Profoundly unsettling and haunt[s] the mind for long afterwards

Sunday Times, Books of the Year

I was struck by the compressed farce and horror in the 1951 Dutch novella An Untouched House by Willem Frederik Hermans, in David Colmer's new translation

Spectator, Books of the Year

A shocking Dutch classic... remarkable... It takes an hour or two to read, but An Untouched House is the kind of book that stays with you for ever

Guardian

Se alle

Shocking... properly unsettling... It would certainly be good to have a lot more of Hermans's work available here

Sunday Times

I was overwhelmed

- Sam Jordison, Guardian, Choose your Book of 2018

By any light, this eloquent marvel teases, bewilders and unnerves

Times Literary Supplement

Taut... dark, thrillerish story, ably translated by David Colmer, carries the pungent tang of authenticity

New Statesman

Underrated

- Ian McEwan, TLS

Bleak, hilarious, angry, ruthless and plain. [Hermans is] as alarming as a snake in the breadbin. He's also hugely entertaining

Scotsman

'A stark, funny and graphic exploration of the folly of war... Bravo Pushkin Press for seeking out yet another international gem

A Life in Books (blog)

Short but powerful novella... I was filled with admiration for its unflinching depiction of what happens when war numbs the human heart and destroys empathy

The Book Jotter (blog)

Disturbing, haunting, and brilliant... an excellent antidote to misty eyed nostalgia for blitz or Dunkirk spirit

Desperate Reader (blog)

Not for the faint-hearted

Lizzy's Literary Life (blog)

An expertly crafted story... A small novel that packs a strong, hard punch

Complete Review

Crackling with uneasy tension... A beautiful new edition of a powerful and timeless slim Dutch masterpiece, written in spare and crisp style that brings to mind Camus

The Lady

The Dutch have hailed him as their greatest novelist, and now, slowly, Europe is getting to know him

- Milan Kundera, Le Monde

A dark wartime vision that evokes Koestler, Orwell, and Vonnegut.

Kirkus

A violent climax without equal in modern literature

- Cees Nooteboom,

As disturbing and powerful as anything by Joseph Heller or Kurt Vonnegut

- Michel Faber, Guardian

A literary tour de force

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Not only would Dutch literature be considerably less without Hermans; so would European literature

Suddeutsche Zeitung

A partisan fighting with the Red Army in Germany comes across a grand, abandoned house, seemingly untouched by the devastation sweeping the country. Exhausted, he falls asleep in the living room, but wakes to find a German patrol marching up the garden path. His only hope is to pose as the house's owner, but how will he keep up the pretence when the real owner returns? Dazzling, dark and scorchingly violent, with the breakneck pace of a thriller, this timeless classic is a vivid depiction of what happens when the mask of decency is cast aside in the savagery of war.
Les mer
A brooding meditation on violence by a classic post-war Dutch writer who has drawn comparisons to Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut.

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781782274445
Publisert
2018-07-05
Utgiver
Vendor
Pushkin Press
Høyde
198 mm
Bredde
129 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
96

Om bidragsyterne

Willem Frederik Hermans (1921-1995) was one of the most prolific and versatile Dutch authors of the twentieth century. In 1977 he received the Dutch Literature Prize - the most prestigious literary prize in the Netherlands. He is considered one of the three most important authors in the Netherlands in the postwar period, along with Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve.