Herman Koch Q & A

       At Winstonsdad's Blog there's a Q & A with The Dinner-author Herman Koch -- and I am especially thrilled by this exchange:

What are you favourite Dutch books ?

For me there is only one, I think it has been translated into English: The Dark Room of Damocles by W.F.Hermans

       As a huge Hermans fan I am, of course, thrilled by any mention of his books -- and just wish more of them were available in English.
       Also of interest:

I have previously ask both Cees Nooteboom and Gerbrand Bakker to describe what makes Dutch literature so unique. What are your thoughts ?

I am not sure. We live in a rather boring and spoiled country. Maybe Dutch literature is only unique in that it wasn't noticed in the past 200 years in the rest of the world.

       Alas, I don't think that it's unique in that respect ..... (As to why Dutch literature has been so impressive over the past few decades ... I'm not sure, but per capita it has amounted to an astonishing body of work.)