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De Harde Kern #1
De harde kern 1
- GenresLiterature
832 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
4 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Frida Vogels
23 books4 followersFrida Vogels is a Dutch writer, known especially for her partly autobiographical trilogy De harde kern ("The hard core"), the second part of which was awarded the inaugural Libris Prize in 1994.
Vogels is noted for the close connection between her work and her life, as well as for her low profile: she did not appear at the presentation of the Libris Prize, and there are no photographs published of her. She lives in Bologna, Italy.
Vogels is noted for the close connection between her work and her life, as well as for her low profile: she did not appear at the presentation of the Libris Prize, and there are no photographs published of her. She lives in Bologna, Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 17, 2010
narrative fanatically try to make you give up reading this book. But I didn't. And I am happy that I did not.
The novel consist of 3 parts, bundled in 2 books and a third book which contains the fourth part with poems. The first book ('Cancer') describes the life of an Italian family during the sickbed of one of the family members (uncle Mario) and the role of the Dutch wife (Berta) of one of the nephews of Mario (Stefano). In the second book, you find out that the author (Berta) has written 'Cancer' to show her view on her married life to Stefano, her husband. Stefano completely 'misinterprets' the message of the novel and the rest of the 2nd book is about the decaying relationship between Berta and Stefano. The Dutch author JJ Voskuil and his wife also play an important role in this book (as Jacob and Wiesje). Finally the 3rd book describes the life of the author (F. Vogels) from her earliest memories to the moment she goes to Italy meets Stefano. That third book mainly explores the relationship of the author with her mother, father and her brother (Thijs). In this book the author no longer refers to herself as Berta but uses her own name Frida.
What I liked about the book is that it is relentlessly seeking for the quintessence of the authors being. It does not try to hide or dramatise any events from her life. By meticuluosly describing every detail of her life Vogels forces herself to understand and accept the inevitable consequences of her actions and inactions. Like Pirandello, the author finds that there is no such thing as oneself. You only live in the minds and through others. But where Pirandello explores the opportunities of this newly found insight, Vogels feels an abhorrent responsibility for the roles she plays in other peoples' lifes.
Of course, adding a third book with poems doesn't hurt in getting my appreciation.
This book is not for everyone. I do not recommend it. It takes courage and perserverance to finish. Maybe, if you like Voskuil, this is for you.
side note: I heavily doubted if I should write this review in English or in Dutch. Partly because the book feels very Dutch to me and partly because I don't even know if the book is translated into any other language than Dutch.
The novel consist of 3 parts, bundled in 2 books and a third book which contains the fourth part with poems. The first book ('Cancer') describes the life of an Italian family during the sickbed of one of the family members (uncle Mario) and the role of the Dutch wife (Berta) of one of the nephews of Mario (Stefano). In the second book, you find out that the author (Berta) has written 'Cancer' to show her view on her married life to Stefano, her husband. Stefano completely 'misinterprets' the message of the novel and the rest of the 2nd book is about the decaying relationship between Berta and Stefano. The Dutch author JJ Voskuil and his wife also play an important role in this book (as Jacob and Wiesje). Finally the 3rd book describes the life of the author (F. Vogels) from her earliest memories to the moment she goes to Italy meets Stefano. That third book mainly explores the relationship of the author with her mother, father and her brother (Thijs). In this book the author no longer refers to herself as Berta but uses her own name Frida.
What I liked about the book is that it is relentlessly seeking for the quintessence of the authors being. It does not try to hide or dramatise any events from her life. By meticuluosly describing every detail of her life Vogels forces herself to understand and accept the inevitable consequences of her actions and inactions. Like Pirandello, the author finds that there is no such thing as oneself. You only live in the minds and through others. But where Pirandello explores the opportunities of this newly found insight, Vogels feels an abhorrent responsibility for the roles she plays in other peoples' lifes.
Of course, adding a third book with poems doesn't hurt in getting my appreciation.
This book is not for everyone. I do not recommend it. It takes courage and perserverance to finish. Maybe, if you like Voskuil, this is for you.
side note: I heavily doubted if I should write this review in English or in Dutch. Partly because the book feels very Dutch to me and partly because I don't even know if the book is translated into any other language than Dutch.
February 15, 2013
Wat een getob... Niet door te komen.
June 25, 2024
Heb ongeveer 1/3e gelezen. Eerste stuk gaat over Italiaanse familie. Een oom heeft kanker en de hele familie probeert dat te verhullen. Tussen de broers en zussen is veel spanning, maar ze roddelen vooral over elkaar zonder elkaar echt de waarheid te vertellen. Berta, de vrouw van Stefano, een zoon/neef in de familie observeert, maar wordt niet echt geaccepteerd. Deel 2 blijkt dat Berta dat ‘boek’ geschreven heeft. Dan zijn ze in Nederland, bij vrienden van Berta, en het gebabbel gaat maar door en gaat maar door …. Ergerlijk hoe vaak het woord ‘mieters’ wordt gebruikt.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews