
Pathologies
The Downfall of Johan van Vere de With
Jacob Israeel de Haan(Author)
Seagull Books London Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 10. September 2024
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-1-80309-346-8 (ISBN)
Description
One of the first novels to openly explore gay love and eroticism, Pathologies is a lost classic that is now translated into English for the first time.
At the start of the twentieth century, Jewish anti-Zionist Jacob Israel de Haan led an eventful life as a poet, journalist, teacher, and lawyer in the Netherlands. His autobiographical novella Pipelines caused a storm of controversy in 1904 with its portrayal of a subject that was considered scandalous at the time-a romantic relationship between two young men. He lost his teaching job, and the entire print run was pulped.
In his iconic 1908 novel Pathologies, he once again openly and radically explored the topic of homosexuality. The story centers around adolescent Johan, who lives a secluded life with his father and their elderly housekeeper in a large house. For a while, Johan has been plagued by erotic fantasies about his classmates. When, to make matters worse, he finds himself feeling attracted to his father-first in a dream, and then in real life-he grows desperate. Johan moves out, finding room and board with an older married couple in Haarlem, where he meets Rene, a young confident artist. Johan falls head-over-heels in love, and the two men enter a sadomasochistic relationship that soon begins to spiral out of control.
Johan is one of world literature's most tragic, troubled young heroes, at par with Goethe's Werther and Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov. His struggle to come to terms with his fantasies and desires-rife with taboos that continue to resonate today-forms the beating heart of this daring novel. Written in De Haan's precise, lyrical prose, Pathologies has lost none of its force more than a century after it was first published.
At the start of the twentieth century, Jewish anti-Zionist Jacob Israel de Haan led an eventful life as a poet, journalist, teacher, and lawyer in the Netherlands. His autobiographical novella Pipelines caused a storm of controversy in 1904 with its portrayal of a subject that was considered scandalous at the time-a romantic relationship between two young men. He lost his teaching job, and the entire print run was pulped.
In his iconic 1908 novel Pathologies, he once again openly and radically explored the topic of homosexuality. The story centers around adolescent Johan, who lives a secluded life with his father and their elderly housekeeper in a large house. For a while, Johan has been plagued by erotic fantasies about his classmates. When, to make matters worse, he finds himself feeling attracted to his father-first in a dream, and then in real life-he grows desperate. Johan moves out, finding room and board with an older married couple in Haarlem, where he meets Rene, a young confident artist. Johan falls head-over-heels in love, and the two men enter a sadomasochistic relationship that soon begins to spiral out of control.
Johan is one of world literature's most tragic, troubled young heroes, at par with Goethe's Werther and Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov. His struggle to come to terms with his fantasies and desires-rife with taboos that continue to resonate today-forms the beating heart of this daring novel. Written in De Haan's precise, lyrical prose, Pathologies has lost none of its force more than a century after it was first published.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Greenford
United Kingdom
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
592 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80309-346-8 (9781803093468)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Jacob Israel de Haan (1881-1924) was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Smilde, Netherlands. Following the controversy surrounding his novels, De Haan emigrated to Palestine, where he was assassinated in 1924 by a member of a paramilitary organization. He is considered an important precursor of the gay liberation movement. Brian Doyle-Du Breuil is a translator of poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction from Dutch/Flemish into English.
Content
Introduction
Foreword
Preface
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Afterword: Epilogue to Pathologies
Foreword
Preface
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Afterword: Epilogue to Pathologies