Parents Worry

Parents Worry contains the largely historical tale about one day in the ravaged life of the poet Hugo Treger, who sees the dire straits humanity and the world are in and who desperately searches for a way out, and for the truth. The road to truth, however, leads through pain, cruelty and suffering. 'Per Dolorem ad Veritatem,' muses our hero: 'Through pain to Truth'. Reve’s tone is that of a highly individual romantic-ironist, individual not least in his profound mysticism and his obsessive sado-masochism. The merging of sex and religion is a common Reve theme, embodied in crucial central figures such as 'The Merciless Boy' and the Virgin Mary, as are the recurring tussles with King Alcohol and Death. Reve's style is unique and daring, leading from surprise to surprise, and his ironic stance is that of an arch reactionary and 'a proponent of Church and State and Law and Order', though perhaps no other Dutch artist has so frequently and so vehemently come into conflict with each and all of these powers. Parents Worry is a hard, nearly merciless book that triumphs because Reve is able to convey his material with rare authenticity and a fierce emotional charge which is made manifest in irresistible wit and humour combined with complete control of language and form. With such qualities to the fore, it is easy to forget to mention that Reve is a comic genius. With Parents Worry, Gerard Reve has reached a new pinnacle in a career that has led him through the farthest flung corners of human existence. 'My work isn't always a little ray of sunshine,' Reve himself says, but I give my Beloved Public what it demands from me, and I wish to continue to do so for the rest of my life.’****Text: English (translation)Original Language: Dutch Written by the author of "The Evenings" and "The Language of Love", this novel is a heavy mix of God, sex, death and drink, presented in a concentrated and taut style. Een schrijver wordt aan de vooravond van het kerstfeest geplaagd door velerlei angsten en (vooral homo- ) erotische fantasieën. NL-ZmNBD Gerard Reve ; In The Authorised Translation From The Dutch By Richard Huijing. Translation Of: Bezorgde Ouders.