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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} the Procedure by Harry Mulisch the Procedure by Harry Mulisch Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Procedure by Harry Mulisch The Procedure by Harry Mulisch. A Literary Saloon & Site of Review. Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs. Contents: Main the Best the Rest Review Index Links. The Procedure. by Harry Mulisch. Dutch title: De procedure Translated by Paul Vincent Awarded the De Libris Prijs, 1999. - Return to top of the page - See our review for fuller assessment. Review Summaries Source Rating Date Reviewer Boston Globe . 29/7/2001 Barbara Fisher Daily Telegraph A 13/8/2001 Julia Flynn FAZ A+ 20/3/1999 Harald Hartung The Independent A 10/8/2001 Julia Pascal The LA Times A 9/9/2001 Michael Henry Heim Publishers Weekly B+ 4/6/2001 . Rev. of Contemp. Fiction A Fall/2001 Joseph Dewey San Francisco Chronicle A+ 30/9/2001 Drew Cherry The Sunday Times A 4/11/2001 Hugo Barnacle The Times A 8/8/2001 Lisa Jardine TLS B 17/8/2001 David Horspool The Washington Post B 23/9/2001 Gregory Feeley World Lit. Today A Summer/1999 José Lanters Die Zeit . 6/5/1999 Martin Lüdke. "The golem, DNA, cloning, Pygmalion, Egyptian mummies, conception, childbirth, and death all have roles in this challenging and chilling story." - Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe. - Return to top of the page - As in his marvelous novel, The Discovery of Heaven (see our review), Harry Mulisch again tackles the big questions in The Procedure . It is about creation, life and death, and love, all considered from myriad vantage points. The procedure of the title is both literally a process as well as a trial. The novel is divided into three sections -- (legal) acts or reports labeled A, B, and C -- each further divided into chapters (called notebooks here). The first section deals with Speaking , the second with the Speaker , the third with Conversation . The first section deals most directly with creation, as the author commences his undertaking, the elements from which he will create his work simply the letters of the alphabet. The chapters of this section progress from the abstract Man to the more specific Person to the artificial creation (the Golem ) to the author's creation (and central character of the book), Victor Werker . Mulisch considers the creative process in all its aspects in these introductory chapters, from God's creation of Adam, Lilith (his first wife), and then Eve to authorial creation of a literary character. The chapter on the golem is a tour-de-force, and regardless of how familiar the tale is, Mulisch manages to convince with it again. Mulisch's circuitous approach to beginning his actual tale may seem odd at first -- an intrusive author debating how to go about his task, comparing himself to a god, historical examples, and the like. The digressions and considerations are, however, expertly served, and all do serve a purpose as the big picture comes together. Conception and creation -- artistic or otherwise -- are complex and arduous undertakings. The golem serves as a warning to the dangers of man meddling in the creative process; Victor Werker is much the human counterpart to that creature. Mulisch describes Werker's physical conception as well, as he gets down to telling the character's life story. Conception doesn't come easily, and neither does Werker's birth. (As is the case for all the acts of creation in this book.) Even Victor Werker's name is not easily found, as his parents debate long and hard what it is to be Mulisch handles these domestic scenes with great assurance (indeed, despite his philosophic ambition -- and talent -- these tend to be the best parts of his books). Victor Werker is also created in the image of his author: the family bears some resemblance to Mulisch's own, with Victor Werker fascinated by chemistry and literature in his youth (as was Mulisch), a mother who eventually goes to live in the United States, and a rule-obeying military man for a father. Victor becomes a chemist, the counterpart to the successful literary man Mulisch (both always considered likely Nobel laureates). His specialty is genetics, where he has developed a means of creating life. His eobiont is a modern golem, a controversial creation where man plays god. Mulisch gives a fair amount of scientific background regarding the alphabet and grammar of life found in DNA and RNA, but he carefully avoids discussing Werker's discovery too closely. It barely ever intrudes in the text. Victor relates much of his life and his scientific work in the second section of the novel, written in the form of letters addressed to his daughter Aurora. The child died in utero, only a few weeks before she was to be born. It is the ultimate irony (as a number of people remind him): the scientist who creates life artificially but cannot bring it about naturally. Aurora's death and birth, as described by Victor, is one of Mulisch's most successful scenes, another brilliant turn in this story. The letters to Aurora are sent to the mother of the child, Clara, whom Victor loved (and perhaps still loves) deeply but who left him after the child's death. In part he hopes to win her over again with his explanations to the child. The final section of the novel reverts to the third person, describing a series of encounters and conversations, some imagined, in which Victor tries to make peace with past, present, and future. A clever selection that sees Victor publicly proclaimed (or denounced) as the modern Pygmalion, the ultimate artist, as well as offering variations of possible reconciliations (or not) with Clara, an overheard plan for an assassination, and a dinner with triplets from his past, Mulisch neatly ties together the many threads of his narrative. The complex (and yet so tidy) plot is beautifully worked through. Mulisch's digressions -- on science and creation, typefaces and genetics, Mary Shelley and the alphabet, and much more -- are dazzling. Mulisch also entertains throughout. He tells a damn good story and he tells it damn well. The Procedure is the perfect manifestation of its author's ambition, a most impressive achievement. Beautiful and clever, and heartbreaking, The Procedure is a book for the times and for the future, showing what literature can still do. Highly recommended. The Procedure by Harry Mulisch. A Literary Saloon & Site of Review. Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs. Contents: Main the Best the Rest Review Index Links. A Literary Saloon and Site of Review. Harry Mulisch at the complete review : Name: Harry MULISCH Nationality: Netherlands Born: 29 July 1927 Died: 30 October 2010 Awards: Anne Frank Prize (1957) Athos Prize (1961) P.C. Hooft Prize (1980) Prijs van de Nederlands Letteren (1995) Return to top of page. Highlighted titles are under review at the complete review. Ik, Bubanik - novella, 1947 - novel, 1952 Chantage op het leven - novellas, 1953 De diamant: Een voorbeeldige geschiedenis - novel, 1954 Het zwarte licht - novel, 1956 De versierde mens - novellas, 1957 Manifesten - aphorisms, 1958 - novel, 1959 ( Het stenen bruidsbed , trans. Adrienne Dixon, 1962) Voer voor psychologen - autobiographical, 1961 - reportage, 1962 ( De zaak 40/61. Een reportage , trans. Robert Naborn, 2005) Bericht aan de rattenkoning - novel, 1966 Het woord bij de daad: Getuigenis van de revolutie op Cuba. - reportage, 1968 De verteller - novel, 1970 Paralipomena orphica - autobiographical, 1970 Oidipous Oidipous: Naar Sofokles. Gevolgd door een vertaling van 88 profetieën en de fragmenten over Armenië van Leonardo da Vinci - novel, 1972 - essay/fiction, 1972 - biographical, 1973 De vogels: Drie balladen - poetry, 1974 - novel, 1975 ( Twee vrouwen , trans. Els Early, 1980) De grens - novella, 1976 - poetry, 1978 ( Wat po�zie is: Een leerdicht , trans. Claire Nicolas White, 1982) De compositie van de wereld - essays, 1980 Opus Gran - poetry, 1982 - novel, 1982 ( De aanslag , trans. Claire Nicolas White, 1985) Egyptisch - poetry, 1983 Het boek - novel, 1984 - novel, 1985 ( Hoogste tijd , trans. Adrienne Dixon, 1987) De pupil - novella, 1987 De elementen - novel, 1988 De zuilen van Hercules - essays, 1990 - novel, 1992 ( De ontdekking van de hemel , trans. Paul Vincent, 1996) Het zevende land - essays, 1998 - novel, 1998 ( De procedure , trans. Paul Vincent, 2001) - novel, 2000 - novel, 2001 ( Siegfried , trans. Paul Vincent, 2003) Return to top of page. What others have to say about Harry Mulisch : "An over-fluent writer, Mulisch's work is aggressive, provocative, and often maddeningly fantastic. An impression of this can be gained simply from titles and details. (. ) Mulisch's extravagance elicits an equal extravagance in his eulogists and critics. But perhaps he is not wholly to blame. His verve, his abundant talent cry out for a wider audience than he is likely to find in the Dutch-speaking world, and given that audience, its higher standards and more stringent criticism, he might discard his less mature quirks and poses and a seeming compulsion to impress by exhibitionist stratagems." - James Brockway, The London Magazine (10/1961) The Procedure. Anyone who reads Harry Mulisch must have a penchant for deciphering codes, tracking down clues, and unravelling enigmas. In the very first paragraph the reader is warned that if he’s sitting back expecting instant entertainment, he would do better to lay the book aside. This warning will not daunt the true reader who will be rewarded, for as always Mulisch’s literary alchemy retains its fascination right to the last page. Ancient myths, historical fact, literary heroes, and biological and chemical discoveries are the components of a compelling plot; they are combined and interlinked to form a new entity, a new creation. This is what De procedure is all about: creating life out of dead matter, something which Victor Werker, the main character in the book, ultimately succeeds in doing, in defiance of all the laws of nature.
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