For more than 30 years Jan Wolkers was seen as one of the three major Dutch writers. He was mainly active as a novelist, but over the past 15 years until his death a number of his diaries were published.

In 1971 he wrote Groeten van Rottumerplaat which first appeared in a magazine, and was later published in book form. Wolkers had a very macho style and in some ways resembled Hemingway. This is particularly the case with this small book. For the purpose of writing a diary, Wolkers was dropped on the uninhabited island called Rottemerplaat. Instead of hanging in and reading a few books, Wolkers presents himself as a restless wanderer, crossing the islet on foot and recueing and caring for a young seal pup and a bird. Without proper tools and the right type of supplies, caring for the animals is presented as a fight for survival in the style of Robinson Crusoe. Entirely as in his novels and other fiction, the descriptions are very plastic, with a lot of detail about shit and slime, tears and despair.

The Wadden Islands, also known as the (West) Frisian Islands stretch from the peninsula of North Holland, north-east along the Dutch, German and Danish coast. The Dutch Wadden islands consist of five larger, inhabited islands, three small, uninhabited islands and some sand banks. ( )

Klein maar heel fijn, dit dagboek van een week op Rottumerplaat. Prachtig geschreven, af en toe echt Wolkers, zo plastisch en smerig. Maar toch prettig om te lezen door het bijzondere taalgebruik. Opvallend is dat Wolkers al in de jaren zeventig zoveel oog heeft voor het milieu. Heel mooi hoe hij het pootje van een scholekster spalkt, die dan ook een sooort hoofdrol heeft in het boek. ( )