Two new books by Cees Nooteboom have appeared: Berlijn 1989-2009 , a new and substantially expanded edition of his book about the fall of the Berlin Wall and Het raadsel van het licht, a personal voyage of discovery through the visual arts. Nooteboom has often written about Berlin. In this new edition, which features writing including Berlijnse notities (1991) and Terugkeer naar Berlijn (1997), along with a number of pieces that have not previously been anthologised, Nooteboom presents an overview of his experiences in this city in recent decades. Berlijn 1989-2009 has been published in German by Suhrkamp, in a translation by Helga van Beuningen and Rosemarie Still.

The second publication, Het raadsel van het licht, is a compilation of Nooteboom’s observations and articles about art. The author takes the reader on a tour of his favourite paintings and museums. Het raadsel van het licht is a literary travel guide, a journey through art history and a voyage of discovery into its secrets.

De Standaard der Letteren has said about this book: ‘Het raadsel van het licht is full of interesting facts and refreshing insights, but approaches art primarily through the emotions. Nooteboom does not present himself as an omniscient expert, but as a curious art-lover, who, like so many other modern tourists, visits the big museums, monuments and works of art and attempts to understand what it is about them that attracts him and what they say to him. His book is an honest account of a lifetime’s experience of art and the pleasure it has given him.’