The Inspector

by Jan de Hartog

De Hartog, Jan

230 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Jan de Hartog (1914 – 2002) was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker. From then on he wrote in English.
At the beginning of his career he wrote five detective novels about the adventures of Commissioner Wiebe Poesiat and inspector Gregor Boyarski at the metropolitan harbor police under the pseudonym F.R. Eckmar

Johannes (Jan) de Hartog was een Nederlandse schrijver van romans, toneelstukken en filmscenario's, vooral gekend om zijn romans over de scheepvaart.
In het begin van zijn carrière schreef hij, onder het pseudoniem F.R. Eckmar, ook een vijftal detectieveromans over de avonturen van commissaris Wiebe Poesiat en inspecteur Gregor Boyarski bij de hoofdstedelijke havenpolitie.

Reviews

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

{3.5 stars}

I need more!



This story grips the soul, and reaches into the very heart of man. Peter's character is profound and real, and even though his reasoning's aren't always the best, he's easy to understand. Anna is a girl plagued by the tragedy of the suffering she experienced during the war. Two lives, a girl and a middle-aged man. Two lives, so different, yet so alike.

In some ways I'm rating this book based on both the movie and the book. The book isn't a love story, but about a man helping a girl he begins to view as his daughter. At first I was incredulous about his motives, but soon I understand why he was doing it. To him it became a sort of redemption, although he wouldn't quite state that so plainly. His "atheism" was laughable considering he kept comparing "Anna's God" to his own idea of God. One man pointed out to him that no one really was an atheist...good point!



Now in the movie, it is more of a love story. Sweet and heart-breaking, and I believe making Peter younger was more realistic on that aspect. He still followed the book Peter extremely well, and all his motives were poignant and real in the movie.



Anna is the Jewish girl in the book (and called "Lisa" in the movie). Her terrible time spent at Auschwitz is presented as harrowing, and effected her terribly. I didn't like her as much in the book, maybe because her POV wasn't shown like in the movie. But her dependency on Peter was sweet and innocent--and that innocence is unique in her life. My favorites scenes were when they were taking the barge. Captain Brandt and his dog Coba, were all so funny and made me smile. Her dream of going to Palestine became a reality through Peter.

Content:
-A couple profanities, as well as a few swear words.
-The reality of what happened to Anna, a couple mentions of prostitutes (only in passing), one reference to homosexuals (only in passing), some mistrust toward Peter about his "motives" in helping Anna, brief mentions of an older man taking care of a girl when she's very ill (not written in an obscene way).
-One scene with a certain Van der Pink that was offensive to me. He has this deal with God, and his comments concerning God were too flippant. Besides, Van der Pink is a rat anyway...horrible man!

This book filled in some details that weren't in the movie, as well as making me see both Ann and Peter in a better light. I would have liked to see more of Peter's spiritual journey, because I felt like he was so close to drawing near to the Lord. I'm not sure what the authors intentions were concerning the salvation message...in some ways I feel like he was showing that Anna was Peter's salvation, which is kind of neat, but not something I would agree with.



Recommended to mature readers who like well-written classic suspense stories! :)

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when in Fifth form (age 15), and have Never forgotten it.

It is a lump-in-the-throat book, a weep-maker book, a drama - based on an Inspector in Europe, post-WW2, who is tasked with supervising the prevention of smuggling Jews wanting to get away from the world of their horrors and make it into Palestine, rejecting his role.
On meeting one young woman whose tale of the tortuous imprisonment moves him deeply, he instead leaves his post and attempts to get her "home".
(The book was made into a film, which I only discovered a few moments ago.(

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I don't know what exactly to say, except that it was very different from what I expected.
An Inspector from Holland ends up taking a young Jewish refugee to Palastine, after he rescues her from a noted kingpin in a slave trade ring. Disatisfied with his life, and the way he had to do things during their occupation years, he finds a way to partially "atone" for himself in doing this.
It was well written-and not exactly what I would say dirty, but there was too much information for me to take, about the Medical Research Camps, and her experiences. A little too in detail about things, with rough language... Also the fact that he up and leaves his home and family, who believe he's in love with the girl he's helping smuggle. So that was a little different.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read about this novel a while ago and had it in my library to read some day. I read it this past week and enjoyed it. At first it was difficult to get into, but as I read on, I found myself reading more pages each time I picked it up.
The main character, Inspector Peter Jongman of the Amsterdam Police Criminal Investigation Department, is hot on the trail of white-slave traders. He is able to thwart the plans of one bad guy and get a young Jewish woman to relative safety. She convinces him to take her to Palestine; not an easy task for this middle-aged "copper" who doesn't always follow the policies and procedures of the police.
The setting is great and well described. The characters are well-rounded and easy to picture in your head.
The pace of the story is quick which keeps you interested.
I recommend this book to those interested in international police procedurals.

[José · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jan de Hartog stond al sinds jaar en dag op de plank in onze boekenkast, omdat mijn man het in ons huwelijk had ingebracht. De schrijver zei me niets, ik dacht dat hij alleen over schepen schreef. Maar toen ik het toch maar eens begon te lezen was ik verrast. Ok, het gaat over boten en zijn kennis over schepen wil hij graag aan de lezer laten weten. Maar daarnaast ontrafelt zich een verhaal dat je aangrijpt. Omdat het over morele dilemma's gaat die je herkent. Wat zou ik doen als ik die man was? Wat is de reden van je handelen? Het ergste vind ik wel dat er in meer dan 70 jaar zo weinig geleerd is in de wereld, dat wij nu met dezelfde dilemma's en situaties kampen als waar Jan de Hartog toen over schreef. Waarom herhalen we altijd weer dezelfde fouten?

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it is presented as a novel of adventure and intrigue about a Dutch police inspector who suddenly abandons his safe, complacently comfortable life in 1946 Amsterdam in order to take a young girl, a survivor of Auschwitz, to Palestine, Jan De Hartog’s “The Inspector” is actually something else entirely. Peter Jongeman, the inspector of the title, is a man in late middle age who , as he confronts growing old, realizes that his entire life-his career, his marriage, his surviving the German occupation of the Netherlands- has been characterized by compromise. He has played it safe, with good reason, but he has reached a state of spiritual emptiness. When in the course of his job he meets Anna Held, a camp survivor trying to get to Palestine whom he rescues from sex traffickers, he decides that he will help get her to Palestine. When he discovers that it cannot be done through normal channels, he risks everything he has to take her there himself.

What emerges is not an action packed thriller, but an elegiac, melancholy character study and a most unusual, unexpected kind of love story. Logical, thoughtful, and deliberate in its pace and development, “The Inspector “ is a Novel about choice, failure, disappointment , forgiveness and redemption. Its characters are vividly real, and the reader really cares about them as their journey moves to its inexorable, moving climax. This is the adventure story as literature; it feels like something Joseph Conrad might have written had he lived through World War II.

[Lonette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched a move on Turner Classic Movies called "Lisa" that was based on this book. I liked the film so much that I decided to read the book. It is no longer in print, so I ordered a used copy from Amazon. As is often the case, I liked the book better than the movie. The eponymous character started out as a henpecked police inspector in post World War II Holland who encounters a young Jewish girl, Anna, who is desperately trying to get "home" to Israel. She had survived a concentration camp where she had been experimented on by Nazi doctors, leaving her scarred physically and emotionally. Britain had put a ban on incoming Jews to Palestine, so the inspector, Peter, decided to smuggle Anna into the country. Both characters change a great deal during the course of this journey. Peter gained more self confidence and the ability to understand himself and those around hm, and Anna learned to trust again. I thought it was a beautiful story.