The Sorrow of Belgium
| Author | Hugo Claus |
|---|---|
| Original title | Het Verdriet van België |
| Translator | Arnold J. Pomerans |
| Country | Belgium |
| Language | Dutch |
|
Publication date
|
1983 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN |
The Sorrow of Belgium (Dutch: Het verdriet van België) is a novel by the Belgian author Hugo Claus published in 1983. Arguably Claus' best-known work, the novel was translated into English by Arnold J. Pomerans in 1994. It was also made into a mini-series the same year.
The novel is classified as bildungsroman and comprises two parts:
It tells the story of the childhood and youth of Louis Seynaeve (Claus's alter ego) in the Flemish village of Walle (a part of Kortrijk) from 1939 to 1947, coinciding with the period Second World War, the German occupation of Belgium, and its aftermath.
Belgium, 1939. Louis Seynaeve, who becomes eleven in April, goes to a boarding school led by nuns in Haarbeke, a fictitious town close to Kortrijk. Louis has a lot of fantasies. He and his friends call themselves the Four Apostles and they possess seven forbidden books. His father comes to tell him that his mother fell down the stairs, which actually means that she is pregnant. Several months later the baby is stillborn.
His family members are Flemish nationalists. Louis' father buys a printing press in Germany and a Hitler Youth doll. During the German occupation of Belgium in the Second World War his family sympathises with the Germans. Louis attends meetings of the Hitler Youth in Mecklenburg.
Louis discovers more "forbidden books" and becomes interested in Entartete Kunst. Gradually he becomes aware of the narrow-mindedness of his family and his education. He ends up being a writer. He's the author of "The Sorrow", the first part of the novel.
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