Beyond Sleep
by
by
Gezellig om thuis te blijven
Beyond Sleep is a novel of the Dutchman Abroad, a genre not without charm but perhaps an acquired taste. Its moral is typical of the genre: Gezellig om thuis te blijven, It's probably best not to leave the front garden. It was written in 1966 but remained untranslated into English for forty years. This delay makes it even more of a period piece, expressing some of the most important self-criticisms of Dutch society of the time at an effective and safe distance.
Beyond Sleep was written at an important juncture in Dutch history - less than a generation after collaboration with the Nazis as well as the brutal suppression of the Indonesian independence movement; and during a period of growing unrest about immigration from another soon-to-be former colony, the South American country of Suriname. National guilt and a residual Calvinistic moral sensitivity had reached a high point. Simultaneously a growing nationalism and racism were threatening the live-and-let-live equilibrium of a traditionally highly diverse society. What better literary way to relieve some of the tension while addressing the situation than to place a story in an even smaller country than The Netherlands, namely Norway at a third its population, and to play Dutch conditions against a nationalism and racism of the East Norwegians with regard to the West Norwegians (a standard Dutch joke) as well as the Lapps of the North? The implication is clear: Holland is not at all a bad place to be despite contemporary problems.
Unfortunately, the running in-jokes about Dutch provincialism, practical ineptitude, and lack of worldly wisdom are unlikely to be recognised as such by those unfamiliar with Dutch culture. They are probably too dated even for the Dutch, especially the younger generations. Not that Hermans isn't a competent writer, he is first rate, as is Ina Rilke's translation. Nevertheless, unless the alternating dry and slapstick wit of The Netherlands of mid-twentieth century are your nieuwe haring, you may not want to invest the time.
Beyond Sleep is a novel of the Dutchman Abroad, a genre not without charm but perhaps an acquired taste. Its moral is typical of the genre: Gezellig om thuis te blijven, It's probably best not to leave the front garden. It was written in 1966 but remained untranslated into English for forty years. This delay makes it even more of a period piece, expressing some of the most important self-criticisms of Dutch society of the time at an effective and safe distance.
Beyond Sleep was written at an important juncture in Dutch history - less than a generation after collaboration with the Nazis as well as the brutal suppression of the Indonesian independence movement; and during a period of growing unrest about immigration from another soon-to-be former colony, the South American country of Suriname. National guilt and a residual Calvinistic moral sensitivity had reached a high point. Simultaneously a growing nationalism and racism were threatening the live-and-let-live equilibrium of a traditionally highly diverse society. What better literary way to relieve some of the tension while addressing the situation than to place a story in an even smaller country than The Netherlands, namely Norway at a third its population, and to play Dutch conditions against a nationalism and racism of the East Norwegians with regard to the West Norwegians (a standard Dutch joke) as well as the Lapps of the North? The implication is clear: Holland is not at all a bad place to be despite contemporary problems.
Unfortunately, the running in-jokes about Dutch provincialism, practical ineptitude, and lack of worldly wisdom are unlikely to be recognised as such by those unfamiliar with Dutch culture. They are probably too dated even for the Dutch, especially the younger generations. Not that Hermans isn't a competent writer, he is first rate, as is Ina Rilke's translation. Nevertheless, unless the alternating dry and slapstick wit of The Netherlands of mid-twentieth century are your nieuwe haring, you may not want to invest the time.
posted by The Mind of BlackOxford @ November 22, 2016
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