Atman!
Atman goes to get a loaf of bread for himself and his dad, but he gets lost on the way back. Before he knows it, he’s been kidnapped by a female pirate captain who won’t be trifled with, is catapulted into a forest where a shadow threatens him, survives a storm on the pirate ship after ending up in the sea and eventually – with the help of a girl in the city – finds his way home. There his dad is waiting for him, holding the cat.
‘Atman!’ is first-rate, as we’ve come to expect from Bart Moeyaert: sharp, clever and highly relevant.****1/2Knack
Bart Moeyaert wrote ‘Atman!’ as a libretto for the Dutch National Opera, and it shows: the sentences flow and the rhythm is unmistakable. Mark Janssen goes to town with paint and coloured pencil, bringing the colourful pirates, fish, birds and forests to life. Atman is a plaything of circumstances, bravely trying to bear up – or are those circumstances a product of his imagination after all? However that may be, Moeyaert and Janssen light-heartedly address sensitive subjects like uprootedness, loneliness and homesickness. ‘Atman!’ is a brilliant book that begs to be read aloud.
A layered, poetic, philosophical text about the security every human being needs. ... A story about loss, longing and homesickness that despite all those intense emotions is surprisingly light on its feetDe Standaard
The sentences are poetic and short, hermetic, but sparkling and packed with linguistic delight. The enchanting illustrations by Mark Janssen are wonderfully in keeping.Trouw
