As longtime readers know, I am a great admirer of the great Harry Mulisch, so the announcement of the publication of a previously unpublished work of his is big news around here.
De ontdekking van Moskou ('The discovery of Moscow') -- see the De Bezige Bij publicity page -- is an old effort that they 've dug up. Whether they should have is, of course, a different question: in his review in de Volkskrant Arjan Peters outright calls it 'een onleesbare roman' ('an unreadable novel'), and even in a more favorably inclined review in Het Parool Arie Storm admits that there are parts that are 'eigenlijk gewoon niet zo goed' ('really just not very good'). Sigh.
Far too little of his work has been published in English -- yes, quite a bit, but far from enough -- but, yeah, maybe this isn't the first one that publishers should turn to if they're thinking of bringing more of it out in the US/UK.
De ontdekking van Moskou ('The discovery of Moscow') -- see the De Bezige Bij publicity page -- is an old effort that they 've dug up. Whether they should have is, of course, a different question: in his review in de Volkskrant Arjan Peters outright calls it 'een onleesbare roman' ('an unreadable novel'), and even in a more favorably inclined review in Het Parool Arie Storm admits that there are parts that are 'eigenlijk gewoon niet zo goed' ('really just not very good'). Sigh.
Far too little of his work has been published in English -- yes, quite a bit, but far from enough -- but, yeah, maybe this isn't the first one that publishers should turn to if they're thinking of bringing more of it out in the US/UK.