Geerten Meijsing

These three books form the Erwin-trilogy, published under the pseudonym of the writer's collective Joyce & Co subsequently under the sole authorship of Geerten Meijsing. Strongly based in aestheticism and decadence, these novels explore the hedonistic lifestyle of the writer from three aspects, volume 1 in rhetorica, volume 2 in painting and volume 3 in music. Particularly volume 1 is highly contrived and very erudite if not downright pedantic. Volume 2 is by far the most readable, while show more volume 3, published almost a decade later is fairly bland. The artificiality of the style of volume 1 foreshadows some of the later work of Meijsing with craft and art standing above nature. The three books are the expression of a very personal writing style and an overdose of vanity. show less

Doeschka Meijsing is the older sister of Geerten Meijsing, and both are Dutch novelists. Doeschka is three years older than Geerten. Their relationship is marked by mutual irritation and rivalry, although it isn't clear whether this is serious at all or just mockery before their readership. The omnibus edition brings together two novels Moord, written by Doeschka Meijsing and Moord en doodslag by Geerten Meijsing.

The novel written by Doeschka was composed while she visited her brother, show more Geerten, in Italy, where he resides. Her novel mostly describes this visit to Italy, and the background of their lifelong rivalry. In the novel she ponders on murdering her brother, but this does not happen. The tone is that of irony and mockery.

in Moord en doodslag Geerten describes an Italian murder case, a book reminiscent of Capote's In cold blood. In between chapters, Geerten considers his relation with his sister, the irritation and inconvenience it gives him. The same tone of mockery. To this, Geerten adds some insight into the professional legal opinios of their father about the softening effect of circumstances in most murder cases.

The two books are vastly different. Nothing of consequence happens. The only thing that serves as a tie between these two novels are the lives of their authors as brother and sister, while thematically, both novels describe some form of their rivalry and mocking irritation. Nonetheless, they bring their work together, they succesfully cooperate, although no love is lost between them.

The novels themselves are not very interesting. What is interesting are their little mockeries. show less

Dutch author Geerten Meijsing seems to be the type of writer who reinvents themselves with every new book. Thus, there are great differences in concept of each book. What remains, is a kind of culture of the author, his personal style, closely tied to his lifestyle, that hovers over many of his books.

Meijsing started his career as a writer as part of a collective, publishing their books under the name Joyce & Co. The two writers forming the collective seem very unequal, and surprisingly show more little is known about the other writer, who seems to have been more active as a translator. That other writer, named Kees Snel appears in Meijsing's books under the name Kanger or Keith. Very little is known about the relation between these two writers.

From 2009 - 2019, a decade, Geerten Meijsing published very few books with mainstream publishers. In 2009, a foundation was incorporated of friends and fans of the author, aimed at financially supporting him. They arranged for publication of his writings during this period. This foundation was called ""Vrienden van de Vorm. After 2019, new publications started appearing again with mainstream publishers.

Malocchio. Een Toscaanse jeugd is a novel. The title suggests that the novel describes the youth of the writer who appears as a character in the novel. That authors bears some resemblance with Meijsing.

The novel is pleasure to read for fans of Geerten Meijsing. In a lighly mocking style, he writes about everything that is typical about Italy, the Italians and Italian culture. This light en enjoyable banter is kept up for about 100 pages. After that, the focus switches to the girl, describing her childhood, and the relation with her father, the writer, and an absent mother. It does not become very clear why the girl is nicknames "malocchio" and what would be mischievous or evil about her. Perhaps the whole story is just a bad dream, that fails to come true. show less

«Erwins Echo» is a collection of short stories related to but not part of, and therefore published separately from the Erwin-trilogy which I read last month. The stories are more accessible than Vol. One of the trilogy, but likewise dwell on the aestheticism and hedonism of the main character. With scenes set both in Haarlem and Italy, the stories provide an exquisite background and are beautifully written. Still, it's unlikely that the stories would be of interest to readers not familiar show more with the first two volumes of the Erwin-trilogy. show less