“But now that he’s dead his books are finally appearing in English and here’s the surprise: the world really needs WF Hermans. Milan Kundera understands the way he’s literal and fantastic all at once, how he gets to the extraordinary by way of flatlands and dry prose, not self-indulgence. John le Carré was an early fan of his brilliance, as bright when writing farce as writing a thriller.
For the man is bleak, hilarious, angry, ruthless and plain. He’s as alarming as a snake in the breadbin. He’s also hugely entertaining, which, to be frank, may not be your first idea of a Dutch postwar classic; we’ve suffered a lot of philosophical interludes and foggy autobiography out of Holland. But The Darkroom of Damocles is a brilliantly worked wartime thriller, and exceptionally disturbing; Beyond Sleep is a ruthless farce, very funny and very dark. Nothing here is predictable; you take a risk reading Hermans.”
Michael Pye, Hostages to fortune
(Ook aandacht voor W.F. Hermans in The Wallstreet Journal, Willem Otterspeer over Beyond Sleep (Nooit Meer Slapen).)
