War and Turpentine
Author | Stefan Hertmans |
---|---|
Original title | Oorlog en Terpentijn |
Language | Dutch |
Publisher | De Bezige Bij |
Publication date | 2013 |
War and Turpentine (original title in Dutch: Oorlog en Terpentijn) is a 2013 novel by Belgian author Stefan Hertmans, originally published by De Bezige Bij. It is a novel about his grandfather, the artist Urbain Martien, during World War I. Hertmans based it on the notebooks his grandfather gave him in 1981. It was translated in English by David McKay and published by Pantheon Books in the US and by Harvill Secker in the UK. It has been translated in twenty languages so far.[1] By 2015, the Dutch version had sold over 200,000 copies.[2]
Reception
It was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2016 by The New York Times Book Review.[3] It was also included in the list of Books of the Year from The Economist[4] The review in the Guardian called it a "future classic" and compared it to the works of W. G. Sebald, as did the NYT Book Review.[5]
The Irish Times gave it a less favourable review, calling it "an important work" but negatively comparing the "somewhat flat and toneless" prose to that of W. G. Sebald and calling it "less convincing artistically".[1]
Awards
- 2014: AKO Literatuurprijs[6]
- 2016: Inktaap[6]
Translations
- Min bedstefars himmel, Danish, 2014, translated by Birthe Lundsgaard, People's Press
- Krig og terpentin, Norwegian, 2014, translated by Hedda Vormeland, Pax
- Rat i terpentin, Serbian, 2014, translated by Ivana Šćepanović, Heliks
- Guerre et térébenthine, French, 2015, translated by Isabelle Rosselin, Gallimard
- Guerra e trementina, Italian, 2015, translated by Laura Pignatti, Marsilio
- Der Himmel meines Großvaters, German, 2015, translated by Ira Wilhelm, Hanser Verlag
- Wojny i terpentyna, Polish, 2015, translated by Alicja Oczko, Marginesy
- Japanese translation, 2015
- Vojna in terpentin, Slovenian, 2015, translated by Staša Pavlović, Studentska zalozba
- Krig of terpentin, Swedish, 2015, translated by Ingrid Wikén Bonde, Norstedts
- War and Turpentine, English, 2016, translated by David McKay
- Oorlog en terpentyn, Afrikaans, 2016, translated by Daniel Hugo, Protea Boekhuis
- Háború és terpentin, Hungarian, 2016, translated by Miklós Fenyves, Európa
- Croatian version, 2016, translated by Romana Perečinec, Fraktura
Notes
- ^ a b Battersby, Eileen (7 July 2016). "War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans review: real, raw and powerful". Irish Times.
- ^ Duplat, Guy (18 October 2015). "Stefan Hertmans, le chagrin d'un Flamand". La Libre Belgique (in French).
- ^ "The 10 Best Books of 2016". The New York Times Book Review. 1 December 2016.
- ^ "Books of the Year 2016". The Economist. 10 December 2016.
- ^ Mukherjee, Neil (2 July 2016). "War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans review – a future classic". Guardian.
- ^ a b "Stefan Hertmans wint Inktaap 2016". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Belga. 14 March 2016.