Böcker av Jacob Israël de Haan

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 Israël 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 René, 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.

Nog tijdens Jacob Israël de Haans leven raakten zijn romans vergeten, en hij ging over op de dichtkunst. Al vanaf 1900 had hij jeugdwerk gepubliceerd, maar vanaf 1914 kwamen voldragen bundels uit met gedichten die vaak opnieuw homoseksualiteit tot onderwerp hadden: Libertijnsche liederen (1914) en Een nieuw Carthago (1919) zijn beide geïnspireerd door romans van Georges Eekhoud, de Belgische schrijver die de inleiding had geschreven voor Pathologieën. Tevens maakte De Haan het Jood-zijn tot zijn thematiek, zoals al blijkt uit de titel van zijn tweedelige Het Joodsche lied.Het bekendst bleven de postuum uitgegeven Kwatrijnen, een omvangrijke bundel intieme, gevoelige poëzie. Mede om zijn gedichten, emotioneel, eigenzinnig, met een persoonlijke ritmiek, is De Haan een bekend schrijver gebleven. (Wikipedia NL)