The Darkroom of Damocles

The Darkroom of Damocles
Author	Willem Frederik Hermans
Original title	De donkere kamer van Damokles
Translator	Roy Edwards
Country	Netherlands
Language	Dutch
Publisher	G. A. van Oorschot
Publication date	1958
Published in English	1962
Pages	335

The Darkroom of Damocles (Dutch: De donkere kamer van Damokles) is a war novel by the Dutch writer Willem Frederik Hermans, published in 1958. An immediate success since it was first published, the novel has been printed in numerous editions and is one of the greatest World War II novels.^{[according to whom?]} The book has been translated into English twice, in 1962 by Roy Edwards, and again in 2007 by Ina Rilke. It was adapted into the 1963 film Like Two Drops of Water, directed by Fons Rademakers.^[1] Le Carré's spy novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was in part inspired by The Darkroom of Damocles by Hermans, who suspected plagiarism.^[2]

Plot

Osewoudt, a cigar store owner from Voorschoten, near Leiden, living under the Nazi occupation, makes his acquaintance with the mysterious Dorbeck, who claims to be involved in the Resistance movement. Dorbeck enlists Osewoudt for dangerous attacks on the Gestapo and Dutch Nazi collaborators. After the Nazi defeat Dorbeck has disappeared, and Osewoudt is arrested for collaboration. Now, Osewoudt needs Dorbeck to prove his innocence.

Reception

Neel Mukherjee of The Daily Telegraph wrote in 2007: "The novel, written in a spare, even desiccated style, becomes starkly existentialist, bringing to mind Camus and the Sartre of Les Chemins de la Liberté. Crackling with tension at the same time as a philosophical cynicism - or perhaps just an uninterested amorality - about motives and actions, this is an edgy, uneasy novel about the human condition, effortlessly disguised as a thriller."^[3]

References

^ "Als twee druppels water". filmfestival.nl (in Dutch). Netherlands Film Festival. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
^ "The spy writer who held a grudge against Le Carré comes in from the cold". The Guardian/The Observer Books. London. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2022. “I have the impression that he [Le Carré] based his Spy largely on my book,” said Hermans, whose novel tells the story of a man who carries out dangerous missions with British agents during the German occupation of the Netherlands.
^ Mukherjee, Neel (2007-09-13). "A Dutch classic to rival Camus". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-04-20.

Sources

Textual Studies

Frans A. Janssen en Sonja van Stek (in Dutch), Bibliographical Description of All Editions of The Darkroom of Damocles. In Frans A. Janssen en Sonja van Stek, Het bibliografische universum van Willem Frederik Hermans [The Bibliographical Universe of Willem Frederik Hermans]. Tweede, herziene en uitgebreide versie in samenwerking met Peter Kegel, Willem Frederik Hermans Instituut, 2005, 81-99.
Editors of the Huygens Institute (in Dutch), Textual History, Adopted Readings and Emendations of The Darkroom of Damocles (1958)

Criticism

Frans A. Janssen (in Dutch) , On The Darkroom of Damocles by Willem Frederik Hermans. This book has chapters on Publication history, Plot Summary, Interpretation, Interpretations by Other Critics, The Doppelgänger Motif, Narrative Technique, Style and Structure, Reception. Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam 1983
René Marres (in Dutch), , The Interpretation of The Darkroom of Damocles by Willem Frederik Hermans. Dimensie Boeken, Leiden 1996

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[1] "Als twee druppels water". filmfestival.nl (in Dutch). Netherlands Film Festival. Retrieved 2012-04-20.

[2] "The spy writer who held a grudge against Le Carré comes in from the cold". The Guardian/The Observer Books. London. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2022. “I have the impression that he [Le Carré] based his Spy largely on my book,” said Hermans, whose novel tells the story of a man who carries out dangerous missions with British agents during the German occupation of the Netherlands.

[3] Mukherjee, Neel (2007-09-13). "A Dutch classic to rival Camus". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-04-20.

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