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Maarten 't Hart. Het woeden der gehle wereld. Amsterdam. Arbeiderspers. 1994 ((C) 1993). 282 pages.
In Het woeden der ghele wereld (The Rage of the Universe), Maarten 't Hart demonstrates his virtuosity as a master storyteller. The novel, his tenth, is a remarkable blend of comedy and intrigue. Although it offers a richly detailed tapestry of provincial life in the Netherlands during the 1950s, seen through the youthful eyes of Alexander Goudveyl, it also provides echoes of compromise and betrayal experienced by the older generation during the German occupation in the 1940s.
Alex is initially presented to us as an introspective eleven-year-old, raised in an unusually conservative Christian enclave within the city of Maassluis. Although he desires...