During the German occupation of Holland,tobacconist Henri Osewoudt finds himself drawn into the resistance when he is visited by the ruthless Dorbeck,who also happens to look remarkably like him. Soon Osewoudt is carrying out dangerous missions,helping British agents and killing collaborators with aplomb. But after the war,he is taken for a collaborator himself. How can he prove that he was on the right side - and how much of what he remembers is realThe Darkroom of Damocles is a razor-sharp thriller set in a world where everything is permitted,even murder. As unsettling and morally challenging today as when it was first written.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Pushkin PressISBN: 9781782276241Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A sparse,haunted,relentless novel,brilliantly achieved,skirting the edges of unreality but always coming back,written in the ageless style of a true modernistOne of the best novels about the Second World WarI immerse myself in the book,intimidated at first by its length,astonished afterwards to find I have read it at a single sitting... The suspense never falters. The events (which takes place during the war and in the year that followed) are described in a style that is terse and exact,detailed but fast-paced; the events are horrifyingly real and yet at the very limit of the credible.Striking,suspenseful...BrilliantThe action is thrilling,the detail grounded and real,the prose (and the exceptional translation) deceptively simple and fluidHermans is one of the most important European authors of the second half of the twentieth centuryPraise for An Untouched HouseProfoundly unsettling and haunt(s) the mind for long afterwardsI 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 translationA 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 everShocking... properly unsettling... It would certainly be good to have a lot more of Hermans's work available hereI was overwhelmedBy any light,this eloquent marvel teases,bewilders and unnervesTaut... dark,thrillerish story,ably translated by David Colmer,carries the pungent tang of authenticityUnderratedBleak,hilarious,angry,ruthless and plain. (Hermans is) as alarming as a snake in the breadbin. He's also hugely entertaining'A stark,funny and graphic exploration of the folly of war... Bravo Pushkin Press for seeking out yet another international gemShort but powerful novella... I was filled with admiration for its unflinching depiction of what happens when war numbs the human heart and destroys empathyDisturbing,haunting,and brilliant... an excellent antidote to misty eyed nostalgia for blitz or Dunkirk spiritNot for the faint-heartedAn expertly crafted story... A small novel that packs a strong,hard punchCrackling 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 CamusThe Dutch have hailed him as their greatest novelist,and now,slowly,Europe is getting to know himA dark wartime vision that evokes Koestler,Orwell,and Vonnegut.A violent climax without equal in modern literatureAs disturbing and powerful as anything by Joseph Heller or Kurt VonnegutA literary tour de forceNot only would Dutch literature be considerably less without Hermans; so would European literature
Kommentar