The Twin (Boven is het stil) Gerbrand Bakker, 2006 264 pages, 75.000 words ............................................   Download the factsheet Download the reviews Download more reviews Sample translation ............................................   For full English, French or German manuscript, contact molegraaf@cossee.com

The Twin is a father and son story set in a quintessentially Dutch landscape. This novel chronicles a way of life which has remained resistant to modernity, culturally apart, and yet split apart with a kind of romantic longing. Bakker’s characters and his countryside are tangibly real, particularly in their quietness, the silent nature of farming life. The sense of place, the brooding atmosphere and the strong characters recall writers such as Graham Swift, Annie Proulx and Cormac McCarthy.

In 2012 production of a film adaptation of the book will be starting.

‘Though rich in detail, it’s a sparely written story, with the narrator’s odd small cruelties, laconic humour and surprising tendernesses emerging through a steady, well-paced, unaffected style. The book convinces from first page to last. With quiet mastery the story draws in the reader. The writing is wonderful: restrained and clear, and studded with detail of farm rhythms in the cold, damp Dutch countryside. The author excels at dialogue, and Helmer’s inner story-telling voice also comes over perfectly as he begins to change everything around him. There are intriguing ambiguities, but no false notes. Nothing and no one is predictable, and yet we believe in them all: the regular tanker driver, the next door neighbour with her two bouncing children, and Jaap, the old farm labourer from the twins’ childhood who comes back to the farm in time for the last great upheaval, as Helmer finally takes charge of what is left of his own life.’ – IMPAC Award Jury

Helmer er blitt 56 år gammel. Det er gått 37 år siden Henk omkom i en bilulykke; tvillingbroren som var utpekt som arvtaker til gården; han som hadde slikt lag med dyr. Et par dager etter ulykken satt jeg med hodet under kyrne, forteller Helmer. – Og der har jeg befunnet meg siden.

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When his twin brother dies in a car accident, Helmer is obliged to return from university life to take over his brother’s role on the small family farm, resigning himself to spending the rest of his days ‘with his head under a cow.’

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Helmer van Wonderen vit depuis trente-cinq ans dans la ferme familiale, malgré lui. C'est Henk, son frère jumeau, qui aurait dû reprendre l'affaire. Mais il a disparu dans un tragique accident, à l'âge de vingt ans. Alors Helmer travaille, accomplissant les mêmes gestes, invariablement, machinalement. Un jour, sans raison apparente, il décide d'installer son vieux père au premier étage, de changer de meubles, de refaire la décoration de la maison.

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Helmer van Wonderen vit depuis trente-cinq ans dans la ferme familiale, malgré lui. C'est Henk, son frère jumeau, qui aurait dû reprendre l'affaire. Mais il a disparu dans un tragique accident, à l'âge de vingt ans. Alors Helmer travaille, accomplissant les mêmes gestes, invariablement, machinalement. Un jour, sans raison apparente, il décide d'installer son vieux père au premier étage, de changer de meubles, de refaire la décoration de la maison. Le besoin de rompre la monotonie de sa vie et l'envie de mettre fin à ce face-à-face presque silencieux avec un homme devenu grabataire le font agir, plein de colère retenue. Les choses s'accélèrent le jour où il reçoit une lettre de Riet lui demandant de l'aide : Riet était la fiancée de son frère. Elle fut aussi à l'origine de son accident mortel...

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Tvillingebrorens drukneulykke for 30 år siden tvang Helmer væk fra studierne i storbyen og tilbage til den fædrene gård i det nordlige Holland. Her bor han alene med sin sengeliggende og kværulerende far ? indtil en dag, et umærkeligt vendepunkt indtræffer ? Bogen er en stærk, gribende og litterært overbevisende roman om et far-søn-forhold

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Lassù, in un angolo dimenticato dell’Olanda del Nord, la terra è piatta come la vita di chi la abita. Lassù, dalla stanza fredda al primo piano della cascina dove Helmer ha appena rinchiuso il padre vecchio e infermo, non viene più nessun rumore. È la vendetta crudele e incruenta di un figlio costretto a vivere per decenni una vita non sua: dalla morte del fratello gemello in un incidente, lo studente di lettere con pochi soldi e tanti sogni di poesia e di città è tornato in campagna a mungere le vacche, e non ha più smesso.

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When his twin brother dies in a car accident, Helmer is obliged to return to the small family farm. He resigns himself to taking over his brother’s role and spending the rest of his days ‘with his head under a cow’.

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Helmer van Wonderen on viisikymppinen karjatilallinen, jonka kaavamainen elämä saa uuden suunnan, kun hän muuttaa isäukkonsa yläkerran makuuhuoneeseen tämän viimeisiksi elinpäiviksi. Noutajaa odotellessa Helmer pistää alakerran sisustuksen täysin uusiksi – mutta se on vasta alkua. Askel askeleelta vaitonainen, isänsä ja kaksoisveljensä tossun alla elänyt ja äitiään edelleen ikävöivä peräkammarin poika ottaa elämän ohjat omiin käsiinsä. Ja toteuttaa vaatimattoman mutta itsepintaisen haaveensa.

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Hollandalı yazar Gerbrand Bakker''ın ilk romanı olan Yukarıda Ses Yok, aile çiftliğinde yatalak babasıyla birlikte yaşayan elli beş yaşındaki Helmer''ın hayatından bir kesit sunuyor bize. İlk bakışta son derece sakin ve olaysız görünen bu hayat aslında trajik bir geçmiş üzerine inşa edilmiştir, zira Helmer''ın ikiz kardeşi on dokuz yaşındayken bir araba kazasında ölmüş ve Helmer yoluna yarım bir adam olarak devam etmek zorunda kalmıştır. İşin içine, ölen ikizi her daim üstün tutan bir baba ve üstlenilmesi gereken çiftlik işleri de girince, Helmer''ın hayatı hiç istemediği bir istikamette ilerlemiştir.

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"지난 십년 동안 발간된 작품 중 가장 아름다운 데뷔작을 썼다"는 찬사를 들으며 데뷔와 동시에 여러 문학상을 받고 네덜란드 문단의 기대주가 된 헤르브란트 바커르의 장편소설 『그곳은 평화롭겠지Boven is het stil』가 문학과지성사에서 출간되었다. 이 비범한 데뷔작은 네덜란드 국내는 물론 여러 해외의 유명 잡지들에서도 각종 찬사를 받았으며, 이미 영국․독일 등 10개국에서 번역 출간되었을 뿐 아니라 영화로도 제작될 예정이다. 영어판 『쌍둥이The Twin』는 '2010년 국제 IMPAC 더블린 문학상'을 수상하기도 했다.

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Helmer es un granjero que, con cincuenta y cinco años y una vida marcada por la soledad, está a punto de tomar las riendas de su vida. Gerbrand Bakker nos envuelve en los pensamientos de un protagonista que trata de entender su propio aislamiento a través de un lenguaje directo que nos divierte, emociona y nos lleva a preguntarnos el porqué de nuestras propias decisiones. Los constantes viajes entre el pasado y el presente nos hacen partícipes de una historia que podría haber sido diferente.

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באיפוק, במקצב אטי ובהומור דק וחכם מתאר הספר למעלה שקט חיים בכפר הולנדי. הֶלמר, גבר בשנות החמישים לחייו, משכים כל בוקר אל הפרות, התרנגולות, הכבשים והחמורים, ומקיים לבדו את החווה המשפחתית שבה נולד וגדל. אלא ששגרת המטלות היומיומיות רק נראית שלווה, מתחת לפני השטח ממשיכה לבעבע דרמה משפחתית ארוכת שנים. את אביו הקשיש, המרותק למיטתו, מעביר הֶלמר אל חדר בקומה העליונה וכך גוזר עליו בידוד כמעט מוחלט.

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Helmer van Wonderen, Bauer wider Willen, macht klar Schiff. Er verfrachtet seinen bettlägerigen Vater ins Obergeschoß, entrümpelt Wohn- und Elternschlafzimmer, streicht Dielen, Fenster, Türen und Wände und schafft neue Möbel an. Das Gemälde mit den schwarzen Schafen, die Fotografien von Mutter und die alte Standuhr kommen nach oben, alle Pflanzen, die blühen können, auf den Misthaufen.

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When his twin brother dies in a car accident, Helmer is obliged to return to the small family farm. He resigns himself to taking over his brother’s role and spending the rest of his days ‘with his head under a cow’.

Click here for more information