Ina Rilke's translation is fluent and finds clever solutions to tough challenges (such as preserving the comic effect of conversations in which English is the foreign language), but overall the tone is more formal, more prim than it should be. 'In the original Dutch, Hermans's prose is bracingly lucid and straightforward, justifying his reputation as a champion of unadorned style.Hermans schreibt plastisch und schnörkellos, suggestiv und poetisch.' - Wolfgang Schneider, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (.) Nie mehr schlafen ist ein großes Buch über die Vergeblichkeit, ein philosophischer Roman ohne die Schwächen, die dieser Mischform oft anhaften: das belletristisch entschärfte Räsonieren, den räsonierend entschärften Stil. 'Ein Text von präziser realistischer Konkretion, der zugleich als philosophische Parabel zu lesen ist, als Endspiel am Nordkap.What’s more, it is entirely unfamiliar.' - Michael Pye, Bookforum It has the energy and ruthlessness of farce and a terrifying deadpan style, and it ends in appalling catastrophe. '(I)t’s as bright and black as anything contemporary.The author notes that he made some 250 minor changes to the text for the revised edition of 1978Ī- : odd, effective (mis-)adventure tale of man never destined for much.Nooit meer slapen was made into a film (2005), directed by Gerrard Verhage.General information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs.

Beyond sleep willem frederik hermans