Gerard Reve

Gerard Reve (born Dec. 14, 1923, Amsterdam, Neth.—died April 8, 2006, Zulte, Belg.) was a Dutch writer noted for his virtuoso style and sardonic humour. His subject matter was occasionally controversial, treating such topics as homosexuality and sadism.

Although Reve invented a fanciful background for himself as the Dutch-born child of Baltic-Russian refugees, he was in fact the son of a Dutch journalist. From 1945 to 1947 Reve attended the Amsterdam school of graphic arts, after which he worked as a reporter for Het Parool, a national daily newspaper.

Reve’s first novel, published under the pseudonym Simon van het Reve, was De avonden (1947; “The Evenings”), a work that describes 10 nights in the life of the cynical and aimless Frits van Egters; it is considered the most representative work of fiction of the Dutch postwar generation. An early novella, Werther Nieland (1949), was highly popular, as were his short-story collections Vier wintervertellingen (1956; originally written and published in English as The Acrobat and Other Stories) and Tien vrolijke verhalen (1961; “Ten Cheerful Stories”). Employing a technique he called epistolary autobiography—an amalgam of letter and story, fact and fiction—Reve wrote Op weg naar het einde (1963; “On the Way to the End”) and Nader tot U (1966; “Nearer to Thee”), exploring in both his homosexuality and conversion to Roman Catholicism. His other works include De taal der liefde (1972; “The Language of Love”), Lieve jongens (1973; “Dear Boys”), Ik had hem lief (1975; “I Loved Him”), and Bezorgde ouders (1988; Parents Worry). Several of his novels were made into films.

Reve published a series of books of correspondence, beginning in the 1980s with Brieven aan Wim B., 1968–1975 (1983; “Letters to Wim B.”) and continuing through such works as Brieven van een aardappeleter (1993; “Letters of a Potato Eater”) and Brieven aan Matroos Vosch 1975–1992 (1997; “Letters to Matroos Vosch”). He was the recipient of prestigious literary awards, including the P.C. Hooft Prize (1968).