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The Resource An untouched house, Willem Frederik Hermans ; with an afterword by Cees Nooteboom ; translated from the Dutch by David Colmer

An untouched house, Willem Frederik Hermans ; with an afterword by Cees Nooteboom ; translated from the Dutch by David Colmer

Creator
Author
Translator
Contributor
Summary
"In this dark, unnerving work of wartime fiction, W. F. Hermans exposes humanity's essential savagery, barely concealed by its mores and morals. The year is 1944, and a Dutch partisan chances on an abandoned estate, where he decides to take refuge during a lull in the hostilities. The house seems untouched by the war, a kind of haven, its ornament and grandeur intact (not to mention its walls), clothes and sheets to spare, a kitchen stocked with food and drink. He settles in, and begins to consider himself the owner. When the Nazis recapture the village and come knocking, they similarly assume the house to be his; they assume, also, its spare rooms, which they outfit as barracks. It is all and well until the true owner and his wife return to their estate. Horrified at the thought of being caught in his subterfuge, our protagonist finds himself drawn into further deceit--and swept up in the violence that ensues. Civilization comes face-to-face with brutality, truth meets the duplicity that has upended and challenged its certainty--Hermans' prose searches for an order to the chaos and nihilism of war and life. What he cannot find is as telling as what he uncovers" --
Language
  • eng
  • dut
  • eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First Archipelago Books edition.
Extent
104 pages
Note
"Originally published as Het behouden huis by De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1951" -- Title page verso
Isbn
9781939810069
Instance
Label
An untouched house
Title
An untouched house
Statement of responsibility
Willem Frederik Hermans ; with an afterword by Cees Nooteboom ; translated from the Dutch by David Colmer
Creator
Contributor
Author
Translator
Writer of supplementary textual content
Subject
Genre
Language
  • eng
  • dut
  • eng
Summary
"In this dark, unnerving work of wartime fiction, W. F. Hermans exposes humanity's essential savagery, barely concealed by its mores and morals. The year is 1944, and a Dutch partisan chances on an abandoned estate, where he decides to take refuge during a lull in the hostilities. The house seems untouched by the war, a kind of haven, its ornament and grandeur intact (not to mention its walls), clothes and sheets to spare, a kitchen stocked with food and drink. He settles in, and begins to consider himself the owner. When the Nazis recapture the village and come knocking, they similarly assume the house to be his; they assume, also, its spare rooms, which they outfit as barracks. It is all and well until the true owner and his wife return to their estate. Horrified at the thought of being caught in his subterfuge, our protagonist finds himself drawn into further deceit--and swept up in the violence that ensues. Civilization comes face-to-face with brutality, truth meets the duplicity that has upended and challenged its certainty--Hermans' prose searches for an order to the chaos and nihilism of war and life. What he cannot find is as telling as what he uncovers" --
Member of
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
YDX
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1921-1995
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Hermans, Willem Frederik
Index
no index present
Language note
Translated from the Dutch
LC call number
PT5844.H526
LC item number
B4813 2018
Literary form
novels
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorDate
  • 1933-
  • 1960-
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
  • Nooteboom, Cees
  • Colmer, David
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Dwellings
  • World War, 1939-1945
Label
An untouched house, Willem Frederik Hermans ; with an afterword by Cees Nooteboom ; translated from the Dutch by David Colmer
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Note
"Originally published as Het behouden huis by De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1951" -- Title page verso
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
on1019620630
Dimensions
16 cm
Edition
First Archipelago Books edition.
Extent
104 pages
Isbn
9781939810069
Lccn
2018037412
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)1019620630
Label
An untouched house, Willem Frederik Hermans ; with an afterword by Cees Nooteboom ; translated from the Dutch by David Colmer
Publication
Copyright
Note
"Originally published as Het behouden huis by De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1951" -- Title page verso
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
on1019620630
Dimensions
16 cm
Edition
First Archipelago Books edition.
Extent
104 pages
Isbn
9781939810069
Lccn
2018037412
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)1019620630

Subject

Genre

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      42.6118166 -70.8797517

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