A couple of years ago I had plans to join in on Iris's Dutch Lit Month and had come up with a list of potential reads. While I did manage to read one book, most of the books went back to their spots in my TBR piles (always a case of 'eyes bigger than stomach'), but I never regret the lists I come up with as they can always be mined later on. Like now, for example. I was recently chatting with my friend Cath about how I would like to read something by a Dutch author, perhaps a memoir but was having problems finding something that sounded interesting and had been translated into English.
In my wanderings I thought back to my list of Dutch works and was looking them over when I came across Louis Couperus's Eline Vere. I had actually checked it out from the library back in 2012, but as it is on the chunky side I never did get around to reading more than the first few pages. I was thinking about the book last week but it wasn't until yesterday that I managed to go into the stacks and pull my library's copy. I don't know about you, but I often pick up books like this on pure whim. Mostly I have a mental list going and try and keep the books in an orderly queue, but then a new book will come along that I just cave into and that's that (and the reason my mental queue is always so long and why I mark titles 'read' so infrequently--other books cut in line . . . ).
Timing really is everything. I always plan out my day's reading--I pack my book bag in the morning carefully as I tend to have a bus book, a lunch/break book and a book for the gym. (Yes, I know, I probably think about these things far too much and too deeply). I'm afraid my gym book stayed in my locker and Eline went with me on my walk and then she went with me on my bus ride, too.
I'm not very far into the story yet, but I have to say I have fallen quite happily and easily into the story. The book was published in 1889 and according to the blurb the author was "catapulted into prominence" with this novel which was inspired by Flaubert's Madame Bovary. Eline is going to be an interesting character to read about--an "eccentric". I'm not sure how old she is at the beginning of the story--a youngish woman whose parents are both dead. She lives with her sister and brother-in-law, the man who she initially had a romantic interest in until he met Betsy. Eline, however, seems to bear no ill will towards her sister or Henk, her husband.
My teaser is a description of Eline. It's a bit on the long side, but if you're curious about the book and/or character, do give this a quick read. I like Couperus's writing style and as I read I get a very good picture in mind of people and place as you will see below:
"Eline Vere was the younger of the two sisters, with darker hair and eyes and a slimmer, less rounded figure. The lambent darkness of her gaze, in combination with the translucent pallor of her skin and the languishing quality of certain of her gestures, gave her something of an odalisque lost in reverie. Her beauty was of great concern to her; she made it glow and sparkle like a treasured jewel, and this sustained attention rendered her almost infatuated with what she considered her best features. She would gaze at her reflection for minutes on end, smiling as she traced the line of eyebrows and lashes with the tip of a rosy fingernail, pulling the lids sideways a fraction to make almond eyes, or rumpling her mass of brown locks into the wild exuberance of a gypsy girl. Her wardrobe, too, was the object of long and earnest meditation, involving the effects and harmonies of the cold sheen of satin, the warmer, changeable shades of silk plush, the froth of tille and gauze, and the sheerness of mousseline and lace. From the quivering flashes of her diamond ring to the subtle emanations of her scented sachets, the assortment of fineries gave her a pleasant sensation of luxury and delicate femininity."
Doesn't Couperus paint a very distinct and vivid portrait of Eline. Psychologically as well--though I'll not quote those bits here today--will save them for a later post. Apparently the author is known for his "superbly rendered and vividly imagined characters from a milieu now long forgotten." I'm pleased to hear that as it sounds like just what I am in the mood for at the moment. By the way this is a fairly new translation from 2010 and at first glance it seems very good--smooth reading so far.
[A side note: yesterday Typepad was down for a good part of the day and I am unsure whether it will remain up today. This was a problem not very long ago and the platform was sporadically down for almost a week. In case you have problems connecting (or leaving comments--sorry about that!!--hackers are back at work. But hopefully you'll check back. I'm ready with lots of post ideas, as long as I can access my account]. And if I can't, I'll hopefully be reading Eline Vere instead. And out of curiosity, I wonder just how many "Emma Bovary" stories are out there? (Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Fontane's Effi Briest, Chopin's Awakening . . .?).