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A review by thejdizzler
The Darkroom of Damocles by Willem Frederik Hermans
4.0
Maybe it was this book, or maybe it's just translations in general, but this felt not quite right.
I picked up this book because I wanted to get into Dutch literature to better understand Dutch culture, an ongoing fascination I have had since reading A Thousand Autumns. And this did not disappoint. There is a smallness and a quaintness to the Netherlands of this book: the country is seemingly traversed by train very quickly, and everyone seems to know everyone.
On second thought, this was just a weird book, not just a weird translation. A physiological wartime thriller about a man uncomfortable in his own skin. And delusional. Or maybe not. That is the mystery.
I picked up this book because I wanted to get into Dutch literature to better understand Dutch culture, an ongoing fascination I have had since reading A Thousand Autumns. And this did not disappoint. There is a smallness and a quaintness to the Netherlands of this book: the country is seemingly traversed by train very quickly, and everyone seems to know everyone.
On second thought, this was just a weird book, not just a weird translation. A physiological wartime thriller about a man uncomfortable in his own skin. And delusional. Or maybe not. That is the mystery.