What is essential DUTCH literature?
I'll start
-The Collected Works of Nescio: fantastic read and worth the try because all of it doesn't amount to much more than a novella
-The Discovery of Heaven by Mulisch: the closest thing the Netherlands has to a literary epic. It's scope is grand, it can be funny, exciting, original and it contains my favorite literary friendship. Do keep in mind though that the author can come off as a bit of a narcistist.
>pic unrelated
>>7605636
I'd add diary of a young girl to this lisy
>>7605611
I really enjoyed Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians and am reading Disgrace next.
Hes sort of from two worlds tho
>>7605659
nice meme but no
Also, OP is right. The Discovery of Heaven is amazing on every single level. But it probably gets better if you've read some of his other works (assuming they even exist in English) before starting ADOH because of the occasional self-reference.
>>7605636
>no The Sorrow of Belgium
Read the Discovery of Heaven when I was 18 in a school context, reread it recently.
All those things I missed back then.
10/10 literature
>>7605663
coetzee's south african, though
>>7606119
There's two main things you need to know before reading it
>Max's past with the war is very much based on Mulisch' own life
>The friendship between Onno and Max is based on an actual friendship that the writer had with a famous chess player
What's your fav Dutch book?
Mine is Ik, Jan Cremer
>>7606710
Nooit Meer Slapen by Hermans
>>7605611
De Avonden, anybody can comment on this for me?
>>7608078
I read it before I really got in to literature (17yo) so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
It's a short book in which nothing much happens and the main character is trying to deal with his homosexuality. Commonly regarded as a dutch classic but when I read it it felt like that was for large part to do with it having a taboo theme (homosexuality).
I'll probably read it again though because it's not that long and I feel like I missed a lot the first time.
>>7608123
Thank you.
>>7605611
Read Grotius and stop.
>>7608138
Elaborate?
Jip en Janneke.
Cees Nooteboom enjoys international prestige, Hella Haasse as well.
>>7605636
Thanks so much for this. I've been pretty much reading literature in english only, and I've been noticing that my Dutch is stagnating as a result.
One of the few charts I was missing in my folder.
Also, are most of these books filled with sex as most Dutch writers tend to do? Because I really dislike shit like Wolkers.
Really want to read Herfstij der Middeleeuwen by Huizinga one day.
>>7609281
I'm in the same boat as you language-wise m8.
Also the list definetly isn't perfect
