Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, who with The evening is inconvenience being the first Dutchman to win the Man Booker International Prize, he was “mainly raised” by the computer game The Sims. “It may sound like an exaggeration, but I learned so much from that game,” said the author in a Friday interview with de Volkskrant.
In the computer game, the player has to provide a miniature human. “It has to eat when it is hungry, sleep when it is tired and meet people, otherwise the friendship will deteriorate.”
Those were all things the author did not learn in real life. “My parents were so absorbed by the grief for my brother that I was not really seen”, says 29-year-old Rijneveld, whose oldest brother died in a collision at the age of twelve.
“Now it must have been difficult to educate myself. I was very different from my brothers and sister, very dreamy”, the author continues. “I still find it difficult to deal with reality.”
For example, friendships “do not come naturally”. “Often I actually prefer to be alone. I was three when my brother died. If the mother can no longer really be present, a child will look for other ways to feel safe. I mainly lived in my fantasy. That may be the case. not been healthy, but it has brought me as a writer to where I am today. “
The game still plays an important role in Rijneveld’s life. “If I dread something or if I’m afraid, I still go The Sims play. In this way I look for the safety it used to bring me. “
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