ackelisa godwen holice
Boyan Atanaschev
Stefan Hertmans' War and Turpentine: A Novel Based on His Grandfather's Life and Art
Stefan Hertmans is a Flemish Belgian author, poet and essayist who has written a literary and essayistic oeuvre that includes poetry, novels, essays, plays and short stories. His work has been translated into various languages and he has taught and lectured at several universities and institutions around the world.
One of his most acclaimed works is War and Turpentine (original title in Dutch: Oorlog en Terpentijn), a novel based on his grandfather's notebooks recollecting his time before, during and after the First World War. Hertmans received the notebooks from his grandfather, Urbain Martien, shortly before his death in 1981, but he did not dare to open them for years, suspecting that they might contain disturbing secrets.
When he finally did, he discovered a remarkable life story that spanned from the late-nineteenth-century poverty in Belgium to the horrors of the trenches to the loss of the young love of his life. His grandfather was also a talented painter who sublimated his grief in the silence of his art. Hertmans used these diary entries, his childhood memories and the stories told within Urbain's paintings to produce a poetic novelisation of his grandfather's story, bringing it to life with great imaginative power and vivid detail.
War and Turpentine is an enthralling search for a life that coincided with the tragedy of a centuryâand a posthumous, almost mythical attempt to give that life a voice at last. It is a novel that explores the themes of war, love, art, memory and identity, and that pays tribute to a generation that sacrificed everything for their country and their loved ones.
The novel was first published in 2013 by De Bezige Bij and has since been translated into several languages. It has received numerous awards and nominations, such as the ECI Literatuurprijs, the Golden Book Owl Audience Award, the AKO Literatuurprijs, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Man Booker International Prize. It has also been praised by critics and readers alike as a masterpiece of literature.
If you are interested in reading this novel, you can find it in various formats, such as paperback, hardcover, ebook or audiobook. You can also check out some of the reviews and ratings on Goodreads or other online platforms. War and Turpentine is a novel that will touch your heart and mind with its beauty and poignancy.
Stefan Hertmans has also written other novels, such as De bekeerlinge (The Convert), De opgang (The Ascent) and Naar Merelbeke (To Merelbeke), as well as collections of short stories, essays and poetry. His works explore various topics, such as history, religion, art, politics and identity, and often combine autobiographical elements with fictional ones.
His writing style is characterized by its lyrical, poetic and evocative language, as well as its intertextual and intercultural references. He draws inspiration from different sources, such as classical literature, philosophy, music and painting. He also experiments with different genres and forms, such as the novel in stories, the essayistic novel and the poetic novel.
Stefan Hertmans is not only a prolific and versatile writer, but also a respected and influential figure in the literary scene. He has received several awards and honors for his work, such as the Multatuli Prize, the Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize, the Flemish Culture Prize for Literature and the French Prix Femina Ãtranger. He has also been nominated for several international prizes, such as the Man Booker International Prize, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award.
If you want to discover more about Stefan Hertmans and his books, you can visit his official website or follow him on social media. You can also find his books in various online platforms or bookstores. Stefan Hertmans is a writer who will enchant you with his words and stories.
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