Simon Vestdijk

Simon Vestdijk (born Oct. 17, 1898, Harlingen, Neth.—died March 23, 1971, Utrecht) was a prolific Dutch writer whose early novels, with their unrelenting exposure of the barrenness of middle-class provincial life, shocked the bourgeois world of the 1930s.

The cerebral, intellectual approach that characterizes Vestdijk’s writing was already apparent in his poetry, with which he started his literary career. In his first published novel, Meneer Vissers hellevaart (1936; “Mr. Visser’s Journey Through Hell”), the influence of James Joyce is evident—from the wealth of interior monologue to the author’s preoccupation with distasteful everyday details. The brutality and mental cruelty of Mr. Visser is shown to stem from his militaristic upbringing, but, as in most of Vestdijk’s novels, psychoanalytical intentions tend to swamp spiritual and human considerations in the work. His novel Terug tot Ina Damman (1934; “Back to Ina Damman”), a love story, was considered equally shocking when it appeared, but, having a less bitter theme, it probably remains the most popular of his more than 50 novels. His other novels include two that were translated into English: Rumeiland (1940; Rum Island) and De koperen tuin (1950; The Garden Where the Brass Band Played).