Pathologies: The Downfall of Johan van Vere de With by Jacob Israel de Haan
One of the first novels to openly explore gay love and eroticism, Pathologies is a lost classic that is now translated into English for the first time.
At the start of the twentieth century, Jewish anti-Zionist Jacob Israel de Haan led an eventful life as a poet, journalist, teacher, and lawyer in the Netherlands. His autobiographical novella Pipelines caused a storm of controversy in 1904 with its portrayal of a subject that was considered scandalous at the timea romantic relationship between two young men. He lost his teaching job, and the entire print run was pulped.
In his iconic 1908 novel Pathologies, he once again openly and radically explored the topic of homosexuality. The story centers around adolescent Johan, who lives a secluded life with his father and their elderly housekeeper in a large house. For a while, Johan has been plagued by erotic fantasies about his classmates. When, to make matters worse, he finds himself feeling attracted to his fatherfirst in a dream, and then in real lifehe grows desperate. Johan moves out, finding room and board with an older married couple in Haarlem, where he meets Rene, a young confident artist. Johan falls head-over-heels in love, and the two men enter a sadomasochistic relationship that soon begins to spiral out of control.
Johan is one of world literatures most tragic, troubled young heroes, at par with Goethes Werther and Dostoevskys Raskolnikov. His struggle to come to terms with his fantasies and desiresrife with taboos that continue to resonate todayforms the beating heart of this daring novel. Written in De Haans precise, lyrical prose, Pathologies has lost none of its force more than a century after it was first published.
At the start of the twentieth century, Jewish anti-Zionist Jacob Israel de Haan led an eventful life as a poet, journalist, teacher, and lawyer in the Netherlands. His autobiographical novella Pipelines caused a storm of controversy in 1904 with its portrayal of a subject that was considered scandalous at the timea romantic relationship between two young men. He lost his teaching job, and the entire print run was pulped.
In his iconic 1908 novel Pathologies, he once again openly and radically explored the topic of homosexuality. The story centers around adolescent Johan, who lives a secluded life with his father and their elderly housekeeper in a large house. For a while, Johan has been plagued by erotic fantasies about his classmates. When, to make matters worse, he finds himself feeling attracted to his fatherfirst in a dream, and then in real lifehe grows desperate. Johan moves out, finding room and board with an older married couple in Haarlem, where he meets Rene, a young confident artist. Johan falls head-over-heels in love, and the two men enter a sadomasochistic relationship that soon begins to spiral out of control.
Johan is one of world literatures most tragic, troubled young heroes, at par with Goethes Werther and Dostoevskys Raskolnikov. His struggle to come to terms with his fantasies and desiresrife with taboos that continue to resonate todayforms the beating heart of this daring novel. Written in De Haans precise, lyrical prose, Pathologies has lost none of its force more than a century after it was first published.