Willem Frederik Hermans
Au Pair
Pauline, a Dutch student, wishes to study in Paris and gets a job as an au pair. At the first family she works for, she lives in a miserable little attic room and they make her pay for her breakfasts. In the second family there is an old general, his wife, sons, a grandson and a number of servants. There she is living on Easy Street: she has a beautiful room, clothes, shoes, whatever she desires. She really does not have to lift a finger for anything. Every so often she listens to the general’s stories about the war and about the artist Guys, who has also worked in her home town of Vlissingen.
The whole family is quite remarkable and though Pauline has everything she needs she still feels uneasy. Finally, she is asked to deliver a suitcase full of money. Not everything, however, goes as she had expected. An amusing, skilfully told story that despite some obscure references and literary play with truth and falsehood has attracted a broad reading public.
Publisher
De Bezige Bij
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NL - 1071 DW Amsterdam
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Website: www.debezigebij.nl
Publishing details
Au Pair (1989, 415 pp)
Biography
Willem Frederik Hermans (1921-1995) is one of the greatest post-war Dutch authors. Before devoting his entire life to writing, Hermans had been teaching Physical Geography at the University of Groningen for many years. He had already started writing and publishing in magazines at a young age. His polemic and provocative style led to a court case as early as 1952. His caustic pieces were compiled in Mandarijnen op zwavelzuur (Mandarines in Sulphuric Acid, 1963), which was reprinted with additions a number of times. It is Hermans’s belief that in order to survive people have to create own reality. It is inevitable that all these experiences of reality will collide. Language is essential to create order out of chaos and plays an important role in this process. In his essays on Wittgenstein, Hermans studied this problem in depth. In his novels and stories Hermans places his characters in a world of certainty for themselves but equivocal for the reader. It is in this field of tension that the intrigue in De tranen der acacia’s (Acacia’s Tears, 1949) and in De donkere kamer van Damocles (The Darkroom of Damocles, 1958) develops. Although stories such as Moedwil en misverstand (Malice and Misunderstanding) and Paranoia have a surrealistic tendency, Hermans’ novels The Darkroom Of Damocles, Nooit meer slapen (Beyond Sleep), Uit talloos veel miljoenen (From Countless Millions) are more realistic or satirical and everything in his rich oeuvre is subordinate to the author’s pessimistic philosophy.
Website: www.willemfrederikhermans.nl
Quotes
It is a combination of thriller and philosophical formulation that makes Au Pair into a novel in which Hermans displays all his abilities. The so-called natural tone, which every great writer possesses, the ease of the conversations, the breadth of subjects and in particular the ingenious construction in which, looking back, everything has its place.
Elsevier
Translations
- Au pair. Leipzig: Kiepenheuer, 2003
- Au pair. Berlin etc.: Aufbau Taschenbuch, 2005
- Continued...