{"id":136847,"date":"2022-02-28T17:15:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T16:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=136847"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:09","slug":"would-you-just-leave-your-lost-love-standing-there-this-got-han-bleichrodt-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/02\/28\/would-you-just-leave-your-lost-love-standing-there-this-got-han-bleichrodt-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Would you just leave your lost love standing there? This got Han Bleichrodt thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine you think the love of your life died during the war. You search everywhere in vain but in the end decide to start a family with a new partner. Years pass by and suddenly your former love is standing in front of you on the street. What do you do then? Behavioural economist Han Bleichrodt researches the choices people make. The situation in the book The Narrow Road to the Deep North<\/em><\/a> really got him thinking.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt grabbed me by the throat when I read it,\u201d stated Han Bleichrodt about The Narrow Road to the Deep North.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cThe Narrow Road to the Deep North<\/em> is based on a true story,\u201d explained Han Bleichrodt via a video link from Alicante. A Lithuanian lost his wife in a prison camp during the war. He travelled throughout Europe searching for her before giving up and eventually moving to Australia, where he built a new life with a new partner. But then suddenly, ten years later, he saw his wife, the love of his life, standing on Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. The question then is: do you throw everything away for her? The Lithuanian chose for his new life, and Dorrigo Evans, the book\u2019s main character, also walked on. \u201cIt grabbed me by the throat when I read it,\u201d stated Han Bleichrodt. \u201cI thought he\u2019d choose his former wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my research I often see the consensus effect: we expect people to be like us, but we differ more from each other than we think. That\u2019s what\u2019s great about reading books.\u201d It broadens your view of how people behave. \u201cIn The Narrow Road to the Deep North<\/em> I was really rather upset that Dorrigo Evans didn\u2019t choose for love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018It grabbed me by the throat when I read it\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

A dead end<\/h2>