128 ratings | 10 reviews | avg rating:3.68

more photos (11)

Gaby den Held’s Followers (3)

Gaby’s Bookshelves

to-read (13)
currently-reading (2)
read (137)

Gaby’s Friends (26)

Daniel

415 books | 29 friends

Kris

671 books | 65 friends

Luc Hellinckx

4 books | 105 friends

Micha Meinderts

703 books | 92 friends

Liberty Biesma

3 books | 151 friends

Eveline Van De Putte

0 books | 41 friends

Floris Schreve

0 books | 36 friends

Geoffrey Guillin

0 books | 103 friends

More friends…

Gaby den Held

Goodreads Author

Born

Delft, Netherlands

Website

http://gabydenheld.homestead.com/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/gabydenheld

Genre

Fiction, Gay and Lesbian

Influences

Federico Fellini, Arnon Grunberg, Jan Potocki, Mikhail Bulgakov, E ...more

Member Since

April 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/gabydenheld

edit data

As long as he can remember he writes stories. He has written poems and participated in a poetry platform, Poetry Alive! He has also written culinary articles, restaurant reviews and travelogues (2002-2009). He didn’t think of writing a novel. Until a traumatic event knocked him over.
"You write stories, do you?" a friend said. "Why don’t you write it all up and do something with it?" That 'something' has slowly grown into a story in which the sometimes harsh reality is mixed with a fairy tale. The story is about Ángel Flores who is tragically in love with CHARLIE DARK.

The foundation was laid for his personal style:
Imaginative fairytale-like stories populated with sometimes extravagant characters. But how bizarre and grotesque the stories As long as he can remember he writes stories. He has written poems and participated in a poetry platform, Poetry Alive! He has also written culinary articles, restaurant reviews and travelogues (2002-2009). He didn’t think of writing a novel. Until a traumatic event knocked him over.
"You write stories, do you?" a friend said. "Why don’t you write it all up and do something with it?" That 'something' has slowly grown into a story in which the sometimes harsh reality is mixed with a fairy tale. The story is about Ángel Flores who is tragically in love with CHARLIE DARK.

The foundation was laid for his personal style:
Imaginative fairytale-like stories populated with sometimes extravagant characters. But how bizarre and grotesque the stories sometimes may seem, they always have one foot in reality, like in a magical realist painting.

The foundation was laid for his personal style: succinct and clear prose with a complex storyline. The atmosphere is imaginative and fairytale-like with a penchant for the extravagant. But how bizarre and grotesque the stories sometimes may seem, they always have one foot in reality, like in a magical realist painting. Deceptively lighthearted and naturally heavy themes are covered as gender dysphoria, sexual fluidity, sexual harassment, suicide, perpetratorship and victimhood.

Maan: not exactly the typical teenage love story
After he wrote Charlie Dark he began on his second novel MAAN (Moon). This would ultimately be his debut as a published novelist. The theme
is self-determination and individual freedom, wrapped in a story about an impossible love. As a main character he chose the trans woman Maan who wants to make her own choices on all aspects of life. If Maan is still a boy he lives with his eccentric mother, Saskia, the widow of the wealthy merchant Lambert Humalda, in a big house on the edge of the Frisian Dantumadiel. Rick is in love with the beautiful Maan, but becomes confused when he tells him that he is really a girl.

Reünie: a tragicomedy about revenge
He decided to keep his firstling, Charlie Dark, in the drawer and began a new novel, a tragicomedy about revenge: REÜNIE (Reunion).

Dorian Pots arrives on a sunny May day in Diepenheim, the city of his youth. He intends to start a new life with his old puppy love Jasper van Vliet. But then he sees Titus Balkenhol on the terrace of cafe Boonk, wearing a blue polka dot dress. This willy-nilly old school chum, the clown of the class, tells him: "See you tonight at the reunion of our old school class." A reunion? Why does Dorian knows nothing about it? His former classmates have more surprises in store.

Alex Stanovsky: never ending train journey
He is now working on ideas for a next novel. This will be about a young man who takes the train to a job interview. It appears that the office where he will have that interview is in the train. In fact, the train turns out to be a world in itself, where he may never come out.

Gaby's debut novel MAAN was published November 2015 and REÜNIE was published October 2017, both by publisher IJZER.

First there are the images, then the words. Before I write I see the fragment for me as a movie scene. It’s no surprise that I’m particularly influenced by the movies. I love the films by Alex van Warmerdam, François Ozon, Roman Polanski, David Lynch and most of all: Federico Fellini. I want to create a slightly caricatural dream world that gives reality a brighter color. That does not deny the ruthlessness of life, but places it in a different light. In that world I introduce tragic clowns. Anti-heroes with panache. Outsiders who were bullied in the schoolyard as a kid. Because they have red hair. Because they don’t play football. Because they are boys who feel like a girl or vice versa. But they have rebounded. They go through life with their heads held high. They remember that statement of ballet legend Sonia Gaskell: If you fall, always make something of it. ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Gaby den Held questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Gaby den Held’s books

Average rating: 3.27 · 15 ratings · 7 reviews · 5 distinct works

	Maan 3.25 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alex Stanovsky really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Charlie Dark liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reünie 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alex Stanovsky 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Gaby den Held…

2 posts
Gaby den Held's Blog

INSPIRATIE: Michail Boelgakov

Magisch-realisme, surrealisme, sprookjes. Degenen die mijn romans kennen zullen niet verbaasd zijn dat ik daardoor ben beïnvloed. Bij magisch realisme denken veel mensen aan Zuid-Amerikaanse literatuur. Maar hoewel ik hou van de romans van Gabriel García Márquez voel ik me er niet mee verwant. Waarmee dan wel? Veel inspiratie en voorbeelden haal ik uit de Russische literatuur. Prachtig vind ik de Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 30, 2018 13:27 • Tags: de-meester-en-margarita, michail-boelgakov

View all 2 posts »

Gaby is Currently Reading

Gaby Held is currently reading

Naked Lunch: The Restored Text

by William S. Burroughs

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jul 14, 2020 02:46PM

Gaby Held is currently reading

The Complete Novels of James Joyce (Wordsworth Special Editions)

by James Joyce

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Aug 20, 2019 05:21AM

rss
Gaby’s Recent Updates

Gaby Held is now following Gab Smolders's reviews
Aug 28, 2024 02:20AM · like

More of Gaby's books…

Quotes by Gaby den Held (?)

“Over het sprookjesachtige van MAAN:
"Ik heb die sprookjeswereld niet gebruikt om mijn kop het in zand te steken. Ik heb die gebruikt om mijn eigen stem te vinden waarmee ik juist die harde werkelijkheid beter te lijf kan gaan. Zonder te ontkennen wat naar en lelijk is, maar met open oog voor wat mooi is.”
― Gaby den Held, Maan

1 likes

“Ik heb ook geen probleem. Maar beweer niet dat het een godsgeschenk is. Dat heeft niets met transseksualiteit te maken, maar alles met de samenleving.”
― Gaby den Held, Maan

0 likes

“Over het transgender thema:
De hoofdpersoon is een transvrouw, maar dat is niet zozeer het belangrijkste issue van de roman. Een transgender is niet alleen zijn of haar geslachtsoperatie. Een transgender is ook nog een mens. Met een beroep, bakker of fietsenmaker. Met liefdes en hobby's en meningen.”
― Gaby den Held, Maan

0 likes

See all Gaby den Held's quotes »

Gaby’s Quotes

“Over moraal:
Ik hou eigenlijk niet zo van een moraal. Maar als ik er één moet bedenken dan is het: Vind je eigen kracht in je eigenheid, vind jouw individuele kern en kijk dan de wereld en de werkelijkheid recht in de ogen.”
― Gaby den Held, Maan

0 likes

1 likes

0 likes

“Positief? Mijn transseksualiteit? Ik heb er niet voor gekozen om als jongen te worden
geboren terwijl ik een meisje ben. Denk je dat ik voor mijn lol die pijnlijke sekseoperaties heb
ondergaan? Get real.”
― Gaby den Held, Maan

0 likes

“Ik heb ook geen probleem. Maar beweer niet dat het een godsgeschenk is. Dat heeft niets met transseksualiteit te maken, maar alles met de samenleving.”
― Gaby den Held, Maan

0 likes

More of Gaby’s quotes…