What do you think?
Rate this book
Lien se lankstaanskoene
Lien verkyk haar aan die posters teen die mure. 'n Wit koepel en potblou lug en 'n nog blouer see op 'n Griekse eiland. Ou geboue in Jerusalem in die sonsondergang. 'n Straatkafee in Parys met die Eiffeltoring op die agtergrond. Om weg te kom, is moontlik. Dié vreemde plekke het name. 'n Mens kan daaraan vat. Sy kry hoendervleis.
Vir Lien Jooste het haar matriekjaar onverwags in 'n nagmerrie ontaard. Dinge by die huis kan nooit weer dieselfde wees nadat alles oornag uitmekaar geval het nie. Om weg te kom, lyk vir haar na die enigste uitweg. Weg van die huis, weg van die aaklige skool waarin sy onverwags beland het, en veral weg van haar ma. Maar om weg te kom, kos geld. Geld wat sy nie het nie ...
Lien se lankstaanskoene is die aangrypende verhaal van 'n matriekmeisie wat te midde van 'n familiekrisis leer dat 'n mens meestal slegs twee keuses het: óf jy sink, óf jy swem. (rugteks)
Vir Lien Jooste het haar matriekjaar onverwags in 'n nagmerrie ontaard. Dinge by die huis kan nooit weer dieselfde wees nadat alles oornag uitmekaar geval het nie. Om weg te kom, lyk vir haar na die enigste uitweg. Weg van die huis, weg van die aaklige skool waarin sy onverwags beland het, en veral weg van haar ma. Maar om weg te kom, kos geld. Geld wat sy nie het nie ...
Lien se lankstaanskoene is die aangrypende verhaal van 'n matriekmeisie wat te midde van 'n familiekrisis leer dat 'n mens meestal slegs twee keuses het: óf jy sink, óf jy swem. (rugteks)
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2010
43 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 25, 2022
On behalf of matrics everywhere : it’s a “NEE” from me.
WHY IS IT that every Afrikaans setwork is not only PREDICTABLE but also so incredibly BAD.
*Spoilers ahead. But you want to read this.
From the first chapter it’s evident lien has the most DEPRESSING life. And it just seems to get WORSE.
And WORSE .
Where do I start?
Maybe with her alcoholic mother?
Fraudulent father? (Wie was in die tronk.)
Or maybe her brother, Braam—
who is just kinda … there.
Pretty pathetic actually.
Now - let’s start with some issues I have with this story- and let me assure you - there are baie:
Instead of starting a GoFundMe or asking the compassionate “Tannie Bets” for a Loan… Lien decides to become… a beggar . Now I know what you thinking— she has suffered enough. How could this get any worse.
WELL.
She meets her little beggar friends. And her one beggar friend gets run over. By a truck.
Ah ok ok
- you must be thinking.
How could this get any worse?
He loses his legs.
Both of them.
Sigh.
Then there is the obvious love interest because in a story of alcoholism, imprisoned fathers, begging children — GD FORBID THE FEMALE CHARACTER ENDS UP ….. SINGLE!!!
*visibly shudders*
Then. The ending .
WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING—
I felt like I had wasted all of my time.
But then again, Respectfully- I already felt like that one chapter into the story.
But I persevered - but by the end I just felt
CHEATED .
Let me get this STRAIGHT.
Lien’s father is the main catalyst for all the fuckery that she endures.
He is the trigger for her mother’s alcoholism- and throughout the book she has made a conscious effort to let the reader know how much she HATES him and will never forgive him.
Wanna guess what happens?
Oh yes.
You already know.
She forgives him.
AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER .
BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY DID. OF COURSE ALL THAT SUFFERING AND NEED TO WSCAPE AND SUPPOSED “INNER KONFLIK” that the past papers LOVE to ask about — allll goes out the window because - she takes one good look at her father and forgives him!
Sigh.
Totsiens.
WHY IS IT that every Afrikaans setwork is not only PREDICTABLE but also so incredibly BAD.
*Spoilers ahead. But you want to read this.
From the first chapter it’s evident lien has the most DEPRESSING life. And it just seems to get WORSE.
And WORSE .
Where do I start?
Maybe with her alcoholic mother?
Fraudulent father? (Wie was in die tronk.)
Or maybe her brother, Braam—
who is just kinda … there.
Pretty pathetic actually.
Now - let’s start with some issues I have with this story- and let me assure you - there are baie:
Instead of starting a GoFundMe or asking the compassionate “Tannie Bets” for a Loan… Lien decides to become… a beggar . Now I know what you thinking— she has suffered enough. How could this get any worse.
WELL.
She meets her little beggar friends. And her one beggar friend gets run over. By a truck.
Ah ok ok
- you must be thinking.
How could this get any worse?
He loses his legs.
Both of them.
Sigh.
Then there is the obvious love interest because in a story of alcoholism, imprisoned fathers, begging children — GD FORBID THE FEMALE CHARACTER ENDS UP ….. SINGLE!!!
*visibly shudders*
Then. The ending .
WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING—
I felt like I had wasted all of my time.
But then again, Respectfully- I already felt like that one chapter into the story.
But I persevered - but by the end I just felt
CHEATED .
Let me get this STRAIGHT.
Lien’s father is the main catalyst for all the fuckery that she endures.
He is the trigger for her mother’s alcoholism- and throughout the book she has made a conscious effort to let the reader know how much she HATES him and will never forgive him.
Wanna guess what happens?
Oh yes.
You already know.
She forgives him.
AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER .
BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY DID. OF COURSE ALL THAT SUFFERING AND NEED TO WSCAPE AND SUPPOSED “INNER KONFLIK” that the past papers LOVE to ask about — allll goes out the window because - she takes one good look at her father and forgives him!
Sigh.
Totsiens.
February 18, 2018
Ek verstaan nou hoekom die boek so bekend geword het. Daar is hartseer en vreugde, die harde lewe van die armes en die sagter (?) lewe van die gegoedes, daar is subtiliteit en humor. En bowenal is daar hoop.
December 18, 2016
a Well written, sad but hopeful story. Liked it.
July 28, 2025
i would have run her over
November 21, 2024
Ja, nee.
Totsiens, Matriek. Totsiens Lien <3
Totsiens, Matriek. Totsiens Lien <3
December 3, 2022
Ek het n paar jaar gelede die rolprent gekyk en dit was aangrypend. Ek het die jaar die boek gekry in n klein verlate tweedehandse boekwinkeltjie en besluit dit kan nie skade doen om die boek te lees nie. Dit het nie. Inteendeel, die boek het soveel meer impak gehad as wat die rolprent ooit kon bemeester. Net soos in die rolprent vertel die skrywer van ‘n meisiekind wat teen wil en dank nie net oorleef nie, maar vir haar broer en ma sorg. Dit is en sal altyd een van daai boeke bly wat jy sal saamdra tot in der ewigheid toe.
Die boekiie, nie baie lywig nie, is n vinnige en genotvolle lees. Dit vloei maklik en die woordgebruik is maklik verstaanbaar vir enige persoon. Oud en jonk. Hierdie boek is nie eksklusief vir jong mense nie, so die ouer van dae kan met n geruste hart hierdie een lees en geniet.
Die karakters in die boek is doodgewone jan allerman. Hulle doen presies wat ons almal sou doen, sou ons in daai situasie vasgevang word. As jy al daar was, dan sal jy presies weet waar Lien se astrantheid vandaan kom.
DIe skrywer, Derick van der Walt, is ongelukkig oorlede, maar dis n persoon wie se hand ek graag sou wou skud. Al is dit net om te se wel gedaan. Die boek het inderdaad n verskil gemaak. Gaan lees meer oor die skrywer en oor sy ander publikasies op die skakel hier onder.
https://storiewerf.co.za/2019/07/11/d...
September 12, 2023
Obviously only read it because of school but i was kinda getting into it ngl but the ending just completely ruined it, not because something outrages happened but because simply because nothing happened. The ending was just weak and makes all the struggle of Lien feel worthless.... Was one of the better prescribed afrikaans books but the rushed ending just ruined it.
August 20, 2025
The plot was dragging and most of the time I had no idea what the book was actually about. It was kinda boring for me and honestly, I would've never read the book if ot wasn't part of our syllabus but I can appreciate the growth Lien goes through and I'm glad she ended up with Hein. (I'm being generous though. There's barely anything I like about this book.)
November 14, 2022
3.75 stars
Read
December 30, 2024a school read (duh) so i have no real idea when i started or ended it but i need to get my number of books read this year up bec the slump was near permanent eish
June 6, 2025
read this for school purposes and it was boring and unnecessary long
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews