De diamant

by Harry Mulisch

Genres: Fiction, Dutch Literature

183 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch along with W.F. Hermans and Gerard Reve, is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch postwar literature. He has written novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections.
Mulisch was born in Haarlem and lived in Amsterdam since 1958, following the death of his father in 1957. Mulisch's father was from Austria-Hungary and emigrated to the Netherlands after the First World War. During the German occupation in World War II he worked for a German bank, which also dealt with confiscated Jewish assets. His mother, Alice Schwarz, was Jewish. Mulisch and his mother escaped transportation to a concentration camp thanks to Mulisch's father's collaboration with the Nazis. Due to the curious nature of his parents' positions, Mulisch has claimed that he is the Second World War.

A frequent theme in his work is the Second World War. His father had worked for the Germans during the war and went to prison for three years afterwards. As the war spanned most of Mulisch's formative phase, it had a defining influence on his life and work. In 1963, he wrote a non-fiction work about the Eichmann case: The case 40/61. Major works set against the backdrop of the Second World War are De Aanslag, Het stenen bruidsbed, and Siegfried.
Additionally, Mulisch often incorporates ancient legends or myths in his writings, drawing on Greek mythology (e.g. in De Elementen), Jewish mysticism (in De ontdekking van de Hemel and De Procedure), well-known urban legends and politics (Mulisch is politically left-wing, notably defending Fidel Castro since the Cuban revolution). Mulisch is widely read and (according to his critics) often flaunts his philosophical and even scientific knowledge.
Mulisch gained international recognition with the movie De Aanslag (The Assault), (1986) which was based on his eponymous book. It received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best foreign movie and has been translated in more than twenty languages.
His novel De ontdekking van de Hemel (1992) was filmed in 2001 as The Discovery of Heaven by Jeroen Krabbé, starring Stephen Fry.
Amongst many awards he has received for individual works and his total body of work, the most important is the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren (Prize of Dutch Literature, an official lifetime achievement award) in 1995.

Reviews

[Corneel Minne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarrysch verhaal

[Lara Panfilov · Rating 1 out of 5]

De aanslag, Siegfried, de procedure, het stenen bruidsbed – they are all fantastic books and I fell in love with Mulisch’s style. However this book left me utterly disappointed. I didn’t recognize any of Mulisch’s characteristic symbols, themes or intelligent comments. The main theme of the book; following a magical diamond through several decades could have been very interesting, but unfortunately Mulisch depicted so many different characters and strange incomprehensible events that it all became just a big blur. I struggled to finish the book and got more and more irritated with the storyline. Shattered, I expected more from Mulisch.

[Cee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarcastically written history of the journey of a diamond through the ages. It leaves a path of destruction throughout time, killing about anyone that touches it. Pretty strange book, but I liked the dark humour in it.

[Angel Serrano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novela ejemplar que sigue la historia de un diamante, desde que se descubre a orillas del Ganges, pasando por la Roma antigua a orillas del Tíber, por China a orillas del Yang-Tse y de vuelta a Europa a orillas del Sena. Parodia de los dramones ligados a esa piedra preciosa.

[Harm Salomons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book in Dutch. Maybe it was not meant to be funny, but in my opinion it is.

[Damiën Heemskerk · Rating 2 out of 5]

In concept en opzet een prachtige roman, en zeker de moeite waard. Helaas vind ik het soms overdreven pretentieus geschreven. Echter, het einde is dan weer prachtig en maakt veel goed

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aardig verhaal, opgebouwd rond de route die een diamant aflegt in verschillende historische perioden. Mulisch zelf noemde het boek een 'allegorische flauwiteit': de diamant en de afwisselende bezitters staan symool voor hoe nieuwe (religieuze) waarheden komen en gaan. Niet alleen brengen ze licht, ook is hun aanwezigheid tijdelijk en de waarheid pas zeker te kennen als zij voorbij is. Ook is hun verschijning op aarde 'tot in het merg verbonden met moord en doodslag'. Een en ander wordt in de loop van het boek allemaal expliciet gemaakt en het ligt er nogal dik bovenop. Een uitvoerige analyse van de hand van Piet Meeuse is te vinden op: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_lit003198...

Maar of je nu lang stil wil staan bij de allegorie of niet, het verhaal is vermakelijk. Het taalgebruik is nogal hoogdravend, hetgeen mijns inziens niet altijd bij het niveau van de inhoudelijke tekst past. Je moet er van houden. Zelf raakte ik nogal in de war door te talloze opgevoerde (historische, en daarmee moeilijk te onthouden) personagenamen, waarvan sommige nooit meer terugkeren, maar andere wel. Ik moest een lijstje bijhouden om terug te kunnen grijpen op wie het ook weer was. Bijzonder geslaagd vond ik het grapje dat Marcus Aurelius, 'zaliger voorgedachtenis', gequote wordt voor zijn geboorte.

[Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

The back of the book speaks of a "humoristische persiflage" (humoristic parody) and this seems apt, though perhaps more the parody part than the humoristic part. Things don't go well for those that come in contact with the diamond as it evokes greed or a lust for power. It was interesting to read this early work of Mulish, one of the greatest Dutch writers, but I did not find it entirely satisfactory. I did not quite connect with the philosophising and the story did not fully grip me.

[Jelle Rijntjes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the quote "and now for something completely different" fits very well with Mulisch' books. This book was a parody on stories of cursed things, in this case a diamond which brings misfortune. Again, something completely different from what I've read from Mulisch. It was a good read, but not a story I normally would enjoy, if it wasn't written by this grandmasters.

[Eric Jun Xuan Ashitaka Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vroege Mulisch is anders

[Kees Bruijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik had deze al eens gelezen , toen ik een jaar of 15 was .... leest toch heel anders dan toen , mag ik rustig zeggen.

[Joâo Muenga Mzua · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long and draging story about exactly what the sum at the back tells. Still it does carry a important message if not lost in the stories itself

[Iosiv Basarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny history of a diamond, which, of course, goes beyond merely describing the voyage of a rock

[Laurens Monster · Rating 2 out of 5]

chef's second ever novel. uninteresting pseudo-psychology (too much pessimism). bordering on an entanglement of sexism and orientalism. last chapter was half decent.