The next one on the list to be reviewed is on I remember buying years ago. Back in 2002 actually.... this is one of the ones that I brought back from on of my holiday trips back to Holland. I bought it when I went to a shipyard in Holland where they had built a replica of one of the ships that were used by the VOC to sail to the colonies. It was fun to wander around the ship and to try to imagine what living like that for months might be like. I am not a big fan of ships and/or boats at the best of times but this story has put my right off 'm!
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The Company, The Story of a Murderer - Arabella Edge
When I was a few pages into this one I was not quite sure if I was going to get on with it. I did not really manage to have any kind of sympathy for the main character. He seemed a pompous, silly, weirdo who thought himself the centre of the universe. When I then found out he liked to hurt living things, animal and people alike, I definitely had my doubts about getting to the end of this one in one piece. However, I did get to the end of it and it was an amazing ride!
The book tells us the tale of the apothecary Jeronimus Cornelisz who has to kind of get himself scarce as he seems to have a talent for following the wrong leaders. He has been involved with some guy who seems as pompous as he is and has learnt a few poisoning tricks on the way there. there is lust, sex, weird rituals and lots of other stuff that does not sit well with the good citizens of Amsterdam and Jeronimus is forced to try a make a new life for himself and the colonies seem the best place to do it.
So, off he goes on a ship on his way to a place where he will be appreciated for what he is. So far, so relatively normal. Accept that he gets involved in a mutiny which then goes south and when a hurricane hits they all end up stranded on an island somewhere halfway to the colonies. Although Jeronimus is not the first one to set a foot on land he certainly is the one who ends up having the most influence on what happens on the island. He manipulates those around him in a splendid way to give himself all the luxuries that he wants and to make life better for those who are like minded to him. He, of course handpicks these people as not just anybody is ready to experience life as he sees it.
Once Jeronimus has figured out who he is deserving and who is not he sets about getting rid of those he does not want. The idea is brilliantly cunning and ruthless. He convinces some of the people that there is water and food on some of the other islands too and he gets one group marooned at one and a second group at another. That frees up a lot of rations for those left behind on the main island. However, Jeronimus is not done until he gets a wife and he sets about doing this in a brutal fashion. unfortunately the object of his affections is fairly capable of resisting him and it takes some time for him to achieve his goal. He has to force her to like him in the end. He does not even break her himself but gets one of his followers to do the dirty work for him. You see, apart form everything else, Jeronimus is a coward too.
Jeronimus is one of the most brutal characters I have ever met in a book. He is mad as a hatter, thinks he has the divine right to decided what is right for everybody else and he is heartless, calculating and inhuman almost. Yet, however much I loathed the character I had to keep reading. I had to see if he would get his comeuppance and that is the strength of the book. Even though you really do not like Jeronimus you want to see him get his just deserts. He does in the end. He gets cocky and thinks he has everyone on their knees and fooled when in the end the joke is on him. Everyone turns against him and he is hanged by his fellow islanders.
The book is actually based on a true story but is has been embellished here and there.... and probably everywhere as well. Nevertheless it is a really interesting look into what might happen to people who get stranded. How people act when there is nobody watching and when they are left to their own devices. Strong characters may become weak and the weak may become more powerful that they can imagine. It is a tale of mankind and what he may be capable of when put in an extraordinary situation.
The story is harsh, brutal and not very pleasant reading at times but it was really good!
Title: The Company, the Story of a Murderer
Author: Arabella Edge
369 pages
Simon & Schuster
ISBN# 0-7432-1342-4
Books to be read: 151
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