I'm writing this in English because I'm English, but I started the book in Dutch. I found it too tough so ordered the English version, which given the English abilities of the Dutch I recommend. This is a brilliantly subtle novel mixing classic 20th century british writing with the best writing of 20th century european novels, whilst feeling very modern. It reads like Graham Green, Camus, Alex Garland amongst others. It is essentially a moral novel about our inability to escape who we are. Jim cannot help but remain a man who must help people in need, however he soon realises even this is subject to the strength of his desires. It asks the question: what makes us who we are: our morals or our passions? I do think some of this subtlety is lost in the dutch tranlation (or that might be just because of my bad dutch), but if you want a novel that surprises, questions, and rewards, I recommend either language version.