Dutch writer Harry Mulisch, author of The Assault (De
Aanslag) and The Discovery of Heaven (De ontdekking van de Hemel), has died at
the age of 83.
Mulisch, considered by many a candidate for the Nobel
Prize for Literature, died of cancer at his Amsterdam home.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte called his death “a loss
for Dutch literature and the Netherlands”.
Mulisch wrote more than 30 works, several with a World
War II theme.
The Discovery of Heaven (De ontdekking van de Hemel) was
named Best Dutch Book Ever in 2007.
The jury was made up of Dutch newspaper readers.
Mulisch was born in Haarlem in the Netherlands. The
Assault was his first major best-seller, set during World War II in the
occupied Netherlands and looking at the ethical and political questions raised
by the conflict.
The book was made into a film of the same name and won an
Oscar and a Golden Globe for best foreign movie.
In the story of The Assault, innocent people are killed
in retaliation for the death of a collaborator.
In real life, Mulisch’s father had collaborated with the
Germans.
The Discovery of Heaven was also made into a film in 2001
as The Discovery of Heaven by Jeroen Krabbé and starred Stephen Fry.
Other themes explored in Mulisch’s work are the
relationship between God and Man, and Greek mythology.
Among the awards Mulisch won for his work, the most
important was the lifetime achievement award Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
(Prize of Dutch Literature) in 1995.
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