Description

“A joy to read” Times Literary Supplement

“[A] stirring and accessible history of the mighty Rhine” Irish Times

“It’s easy to be swept away by Deen’s delightful prose” New Statesman

“A beautiful book, by turns poetic, witty and full of learning ” PATRICK McGUINNESS

The Boundless River takes the reader into a unique world – the twilight zone between fact and fiction, science and imagination – and on a journey which moves effortlessly from a time in prehistory, long before the existence of a European continent, to the present day. Along the way Deen encounters paleontologists, geologists, museum curators, taxidermists, fishermen and skippers who work the boats, who still see the Rhine as a living entity.

From the mighty hippos that swam in its waters millions of years ago, to the weary salmon that saw their habitat slowly change and the aurochs that grazed its shores; from the primordial Steinheim Woman to the Roman general Corbulo who commanded settlements along its delta, to a young Goethe: in all of their stories the Rhine is ever present, sometimes as the main character, sometimes as an extra, as a theatre of war, a border between nations, a bathing spot, a killer, a vital transport route.

Beautifully fluid, rich and captivating, The Boundless River shows how the Rhine connects and divides, terrifies, comforts, carries and swallows, and has done since the beginning of time.

Translated from the Dutch by Jane Hedley-Prole and Jonathan Reeder

Publisher Review

Affectionate and eccentric . . . The Boundless River is as intimate a portrait of a river as you’ll find without getting wet * Financial Times * [A] stirring and accessible history of the mighty Rhine. Deen soon learns to think of the Rhine, and of all rivers, in rather different, more expansive – and considerably less human-governed – terms: and in this learning lies the strength and electricity in his book * Irish Times * It’s easy to be swept away by Deen’s delightful prose . . . In his conclusion, Deen notes that geology makes him feel “small and arbitrary” and “surprised by my surroundings”. It’s to his credit that The Boundless River has a similar effect on the reader * New Statesman * Deen has an impressive historical knowledge that enables him to travel effortlessly through the centuries. * De Volkskrant * An extraordinary capacity for empathy, a sound style, conscientious research and a flair for succinct details. Each story is a sketch of a life, of a society, of a zeitgeist. * De Morgen * Like Geert Mak, he knows how to bring history to life, thanks to his compelling style and his poetic imagination. * De Volkskrant * Deen is an exceptional prose stylist * Het Parool * Fluidly translated by Jane Headley-Prole and Jonathan Reeder, Mathijs Deen’s prose is much like the river it describes: boldly genre-crossing, it gushes and cascades. The Boundless River is a joy to read, not least because it renders geological time so palpable . . . An ever-shifting reminder of ancient time, the author’s Rhine puts us humans firmly in our temporal place * Times Literary Supplement *