Translators Note

It was a privilege to work with Cor on presenting his story to an English-reading audience. Indeed, given that Cor exposed so much of himself in this very personal book, which also serves as an important part of his recovery process, I am honored that he trusted me with the responsibility of accurately conveying his message in another language.

When I read the book for the first time, I found myself absorbed in three interwoven yet distinct accounts. First and perhaps most obviously, this is a story about an airplane disaster, the crash of a Dutch DC-10 at the airport of Faro, Portugal. Given the ubiquitous role of airplane travel in today’s world, this story in and of itself is of interest to many. Second, the book contains the account of one person’s struggle to deal with the aftermath of surviving an airplane crash. The challenges Cor faced in this struggle took many forms, relating to health care, insurance, legal cases, financial concerns, employment, interactions with government bureaucracies, and more. Third, the book uses the story of Cor’s personal experience to present a broader analysis of the systems and institutions that are intended to assist individuals in need of support after a catastrophe. To me, the underlying theme of this story is that modern society and its underpinning institutions are poorly prepared to deal with complicated situations that persist over the long term. If a situation is too complex and lasts too long, the institutions in question increasingly seem to insist that the individual needs to just get over it and move on.

Among the most astonishing things for me in this book was that my norms and expectations regarding heroism changed over the course of the narrative. Many of Cor’s encounters with individuals, organizations, and institutions were confrontations with indifference, disinterest, and ineptitude. As a result, I found myself inordinately impressed, even moved, when once in a rare while someone voluntarily follows up with a phone call, independently seeks out clarification something, or takes constructive initiative on Cor’s behalf. In one case, a doctor telephones Cor and apologizes for having to re-schedule an appointment at the last minute. This should not be striking; after all, such a phone call is little more than common courtesy. But in this book, heroism does not involve extraordinary acts, but instead consists of what should be part of normal, conscientious, civil human interaction. Such interaction, particularly when dealing with large institutions, turns out to be such a rarity that ordinary acts become extraordinary and common courtesy becomes heroic.

The three levels at which I read the book, and the implicit message regarding heroism in modern society, contributed to my conviction that an American audience will welcome having The crisis after the disaster available in English. Yet there are also a number of differences between the United States and the Netherlands that may make an American’s efforts to appreciate Cor’s story more difficult. On one hand, the Netherlands has a reputation for a generous system of government support for its citizens with respect to health care, unemployment benefits, and the like. For this reason, Americans may have trouble fully understanding the challenges and frustrations Cor faced in these arenas, since in the United States an individual would probably receive far less support from the government. One point to consider in this regard is that Cor’s experience reveals strong contradictions between the reputation of the Netherlands and the difficulties involved in obtaining the support he needed. A second point is that although government support may be more limited in the United States, in the event of a disaster individuals have access to a system of litigation that can make up for that by exacting adequate damage compensation from responsible parties. In the Netherlands the possibilities for litigation and the attainable damage settlements are much more limited than in the United States.

More importantly, I am convinced that the universal themes addressed in The crisis after the disaster easily outweigh the obstacles posed by cultural and national idiosyncrasies. I believe that virtually everyone has faced frustrating experiences with government bureaucracy, almost everyone has suffered arduous disputes with insurance companies, many have had unpleasant encounters with health care institutions, and more than a few have endured harrowing legal processes. Thus, most readers will be able to relate to Cor’s story in several ways. However, very few of us can imagine what it must be like to encounter all these challenges, almost daily for as many as ten years on end, while being physically, psychologically, and emotionally ill-equipped to deal with them.

For me, translating The crisis after the disaster also has been an emotional process. Although I knew the story, one reads and reflects in a very different way when doing so for the purpose of translation. The distance between me as a reader and the narrative, already small since the story is told by a close relative, became even smaller. Furthermore, having known Cor and Yvonne for years as world travelers for both work and recreation, working on this translation brought home to me even more strongly the impact the crash has had on their lives, as they can no longer travel by air. They tried air travel a few times after the crash, but ultimately decided this was no longer a possibility for them after suffering greatly on these trips. The fact that one of those trips was to attend my wedding, for which they endured a long trip from Europe to the west coast of North America, leaves me deeply touched and eternally grateful.

On another personal note, I travel many tens of thousands of miles by air every year, mostly for work and also to visit friends and family. Flying is a way of life; I find myself on planes at least once a week on average. It is not possible to do this with the same frame of mind after reading The crisis after the disaster. Indeed, given the amount of time I spend on planes, I necessarily did a fair amount of this translation at 33,000 feet. Strange for me, and at times perhaps a bit alarming for passengers seated next to me.

Finally, I should note that I am not a professional translator. I asked Cor to let me do this translation because I am deeply impressed by the courage and determination he exhibited by writing the book; the effort reflects a commitment to do everything and anything possible to further his own recovery process, and to learn lessons from the disaster that can be applied for others in the future. Although I am a native Dutch speaker, I live and work in the United States and spend my professional life writing in English for a variety of different kinds of publications. Therefore, this project was also a welcome way for me to engage in my own language, something I feel I do not get sufficient opportunity to do. In addition, working on this translation also brought to light many fascinating cultural differences between where I come from and where I now live. Thus, Cor, in addition to teaching me about himself, also allowed me to learn more about myself. Again, in so many ways, I am grateful.

Eduard Niesten
Cambridge, Massachusetts
March, 2004