process in which the trials were held are also portrayed quite well.
Heck, even the more out-there concepts such as flying goats, satanic oaths and Hand of Glory are addressed. In this case, it tends to be a bit more realistic. This book does not involve flying ungulates, but Peter and his buckrider pals are forced into taking the satanic oath and they do light a candle in the Hand during their robberies.
Overall I really enjoyed the hell out of this book and I really appreciate how accurately (from what I can tell, at least) Naus portrayed the historical segments. My only very, very minor criticism for the book is that the ending is a bit quick and unceremonious.
One of our main characters dies, Peter escapes before he can be executed and we then get a quick conclusion before everything is just completely done, a bit too fast if you ask me. But it's still really strong!
Rating: 4.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment