The veil of mystery shrouding life in its entirety lifts momentarily and I know that at all times and in everything I do I am defenceless and powerless, as replaceable as an atom, and that all my resolve, hopes and fears are nothing but manifestations of the mechanism governing the movements of human molecules in the fathomless vapour of cosmic matter.
That statement is so clear that I am impelled to flag my disagreement. However, it is the conclusion of the Hermans’s protagonist and it matters not one iota that I disagree. Far more important is that the adventures leading to this conclusion make fascinating reading. But would I have read Beyond Sleep had I known it was an existentialst masterpiece? In all honesty, yes (and that despite the fact that the word existentialism enshrouds my heart in a very cold mist. It’s the aftermath of studying Camus for French A-level.) However, Hermans’s The Darkroom of Damocles is such a stupendous read that it was only a matter of time before I read Beyond Sleep. And now there’s nothing else in English. Publishers, if you’re reading this, there’s plenty more to choose from.
But to return to existentialism for a very brief moment – who would have thought that it could be so amusing?
Dutch geologist Alfred Issendorf is striving to make his mark – in many ways he is competing with his dead father. The latter died on a geological expedition during Alfred’s childhood. Alfred wants not only to survive his own expedition but to prove the hypothesis that the Norwegian landscape was formed by meteor impact.
The novel begins with Alfred’s search for the photographic images that will guide him on his expedition. This section is a satiric swipe on the world of academia fuelled by some rough treatment that Hermans himself experienced. (Details here.) As Alfred is passed from pillar to post in a comically frustrating chase, it becomes clear that the Norwegian professor (the one with the photographs) has reasons not to help Alfred, the protégé of the Dutch professor (the one with the competing hypothesis.). Or so Alfred leads us to believe.
He misrepresents himself in other areas also. This is his first expedition and his companions are all experienced explorers. Alfred gives us an account of his unfit, bumbling self, eaten alive by the mosquitos (obviously he’s never heard of lemongrass), struggling to keep dry, incapable of sleep in the land of the midnight sun, losing his equipment piece by piece. He is injured in an accident that mirrors the one that took his father’s life and foreshadows impending disaster. His hypothesis becomes increasingly tenuous. His mind descends in hallucination and paranoia. We see Alfred through his own self-depreciating eyes:
All things considered, I have not been overly blessed with the kind of qualities that come in handy for a geologist. Poor memory, to the point of losing my way in places I know very well. Poor fitness, for lack of exercise. Illegible handwriting. Badly executed drawings.
Some or all of that may be true. What he doesn’t tell us is that he is a tenacious soul, his capacities severely underestimated by himself. Ironically it’s his one act of confidence/vanity/delusion that precipates the inevitable catastrophe. Alfred’s journey, however, is such that before it ends he must dig deep into reserves he did not possess at the beginning. He must become a man but can he snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat?
Unsurprisingly, the Norwegian wilderness plays a huge part in this novel. The descriptions, penned by a geologist cum novelist, are exceptionally vivid and really capture the beauty and the peril of the landscape pictured on the dustjacket. As do Alfred’s exertions!
So, I finally have an opinion. Beyond Sleep and The Darkroom of Damocles are both brilliant reads. But which is the greater novel? A question which is the subject of much literary debate. I’d love to know your view. Haven’t read them …. yet? Make up your mind based on recent blogging reviews.
Beyond Sleep: Asylum Anna (Dutch) Anna (English) Steerforth
The Darkroom of Damocles: Asylum John Baker Lizzy’s Literary Life
Lizzy's Literary Life (Volume One) 
It’s great to finally read your review. I can’t tell yet whether Beyond Sleep or The Dark Room of Damocles is the greater novel, having only read the former so far, but I certainly thought Beyond Sleep was brilliant. There were a few things that appealed to me personally: the highly successful integration of literature and science (something you don’t see very often) and the hike in Norway, which reminded me of my own trip to Greenland several years ago.
By the way, did you know that Hermans was a professor in my own city of Groningen? When I first came to the university in the 1970s he was still remembered and resented for writing the (in)famous Onder professoren (Amongst Professors), a rather unkind satire on academic life with barely disguised and very unflattering portraits of former colleagues (or so I have been told).
Thanks again for making me read this great book!
And as for the rest of his novels – well, you will simply have to polish up your Dutch 😉
Hi Lizzy,
Great that you are doing a review on one of my alltime favorite books! I have two small remarks. First, you suggest that Hermans’ own struggles in academic life were fuel for the book but this does not fit the chronology. The book was published in 1966 and the academic troubles only came out in the early seventies. Second, and more importantly, I think it is not entirely accurate to present Hermans as an existentialist. Hermans’ philosophical views were much more closely aligned with those of the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. In fact, Hermans brought this philosopher to broader intention in Holland through several essays that he wrote on his work, and he has also translated the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus into Dutch. So Hermans is closer to a logical positivist than he his to an existentialist (if you wanted to classify him like that). That is not to say that Hermans’ novels don’t deal with topics that existentialists focus on, but the philosophical ideas that are woven into Hermans’ books are really quite distinct from the ideas of existentialists.
Erik
Thanks for your fantastic comment! Now I need to research the meaning of “logical positivism”.