Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (1994), Paperback, 624 pages
Description
A classic novel in the tradition of The Tin Drum, The Sorrow of Belgium is a searing, scathingly funny portrait of a wartime Belgium and one boy's coming of age -- emotionally, sexually, and politically. In 1939, Louis Seynaeve, a ten-year-old Flemish student, is chiefly occupled with schoolboy adventures and lurid adolescent fantasies. Then the Nazis invade Belgium, and he grows up fast. Bewildered by his family -- a stuffy father who actually welcomes the occupation and a flirtatious mother who works for (and plays with) the Germans -- he is seemingly at the center of so much he can't understand. Gradually, as he confronts the horrors of the war and its aftermath, the eccentric and often petty behavior of his colorful relatives and neighbors, and his own inner turmoil, he achieves a degree of maturity -- at the cost of deep disillusion. Epic in scope, by turns hilarious and elegiac, The Sorrow of Belgium is the masterwork by one of the world's greatest contemporary authors. Book jacket.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
Het verdriet van België is Claus's great, sprawling, historical, autobiographical, satirical, send-up of what his neighbours and relatives did in the Second World War. It's a divisive book - as you would expect when it paints a largely one-sided picture of a country where it's rare for political
The title makes you expect a lamentation of the hardships and abuses the Belgian people were subjected to at the hands of the Germans. The opening chapters, where the 10-year-old narrator, Louis, is at a convent boarding school in the spring and summer of 1939, keep up this anticipation of gloom to come, but it soon turns out to be fraudulent in several ways.
For one thing, the Germans only appear in very minor offstage roles: the actual horrors (and there are plenty of these, don't worry) are all perpetrated by Belgians who have been drawn into collaboration with the Nazis either by personal greed and ambition or by distorted ideals of Flemish nationalism that make them see the Nazis as their natural allies against the hated French. Plus a fair bit of damage "accidentally" done to Belgium by the countries that are fighting to liberate it.
For another thing, the amoral viewpoint character Louis and the narrator, who increasingly identifies with him as the book goes on, clearly take a great, Rabelaisian pleasure in watching the theatre of moral deformation and physical destruction that is growing up around them as people get the chance to do something about the petty jealousies and envies they have been harbouring for decades. There's no shortage of corruption based on church, family and party connections; denunciations, slander, incest, murder, and simple theft.
Although Claus frequently makes fun of the Flemish nationalists' tendency to relate everything to their nation's glory days five or six centuries ago, there is a lot in this book that reminds you of one of those very busy early renaissance Flemish paintings. It is a very messy sort of book, with dozens of storylines appearing and disappearing at will, more characters than your average Dickens novel, and a narrative that has a disconcerting habit of hopping about between realistic and dream sequences without warning. The language takes some getting used to, as well, as it's relentlessly Flemish (if you're used to standard Dutch, then the experience is a bit like reading a novel that's written in Scots when you're used to standard English - you can make most of it out, but it takes a moment or two, and sometimes you have to go back a bit and read it aloud...). Claus is clearly determined not to "clean up" the way his characters talk any more than he would clean up their politics or their morals, and he wants to emphasise that all his characters have their roots in the Flemish mud. And it's very egotistical - the book stops abruptly, directly Louis achieves literary glory for the first time, without any consideration for fates of the the dozens of characters whose plots have not been resolved yet. All over Flanders, wives are still missing husbands, prisoners are still awaiting verdicts, lovers ununited, children unborn, dinners half-cooked, diseases uncured, and we'll never know how they came out.
I found that this was a book that I only really started to enjoy about 3/4 of the way through, when the penny dropped that the humour was not just incidental, it is the real point of the book. Claus seems to be arguing that most people - at least in Flanders - are not involved in great struggles of good and evil, but are trying to find a way to reconcile their material self-interest with their desire to look good in the eyes of their neighbours. From time to time the compromises they reach have truly great or truly horrifying effects, and perhaps the only way we can come to terms with the horrible banality of this is to find a way to laugh about it.
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questions to have as few as five or six sides - but it seems to have established itself as the definitive novel about Belgium during the occupation.The title makes you expect a lamentation of the hardships and abuses the Belgian people were subjected to at the hands of the Germans. The opening chapters, where the 10-year-old narrator, Louis, is at a convent boarding school in the spring and summer of 1939, keep up this anticipation of gloom to come, but it soon turns out to be fraudulent in several ways.
For one thing, the Germans only appear in very minor offstage roles: the actual horrors (and there are plenty of these, don't worry) are all perpetrated by Belgians who have been drawn into collaboration with the Nazis either by personal greed and ambition or by distorted ideals of Flemish nationalism that make them see the Nazis as their natural allies against the hated French. Plus a fair bit of damage "accidentally" done to Belgium by the countries that are fighting to liberate it.
For another thing, the amoral viewpoint character Louis and the narrator, who increasingly identifies with him as the book goes on, clearly take a great, Rabelaisian pleasure in watching the theatre of moral deformation and physical destruction that is growing up around them as people get the chance to do something about the petty jealousies and envies they have been harbouring for decades. There's no shortage of corruption based on church, family and party connections; denunciations, slander, incest, murder, and simple theft.
Although Claus frequently makes fun of the Flemish nationalists' tendency to relate everything to their nation's glory days five or six centuries ago, there is a lot in this book that reminds you of one of those very busy early renaissance Flemish paintings. It is a very messy sort of book, with dozens of storylines appearing and disappearing at will, more characters than your average Dickens novel, and a narrative that has a disconcerting habit of hopping about between realistic and dream sequences without warning. The language takes some getting used to, as well, as it's relentlessly Flemish (if you're used to standard Dutch, then the experience is a bit like reading a novel that's written in Scots when you're used to standard English - you can make most of it out, but it takes a moment or two, and sometimes you have to go back a bit and read it aloud...). Claus is clearly determined not to "clean up" the way his characters talk any more than he would clean up their politics or their morals, and he wants to emphasise that all his characters have their roots in the Flemish mud. And it's very egotistical - the book stops abruptly, directly Louis achieves literary glory for the first time, without any consideration for fates of the the dozens of characters whose plots have not been resolved yet. All over Flanders, wives are still missing husbands, prisoners are still awaiting verdicts, lovers ununited, children unborn, dinners half-cooked, diseases uncured, and we'll never know how they came out.
I found that this was a book that I only really started to enjoy about 3/4 of the way through, when the penny dropped that the humour was not just incidental, it is the real point of the book. Claus seems to be arguing that most people - at least in Flanders - are not involved in great struggles of good and evil, but are trying to find a way to reconcile their material self-interest with their desire to look good in the eyes of their neighbours. From time to time the compromises they reach have truly great or truly horrifying effects, and perhaps the only way we can come to terms with the horrible banality of this is to find a way to laugh about it.
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LibraryThing member Persisto
A very sad, but true, tale by the author. At first an enthusiastic Nazi supporter, his further adventures led him to a different conclusion about life.
LibraryThing member jmoncton
The Sorrow of Belgium is a coming of age story of a young Belgian boy during World War II. Like many stories with adolescent boys, much of the book focuses on Louis' experiences in school, his relationships with his parents and friends and the typical teenage boy's fascination with sex. However the
I personally found this story interesting, but not that compelling. What could have been an incredibly strong and moving story was told with too much nonchalance and emphasis on an adolescent boy's obsession with sex. I really wanted to love this story, but felt that there was no strong message when it could have been a very powerful story. Still, good background information about Belgium and the struggles it experienced during the war.
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time and place add in the complexity of growing up in a country at war and a country with divided loyalties. I picked up this book because we are traveling to Belgium later this summer and wanted a book that gave some insight to the culture of the area. I was definitely surprised and learned quite a bit about the division of Belgium due to language. Before WWII, French was spoken in the southern part of Belgium and was the language of the nobility and the official language used by much of the government. The Flemish movement arose to rid the country of French. During WWII, some people saw collaboration with the Germans as a method of supporting the Flemish movement. As the main character Louis grows up and lives through the war, he experiences animosity from other Belgians because his family collaborates with the Germans. Although the story is told with much humor, the brutality and devastation of war is still present in the story.I personally found this story interesting, but not that compelling. What could have been an incredibly strong and moving story was told with too much nonchalance and emphasis on an adolescent boy's obsession with sex. I really wanted to love this story, but felt that there was no strong message when it could have been a very powerful story. Still, good background information about Belgium and the struggles it experienced during the war.
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LibraryThing member bbbart
The Sorrow of Belgium is supposed to be the single most important book by a Flemish author. I can agree why some (most?) people believe so, but even for an avid reader as myself, I did have to overcome some difficulty and boredom getting to the end of it. However, the further the story progressed,
After reading the book and taking some time to contemplate over it, I must come to the conclusion however that it indeed is a magnificent opus and that I'm very happy to have read it.
I'm not sure how well it would read in a translated version, as it's *very* Flemish, indeed.
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the more interesting and even captivating it became.After reading the book and taking some time to contemplate over it, I must come to the conclusion however that it indeed is a magnificent opus and that I'm very happy to have read it.
I'm not sure how well it would read in a translated version, as it's *very* Flemish, indeed.
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LibraryThing member edwinbcn
In his essay collection Familiearchief : notities over voorouders, tijdgenoten en mijzelf the Dutch historian E.H. Kossmann describes how in the Netherlands the culture of writing about the war has resulted in the paradigm that a number of people were collaborators, and therefore "black" or bad, a
However, in reality, of course, things were not so clear, and although it would perhaps be too strong to use the word "suspicious" any form of "limited collaboration" is extremely flexible and can be interpreted in very many ways. Likewise, the justification of personal survival, possibly extended to family members is very pliable.
That is just what Hugo Claus's novel Het verdriet van België is about. Describing the lives of a number of ordinary Belgium people, from shortly before the war and throughout the war years, there are no obvious collaborators. Neither does Claus focus on the resistance. The characters in his novel belong to the general population, and how they deal with the occupation on a day-to-day basis.
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number of people was in the resistance, and therefore "white" or good, while most of the population was "grey", and therefore "suspicious. While the Black/White view can be explained and accepted, categorizing the rest of the population as suspicious is rather peculiar. Kossmann suggests that as long as people did not eagerly collaborate, while collaboration was limited for the necessity of one's personal survival, the general population should be considered good. In Dutch novels about the Second World War, this division is almost always very clear.However, in reality, of course, things were not so clear, and although it would perhaps be too strong to use the word "suspicious" any form of "limited collaboration" is extremely flexible and can be interpreted in very many ways. Likewise, the justification of personal survival, possibly extended to family members is very pliable.
That is just what Hugo Claus's novel Het verdriet van België is about. Describing the lives of a number of ordinary Belgium people, from shortly before the war and throughout the war years, there are no obvious collaborators. Neither does Claus focus on the resistance. The characters in his novel belong to the general population, and how they deal with the occupation on a day-to-day basis.
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LibraryThing member eairo
The Sorrow of Belgium is a big book, large as life (and has nearly a thousand pages).
Book is set in Belgium just before, during and little after the WWII and the story is about and told by (more or less) by Louis Seynaeve who during those years grows up from a ten or so years old boy to a young
But most of all: it is a very enjoyable read. Deep and broad but not difficult.
Book is set in Belgium just before, during and little after the WWII and the story is about and told by (more or less) by Louis Seynaeve who during those years grows up from a ten or so years old boy to a young
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man. It is all there: life from birth to death; love, sorrow, joy and deceit in between ... and, and, and ... The story goes into so many directions it is hard to describe briefly.But most of all: it is a very enjoyable read. Deep and broad but not difficult.
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LibraryThing member deebee1
Regarded as a masterpiece of 20th century Dutch literature, this is a panoramic novel of life in wartime Flanders. It is a scathing, moving, at the same time humorous portrayal of a Flemish community, primarily of the family of a young boy, Louis Seynaeve, as war approaches, as the Germans invaded
It is also a coming-of-age story where we see Louis in the first part of the story, spending his last days in the sheltered world of a convent school and being transported into the chaos of the rapidly disintegrating world outside as the enemies arrived. Beliefs, political and religious, loyalties, friendships, family bonds are severely tested as war raged where each defended his own or claimed something else, whichever gave a better chance to survive. Danger and much confusion abounded as accusing fingers pointed to collaborators, to nationalists, depending which side people thought were winning. Interestingly, we see the tension between the Flemish and the French cultural and linguistic traditions surfacing in every aspect of the people's lives the entire time that we start to somehow understand the ambiguity that still characterizes and divides Belgium today.
The narrative is told mainly through dialogues and conversations, and through Louis's imagination and musings. It is very witty and poetic, full of unforgettable characters trying to cope with the destruction in their little, miserable, sometimes pathetic or even poignant ways. There is pain, betrayal, horror and death, but the story never becomes sentimental or dark. Remarkably, there is plenty of comic relief even in the bleakest of situations. It seems sorrow masquerades as humor.
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and occupied Belgium, as the Allies arrived, and as they try to put back together again pieces of their broken lives. It is also a coming-of-age story where we see Louis in the first part of the story, spending his last days in the sheltered world of a convent school and being transported into the chaos of the rapidly disintegrating world outside as the enemies arrived. Beliefs, political and religious, loyalties, friendships, family bonds are severely tested as war raged where each defended his own or claimed something else, whichever gave a better chance to survive. Danger and much confusion abounded as accusing fingers pointed to collaborators, to nationalists, depending which side people thought were winning. Interestingly, we see the tension between the Flemish and the French cultural and linguistic traditions surfacing in every aspect of the people's lives the entire time that we start to somehow understand the ambiguity that still characterizes and divides Belgium today.
The narrative is told mainly through dialogues and conversations, and through Louis's imagination and musings. It is very witty and poetic, full of unforgettable characters trying to cope with the destruction in their little, miserable, sometimes pathetic or even poignant ways. There is pain, betrayal, horror and death, but the story never becomes sentimental or dark. Remarkably, there is plenty of comic relief even in the bleakest of situations. It seems sorrow masquerades as humor.
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LibraryThing member .Monkey.
Well huh. I really don't know what to say about this. I'm glad it's finished? It wasn't bad, but it was ... odd? Let's go with odd. Very very odd. Weird characters. Doing strange things. It's about an extended family, from the perspective of a young boy, during WWII. It details his family life,
That said, the writing was good, and various aspects of the story were interesting. And several parts made me laugh out loud.
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which is already a bit strained, and then there's the impact of the war on everyone; jobs, food, relationships, everything gets put under various strain, while Louis writes. I'm sure there's stuff that went totally over my head, cultural references and the like, and maybe if someone native were to discuss it, it would help me see the book a little differently? I don't know. I just don't know what to think of it.That said, the writing was good, and various aspects of the story were interesting. And several parts made me laugh out loud.
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Awards
Language
Original publication date
1983
Physical description
624 p.; 7.8 inches
ISBN
0140188010 / 9780140188011