The Undutchables: An Observation Of The Netherlands: Its Culture And Its Inhabitants (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Despite my pretty recent edition a lot of the information the authors offer is either outdated or simply not true. Yes, The Undutchables has its amusing tidbits, but overall this bible for expats disappointed me. When pondering about the cause, it dawned on me that The Undutchables comes across as really cool and hilarious, but in reality is outrageously old-fashioned. This may have to do with the fact that the authors are elderly people. At least that's the impression I was given. They were VERY opinionated in the book and their opinions often struck me as terribly conservative and, again, old-fashioned (Just checked out author Laurie Boucke and noticed that once upon a time she wrote several books on potty training your infant). I wish they would've offered their readers the good stuff and let them form their own opinions.Worse though, they are quite political too. They even reminded me of Rick Santorum stating that elderly Dutch people wear bracelets with the message "no euthanasia please". And also that half of all euthanasia cases in the Netherlands are forced. Which is 10 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands (False, no such bracelets exist, and every euthanasia case must start with a request from the patient. Neither the family nor the doctor can initiate the procedure, which has very clear and strict rules). The authors play a similar trick. They ridicule (which can be fun), but also seemingly detest the procedures of the Dutch when it comes to euthanasia. I quote - and I will translate this back since I read the Dutch translation - "Dutch doctors do not only help terminal patients with dying, they 'help' children and babies as well, and even those who do not suffer from anything except from life itself." To say that this is an oversimplified claim doesn't even cover it. Another example of Dutch doctor bashing: according to the authors they are known to diagnose patients over the telephone without having seen them. They write out prescription medicines without asking about a patient's medical history or possible allergies. Wow, I must have been one lucky gal for having been invited to consults all these years! And finally, using "doei" (as opposed to "dag", which translates to "bye") apparently shows that you are not an educated person and overall pretty vulgar. Although I use this word on a daily basis and am guilty of throwing in a double doei ("doei doei!") as well, I'm not easily offended (they got that part about the Dutch right :p). However, I must mention - ik laat me de kaas gewoon niet van mn brood eten! - that it's pretty safe to wholeheartedly yell "doei!" when you visit The Netherlands. You will probably be considered cute. And guess what, I've heard CEO's using this vulgar greeting as well... In the end, I would still recommend people visiting the Netherlands to browse through The Undutchables for a laugh and some - one-sided - inside information on the Dutch. But please take it with a huge grain of salt!
This book contains some good information for those interested in learning about life in the Netherlands. The book is prone to hyperbole ("it is not unknown for the weak-hearted to go into cardiac arrest at the sound of a ringing phone"), though otherwise accurate, based on my experience with Dutch people and living in their country. I was reading an old version from the mid-1990s.The angry, sarcastic tone combined with the continual awkward alliteration, poor puns, pointless substitutions of English words for Dutch terms (like "toadstool" for "toestel") and the insistence on referring to the Dutch as "cloggies" made this book almost unreadable. I kept wondering why the authors were so irritated and affronted by Dutch characteristics. A better approach would have been to simply point out the things that the Dutch do differently, preserving a sense of what newcomers might find interesting as well as useful for fitting in to Dutch society, along the lines of the Culture Shock series. The poor editing was appalling, with seemingly random parts of paragraphs being set off as if they were important summaries, frequent use of all-caps in regular text, homophone mix-ups (such as using "yolk" for "yoke"), and prioritizing wan attempts to be cute or clever over clarity. I doubt this edition ever saw the work of a professional copy-editor.
What do You think about The Undutchables: An Observation Of The Netherlands: Its Culture And Its Inhabitants (2005)?
I was a bit disappointed by this book actually. I bought it because I have lived in the Netherlands for 2 years (although I was only 13), and thought it might bring back some memories of the culture.Unfortunately I didn't relate to most of it. It wasn't really my type of humour, and the book seems to be targeted at people who are middle class and live fairly conservative lives. Many of the topics are only relevant to adult culture of a fairly recent time, which I didn't notice much of at the age of 13 (20 years ago).
—Elisa
Many years ago I was visiting the Netherlands again. I would soon see a Dutch flatmate from university days. But first I went into some bookstore and picked up this book I'd seen on shelves before. The first thing the book warned me not to do is read the book without paying for it first. So I bought a coffee at their cafe first, then sat down to read the book anyway, almost howling with laughter at what was inside. The first warning about my browsing, followed by two more warnings about how to deal with Dutch people, proved to be so fitting that they perfectly matched every single reaction from the young bookstore employee when I returned my coffee cup. Maybe she was so angry because she'd seen the title of the book I'd been laughing at, but as I told her, I think it was really because I'd read part of the book without buying it first.Normally I'd be the last person to recommend a stereotype-ridden satire written by a blow through Yank or two, but to quote a bumper sticker which an old British cobbler mentioned to me, after I'd been repeating a list of pronouncements delivered to me by my now old Dutch friend, "You can always tell a Dutchman, but you can't tell him much."
—Travelin
Good book - definitely made me laugh out loud on several occasions - but I agree with the other reviewers who point out that it's very Amsterdam-centric. I've lived in the southern part of the NL for 2.5 years and am glad I didn't read this any earlier in my experience as an expat. The negativity would have had me on the next flight home! If you're considering it, give yourself a bit to get settled in and get to know the country before picking up the book. That way, you'll be able to enjoy the humor and leave what really doesn't apply to you.
—Christa Cordova
