The Sorrow of Belgium

novel by Claus

Also known as: “Het verdriet van België”

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July 16, 2026

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The Sorrow of Belgium is a 1983 novel by Belgian author Hugo Claus. It is considered his masterpiece and a significant work of Flemish literature.12

The novel draws on Claus's own experiences as a youth during the Nazi occupation of Belgium during World War II. It offers an unflattering portrayal of a Flemish collaborationist family and critically examines the morally questionable attitudes of Flemish society towards the persecution of Belgian Jews.12

The Sorrow of Belgium is also a Bildungsroman, following the development of a wayward adolescent who ultimately decides to become a writer. The book's dense, poetic style and its unflinching look at historical and social issues brought Claus international acclaim.21

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Belgian literature
After World War II
…Het verdriet van België (1983; The Sorrow of Belgium), paints an unflattering portrait of a Flemish collaborationist family in the years before, during, and after World War II, but it is also a Bildungsroman about a wayward adolescent who decides to become a writer.
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…Het verdriet van België (1983; The Sorrow of Belgium), paints an unflattering portrait of a Flemish collaborationist family in the years before, during, and after World War II, but it is also a Bildungsroman about a wayward adolescent who decides to become a writer.
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Hugo Claus
…Het verdriet van België (1983; The Sorrow of Belgium), which drew on Claus’s own experience as a youth during the Nazi occupation. The dense, poetic work brought scrutiny to the morally suspect attitude of Flemish society toward Nazi treatment of Belgian Jews, nearly half of whom were exterminated during the…
Read More
…Het verdriet van België (1983; The Sorrow of Belgium), which drew on Claus’s own experience as a youth during the Nazi occupation. The dense, poetic work brought scrutiny to the morally suspect attitude of Flemish society toward Nazi treatment of Belgian Jews, nearly half of whom were exterminated during the…
Read More