Simon Vestdijk

Simon Vestdijk ( born October 17, 1898 in Harlingen, † March 23, 1971 in Apeldoorn ) was a Dutch writer.

From 1917-1927, he studied medicine, it was until 1932 a doctor, some of the time on board a ship. From 1932 he lived from the literature. He retired in Doorn, ( province of Utrecht ), where he died on 23 March 1971.

Work

Vestdijk was especially famous by the 50 novels he wrote. Some of these are autobiographies that are recognized by the fact that the main character Anton Wachter called and made ​​" Lahr Ingen " comes ( an anagram of Harlingen in Friesland ( province ), where Vestdijk spent his youth ). Some others are partly autobiographical, inter alia, The Copper Garden ( De tuin koperen, 1950). In this work the subject of expulsion occurs from paradise. Other well-known novels include: Pastorale 1943 (1948); The Fifth Seal ( Het Vijfde zegel, 1937), about the Spanish painter El Greco; The fire-worshipers ( De vuuraanbidders, 1947) Arguing about religion in the 17th century; The waiter and the living ( De kelner en de levenden, 1949), with the last judgment as a theme. Vestdijks style was baroque, with many interruptions and side jumps. Several of his novels have been filmed and translated into German.

Vestdijk was a prolific writer. His colleague Menno ter Braak called him in 1940 a " devil artist." He wrote many poems that have been undervalued by many connoisseurs to be wrong. In his poetry topics such as anxiety, youth, death, love and devotion to emerge again and again. He also wrote essays and was a literary and music critic (including the collection: The Future of Religion, De Toekomst the religie ). These works are considered to be some very significant and high class.

Vestdijk had great influence on later writers such as Maarten 't Hart. Even he was influenced by James Joyce, Jean -Paul Sartre and Franz Kafka.

Bibliography

Novels in German translation

  • The trip to Jamaica. From the papers of Richard Beckford, the report of his experiences on the island between 1737 and 1738, German by Georg Kurt Schauer, Rudolf M. Rohrer: Brno -Leipzig- Vienna, undated ( circa 1940 /41)
  • Actaeon under the stars. A novel from the pre-Homeric Greece, German Anny Gerdeck -de Waal, Rudolf M. Rohrer: Brno -Munich- Vienna 1942
  • The copper garden, German by Marianne Holberg, Ark.: Zurich -Hamburg 2005
  • You are cheating me ..., dt by Norbert Stöphl, Paul Zsolnay: Hamburg 1954
Harlingen, Friesland Autobiography Name Authority File
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