Dutch war novelist dies
Source: Agencies |
November 1, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HARRY Mulisch, who turned his experiences as the son of a Jewish mother and a Nazi collaborator into some of the Netherlands' most renowned works of fiction, has died at his home in Amsterdam.
Mulisch was 83 and suffering from cancer.
Mulisch, who died late on Saturday, was known outside Holland for his novels "The Discovery of Heaven" and "The Assault," which were made into films. "The Assault" won the best foreign picture Oscar in 1986.
Many of his works portrayed people in wartime, reflecting his own teenage years during World War II. He famously remarked, "I didn't so much experience the war. I am the war."
De Aanslag - "The Assault" - is one of the best-known works of Dutch literature about the war. Its centers on a young man whose family was killed by the Germans in retaliation for the murder of a collaborator they hadn't actually killed. Later in life the man tries to sort out who, exactly, was guilty of what.
Mulisch often mentioned expectations of receiving the Nobel Prize for literature, which many critics thought was possible.
His writing had complicated plots and was sprinkled with arcane subjects such as alchemy. He often used quotations in other languages without translations.
"I don't care about readers. A novel is not communication with the public, but with the novel, and so with myself," he said in a 2001 interview.
Yet his prose, especially in his later career, was renowned for its clarity and directness.
Mulisch was 83 and suffering from cancer.
Mulisch, who died late on Saturday, was known outside Holland for his novels "The Discovery of Heaven" and "The Assault," which were made into films. "The Assault" won the best foreign picture Oscar in 1986.
Many of his works portrayed people in wartime, reflecting his own teenage years during World War II. He famously remarked, "I didn't so much experience the war. I am the war."
De Aanslag - "The Assault" - is one of the best-known works of Dutch literature about the war. Its centers on a young man whose family was killed by the Germans in retaliation for the murder of a collaborator they hadn't actually killed. Later in life the man tries to sort out who, exactly, was guilty of what.
Mulisch often mentioned expectations of receiving the Nobel Prize for literature, which many critics thought was possible.
His writing had complicated plots and was sprinkled with arcane subjects such as alchemy. He often used quotations in other languages without translations.
"I don't care about readers. A novel is not communication with the public, but with the novel, and so with myself," he said in a 2001 interview.
Yet his prose, especially in his later career, was renowned for its clarity and directness.
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