The Discovery of Heaven

Last updated
The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven 1992 first edition cover.jpg
First edition cover
Author Harry Mulisch
Original titleDe ontdekking van de hemel
Translator Paul Vincent
LanguageDutch
Genre Philosophical fiction
Set in Netherlands, Cuba, Rome, Poland and Jerusalem, 1933–1985
Publisher De Bezige Bij (Dutch)
Penguin Books (English)
Publication date
October 1992
Publication placeNetherlands
Published in English
1996
Media typeBook
Pages905
ISBN 0-670-85668-1
OCLC 34411842
839.3/1364 20
LC Class PT5860.M85 O5713 1996
Preceded byThe Last Call 
Followed byThe Procedure 

The Discovery of Heaven (Dutch : De ontdekking van de hemel) is a 1992 novel by Dutch writer Harry Mulisch. It is considered Mulisch's masterpiece and was voted best book in the Dutch language in a 2007 poll among the readers of NRC Handelsblad . [1]

Contents

A 2001 film adaptation by director Jeroen Krabbé features Stephen Fry and Flora Montgomery in the leading roles.

Plot summary

In the book, an angel-like being is given the task of returning the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments to Heaven. However, he cannot directly travel to Earth, so he manipulates events to bring three people together who will conceive a child with an innate desire to fulfill the mission. The book is divided into four parts, each representing a different phase of the story.

In "The Beginning of the Beginning," the angel reports to his superior that he has completed his mission after seventy years of planning. He orchestrates the birth of the messenger's parents, Max Delius and Ada Brons, who meet in the aftermath of World War II. Max and Ada's friend, Onno Quist, also plays a significant role in their lives. Max and Onno become close friends, engaging in intellectual conversations about various topics, including religion and philosophy. Ada falls in love with Max, but their relationship ends abruptly when Max leaves during a sexual encounter. Ada then develops a relationship with Onno.

In "The End of the Beginning," Ada discovers she is pregnant, and Onno proposes to marry her, assuming the child is his. However, Max realizes he could be the father and decides to distance himself from Ada and Onno. Ada's condition worsens after a car accident, and Max begins a secret affair with Ada's mother, Mrs. Brons. Max suggests they raise the child together, and they move to an apartment near Westerbork. Ada gives birth to a child named Quinten.

"The Beginning of the End" focuses on Quinten's upbringing. He is an introverted and intelligent child, fascinated by architecture and ancient keys. Onno's political career crumbles, and he decides to disappear from society. Max leaves Mrs. Brons for another woman but continues to live with her and Quinten. Max is on the verge of a major astronomical discovery when he is killed by a meteoroid.

In "The End of the End," Quinten, now sixteen, sets out to find his father. He travels to Italy and eventually meets Onno in Rome. They visit various sights and become fixated on the stone tablets stored in the Lateran. Quinten believes they hold significance in Christianity and Judaism. After studying ancient architecture and locksmithing, Quinten convinces Onno to steal the stone tablets. They discover the tablets in the Lateran's chapel and travel to Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem, Onno encounters an elderly woman who may be Max's mother and Quinten's grandmother. Meanwhile, Quinten enters a hallucinative state and returns to the Dome of the Rock with the tablets. In this dream-like state, he ascends to heaven with the tablets, completing his mission.

In the end, the angel-like being is commended by the Archangel for his actions, but he feels remorse for severing the connection between heaven and Earth. However, he realizes the situation is beyond his control.

Reception

Cover of the English translation Discovery of heaven.jpg
Cover of the English translation

In a review of the German translation, Der Spiegel called The Discovery of Heaven a masterpiece that successfully captured the plight of the post-War generation in Europe, that "drags along its parents' crimes suffering for life". [2] In the Netherlands, the novel's publication led critics to compare Mulisch with Thomas Mann and Robert Musil; [2] a review in Trouw called it the work of a virtuoso, "amusing, yet also touching and exciting". [3]

A 1997 New York Times review was less favorable, praising the book for its "novelistic bravura", but criticizing the "labyrinthine middle section" that "slows it nearly to a halt". [4]

Adaptation

In 2001 the book was made into a movie of the same name by Jeroen Krabbé. Mulisch allowed his novel be adapted for film on condition that the English comedian Stephen Fry play Onno Quist. [5] Krabbé did not follow the book closely and removed some of the longer pieces, especially the friendship between Max and Onno and the youth of Quinten. He changed some events for dramatic reasons.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>2010: Odyssey Two</i> 1982 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke

2010: Odyssey Two is a 1982 science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It is the sequel to his 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, though Clarke changed some elements of the story to align with the film version of 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Mulisch</span> Dutch writer

Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into 38 languages so far.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Hein Donner</span> Dutch chess grandmaster (1927–1988)

Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner was a Dutch chess grandmaster and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. He took part in the International Chess Tournament (1956), Donner came third, behind Larsen and Darga. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, awarded him the GM title in 1959. He played for the Netherlands in the Chess Olympiads 11 times. He was the uncle of the former Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Piet Hein Donner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeroen Krabbé</span> Dutch actor and film director

Jeroen Aart Krabbé is a Dutch actor and film director with a successful career in both Dutch- and English-language films. He is best known to international audiences for his leading roles in the Paul Verhoeven films Soldier of Orange (1977) and The Fourth Man (1983), for playing the villain General Georgi Koskov in the James Bond film The Living Daylights (1987) and his parts in The Prince of Tides (1991), The Fugitive (1993), and Immortal Beloved (1994). His 1998 directorial debut, Left Luggage, was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle</i> 1969 Vladimir Nabokov novel

Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov published in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Boyd</span> New Zealand professor and literary critic

Brian David Boyd is a professor of literature known primarily as an expert on the life and works of author Vladimir Nabokov and on literature and evolution. He is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of English at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

<i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i> (novel) 1968 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film. Clarke and Kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only Clarke ended up as the official author. The story is based in part on various short stories by Clarke, including "The Sentinel". By 1992, the novel had sold three million copies worldwide. An elaboration of Clarke and Kubrick's collaborative work on this project was made in the 1972 book The Lost Worlds of 2001.

<i>The Howling</i> (film) 1981 American horror film by Joe Dante

The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed and edited by Joe Dante. Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a news anchor who, following a traumatic encounter with a serial killer, visits a resort secretly inhabited by werewolves. The cast includes Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and Elisabeth Brooks.

<i>The Assault</i> Novel by Harry Mulisch

The Assault is a 1982 novel by Dutch author Harry Mulisch. Random House published an English translation by Claire Nicolas White in 1985. It covers 35 years in the life of the lone survivor of a night in Haarlem during World War II when the Nazi occupation forces, finding a Dutch collaborator murdered, retaliate by killing most of the family in front of whose home the body was found. According to the New York Times, this novel "made his reputation at home and abroad". It was translated into dozens of languages and immediately adapted into a film of the same name that won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auke Hulst</span> Musical artist

Auke Anthony Hulst, is a Dutch novelist, journalist and musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdelkader Benali</span> Moroccan-Dutch writer and journalist

Abdelkader Benali is a Moroccan-Dutch writer and journalist.

<i>Bougainville</i> (novel) 1981 novel by F. Springer

Bougainville: Een gedenkschrift is a novel by Dutch author F. Springer. Published in 1981, it won the Ferdinand Bordewijk Prijs in 1982. The novel is one of the author's most popular and was Springer's first big literary success. It is set in the nineteenth-century Dutch colonial past and contemporaneous Bangladesh, and is based on the experiences of the author, who grew up in the Dutch East Indies and was stationed in Bangladesh as a diplomat.

NRC's Best Dutch novels is a list of the most popular Dutch-language novels as of 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henk Hofland</span> Dutch journalist

Hendrik Johannes Adrianus "Henk" Hofland, also commonly known as H.J.A. Hofland, was a Dutch journalist, commentator, essayist, and columnist. He is often referred to as the éminence grise of Dutch journalism. In 1999 he was named Dutch "Journalist of the century" in a nationwide poll among his peers. He once described himself as belonging to the "anarcho-liberal community", though his political orientation is that of the secular center of society.

The Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek is a Dutch organization that includes representatives of bookstores and publishers, whose goal is to promote Dutch literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Dulmers</span> Dutch writer and journalist

Robert Dulmers is a Dutch writer and journalist. Dulmers is known for his years of reporting from the former Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav Wars, during which he was arrested and interrogated. He has written several books, one based on his experiences in the former Yugoslavia and another, on Pope John Paul II's succession, based on years he spent studying for the priesthood in Rome. Dulmers mostly works freelance and has built a reputation as a single-minded and somewhat eccentric writer, difficult to work with but highly praised by his colleagues.

Teunis (Teun) Jacob was a Dutch wall painter and sculptor, who lived and worked in Rotterdam since the early 1950s. He made both figure and nonrepresentational art.

<i>The Last Tycoon</i> (TV series) American television series

The Last Tycoon is an American television series, originating from a pilot produced in 2016 as part of Amazon Studios' seventh pilot season. The show stars Matt Bomer and Kelsey Grammer and is loosely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's last book, the unfinished and posthumously published 1941 novel The Last Tycoon. Amazon picked up the pilot to series on July 27, 2016. The first season premiered on July 28, 2017. On September 9, 2017, Amazon cancelled the series.

Teun van de Keuken is a Dutch producer of television and radio programs who established a reputation investigating fair trade and production practices in the food industry; he founded the chocolate company Tony's Chocolonely. He debuted in 2017 as a novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oikofobie</span> 2013 Dutch book by Thierry Baudet

Oikofobie: De angst voor het eigene is a 2013 Dutch book written by Thierry Baudet.

References

  1. "Het beste boek voor mannen én vrouwen" [The best book, for men and women]. NRC Handelsblad. 12 March 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Die Nase und der Riese" [The Nose and the giant]. Der Spiegel. 1 March 1993.
  3. Meeuse, Piet (21 November 1992). "Gesitueerd in de hemel". Trouw.
  4. Miles, Jack (5 January 1997). "On a Mission From God". New York Times.
  5. "INTERVIEW De instant vriendschap van Stephen Fry". De Standaard. De Standaard. Retrieved 11 April 2015.