Eline Vere

A Dutch 19th century psychological character study of a woman and the society she tries to fit in to? Yes, please! I was so happy to discover this Dutch classic through the 1001 books to read before you die group. It fit right in with some of my favorites: [Anna Karenina], [Madame Bovary], [Middlemarch], and [Age of Innocence].

This book is the story of Eline Vere, a well-to-do but mentally unstable young woman living in The Hague. Her manic-depressive tendencies make her various relationships volatile and unfulfilling. Eline and her relationships with her sister, brother-in-law, and various love interests are central to the over-arching flow of the book, but there are plenty of other characters to follow as well.

I loved this book and show more definitely recommend it to others who love this time period of writing. I think it is "under-known" in English. In fact, the only print copy of it I could find easily in English translation is an Archipelago publication from 2013. It was my first Archipelago book and, as a side note, I love the book quality - very nice cover, binding, paper, etc. show less

I read the version put out by Archipelago Books. It was a lovely book to hold. I really enjoyed its comfortable heft, the binding, the font, the overall design and texture of the cover. It may have been about the stodgier side of the Hague in the 19th century, but the book itself was a sensual delight. Every time I turned a page, I enjoyed touching the paper it was printed on. This was very fitting since there is a lot of material culture in it. There was a sameness to what people said; the details came out in how they related to each other's furniture.
This book had a pleasant fly-in-amber quality about life in The Hague for a certain class of people at a certain time, and like Andy Warhol's 'Empire' it develops it's own scale of show more action. Every night I climbed into this book and braced myself for the moment the lights would come on. They never did. I enjoyed it anyway. show less

A wonderful English translation of a Dutch masterpiece. This is not a book to be raced through. It doesn't drag and it's not tedious, but you will want to go along with it's unhurried pace because you'll enjoy it all the more.

Eline Vere lives with her sister, brother-in-law and nephew in The Hague. She's frivolous, she's kind, she's lively and witty, she's melodramatic and given to bouts of temper tantrums, she's a daydreamer and given to flights of fancy, she's eccentric, she's uncertain, she's lovely and she's tragic.

There's just so much in this book that it's difficult to review without giving it all away. Eline Vere is the central character and we are given peeks into her thoughts as she enjoys life as a social butterfly, without show more a care in the world and her only mission appears to be having a good time. She's charming and knows what she has to do to get all to love her. But she's also given to bouts of depression and she falls into infatuations easily.

But it's not just about her, there is also a great many other characters the author spends time lovingly developing, and the reader gets to know them all, understand them, love or despise them accordingly.

There are elements of Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' and Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' in here that make this a very compelling read. You cannot help but fall into the story, share the laughter and the tears, the anger and the love, the celebration and the depression. This has it all, in my opinion. show less

Did not finish.
I had to stop after about 3 or 4 chapters. The feeling of desperation, listlessness and depression became so overwhelming that I feared for my sanity and taking drastic measures myself. The writing is that good, in the sense that the novel manages to convey Eline's situation so poignantly.
Mind you, I was a slightly depressed teenager at the time, so the emotions sunk in deep.
Not recommended if you're having doubts as to the meaning of it all yourself.

READ IN DUTCH

Ook voor Nederlands kwam ik in aanraking met Eline Vere van Louis Couperus. Eerlijk gezegd koos ik het boek vooral doordat ik ooit de film al eens gezien had, jaren geleden, en ik was daarom ook nieuwsgierig naar het boek. Ik herinnerde me niet al te veel meer over film, schijnbaar had vooral de scene waarin ze het huis van haar zuster ontvlucht erg veel indruk op me gemaakt!

Het boek gaat over Eline Vere, een jonge meid in de upper-class van Den Haag. Haar leven bestaat uit het ene naar het andere dinertje, feestje, maar bovenal is haar leven nep. Ze moet zich steeds anders voordoen dan ze is en dan ze zou willen en uiteindelijk raakt ze de grip op de werkelijkheid en de wereld steeds verder kwijt.

Ik vond dit een mooi show more boek. De stijl vond ik vrij theatraal, maar dat paste perfect in de setting van het verhaal. Het verhaal vond ik ook boeiend om te lezen, al lijkt het me vreselijk in zo'n periode geleefd te moeten hebben, in zo'n situatie. Het is al zeer snel duidelijk dat Eline behoorlijk depressieve buien heeft, maar haar omgeving vind dit niet ernstig of doet er althans niets mee. Op een gegeven moment is ze ontzettend gelukkig, maar daarna verdwijnt dat allemaal weer, en toen had ik zo'n medelijden met haar. De schrijfstijl verder is een beetje ouderwets, maar daar kan het arme boek zelf natuurlijk ook niets aan doen. Ik had er verder ook niet al te veel moeite mee, maar het remt het leestempo wel natuurlijk. Ik vond het eigenlijk een beter boek dan ik verwacht had, en daarom waardeer ik het ook met 4 sterren. show less

Na lange tijd heb ik dit boek herlezen. Prachtig taalgebruik natuurlijk, zeer poëtische beschrijvingen en wat een leed! Dit is nou echt slow reading, een mooi inkijkje in een tijd die toch wel ver achter ons ligt. Af en toe wel erg romantisch, maar ook een hele mooie psychologische roman.

One of Holland's best authors wrote this book as a series for publication in a newspaper. The heroine Eline is a troubled young lady from the upperclass, who borders on hysteria. Her life lacks purpose and she tries to fill her time and heart with romance.

Read by many schoolkids in Dutch secondary schools, but also difficult to read or modern readers, due to the long-winded sentences with old-fashioned words. Still one of my favorite literary figures, Eline Vere stands firmly next to Jane Eyre, Emma and Daisy Miller for me.