Pathologieën: de ondergangen van Johan van Vere de With

by Jacob Israël de Haan, Georges Eekhoud (preface), Wim J. Simons (epilogue)

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Dutch born Jewish gay novelist, poet, journalist and legal scholar.

De Haan was born in rural Smilde in the Dutch province of Drenthe. He grew up in Zaandam.

In 1919 he moved to Palestine and settled in Jerusalem, where he was assassinated in 1924 by members of Hagana.

Reviews

[Laetitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

De Haan treats some interesting themes in 'Pathologieën', especially considering the time the book came out (the first decade of the 20th century - I read it in a nice, old edition from the University Library). 'Came out' is an interesting choice of words, actually, I realize now. The protagonist is the young Johan, or Hans, who lives alone with his father in their large, old house. Reaching puberty, Johan realizes that he has feelings that are.. 'different'. He dreams about boys. Things get a lot worse when Johan feels he's falling in love with his father. This is of course a quite controversial theme, even nowadays. Johans struggle with his feelings is sometimes heartbreaking. The descriptions of nature, emotions and objects (Johan almost obsessively loves pretty things) are nice, but sometimes it's just too much. The old-fashioned language doesn't help in this case. I just keep having the feeling that the book could have been thinner, while maintaining the same story and impression. The last part of the book, describing Johans relationship with the sadistic artist René, is interesting; it really causes a very uncomfortable feeling, it contains interesting psychological processes. All in all 'Pathologieën' is nice to read, certainly in the core, but the abundant descriptions of just things reduce the tension.

[Ruben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Door mijn scriptieonderzoek ben ik dit werk eigenlijk meer en meer gaan haten. Toch blijf ik het een wonder vinden dat het bestaat. Ik snap waarom het een grotendeels vergeten boek is, het is een decadente en regressieve draak waar niemand van kan genieten. Aan de andere kant is het hét ultieme product van een hele korte periode uit de Nederlandse literatuurgeschiedenis dat we hebben laten verwoesten en zijn vergeten door conservatieve politiek van de 20e eeuw.
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