Julie Cafmeyer and Stefaan Temmerman portray an avid reader among his books. This week: actress Tine Embrechts (48) in Antwerp.
‘Your entire history comes together in a library. I have to laugh when I look at books like Nombres para tu bebé, because it reminds me of when I was still pregnant with my now grown-up children and still married to my Mexican husband. You can’t throw away a book like that, can you? I find it difficult to throw away books. You know that you will never read many books again, but every book still relates to a period in your life. Bee Tirza by Arnon Grunberg, I remember perfectly when I read it and how I felt. Sometimes someone wrote something in a book for me. I also point out many passages. All this makes it almost impossible to part with my books.
“I’m a big fan of Haruki Murakami. One of my favorite books is South of the borderand currently I’m reading Norwegian Wood again. Another reason I can’t part with my books: I can’t remember anything. I can read a book over and over again endlessly. The lovers by Javier Marias is also a book that I have read two or three times. It’s about saying goodbye, about letting go of someone you love incredibly much. I read it not long after my divorce, and it gave me a lot of support and insights about letting go. Sometimes you have felt for a long time that something is not flowing, but you still hold on to an ideal image. The book taught me to accept that you do not always have control over life. Even though everything you thought was going to happen is gone, you can find the strength to accept the change. That gave me hope.
“My husband (Laurent Bailleul, aka Guga Baúl, ed.) mainly reads non-fiction. He can delve deeply into a book about the mechanisms of the human brain. I have two children from my previous marriage, and also two children with Laurent. When we started our family, he bought books about newly blended families. Very sweet, but I still think: are you going to find the answers about life there? The deep insights for me come when I identify with characters in fiction. I like to lose myself in other stories, that’s also why I act. Laurent is an imitator, he wants to become something, be able to do something. I like how everyone deals with that quest differently. What do you need to nourish yourself?
“I have four children, so I sometimes find it difficult to find time to read. There is always something to do here at home. That’s why I love poetry. Then I stroll past my bookcase and take a moment The love poems by Leonard Nolens open. I also like Remco Campert. I met him during a tour with Behoud de Begeerte, he has a special place in my heart. In The satin heart he wrote for me: ‘To a life lived with dignity during Saint Amour 2008 in the Netherlands in which a laugh or a tear was never far away. The one who will always remember you, Remco.’ So you see, opening a book opens a life.”
