Simon Vestdijk

First in a translated series of modern Dutch classics, this powerful novel by poet-critic-novelist Vestdijk (the Anton Wachter books) traces a boy's coming-of-age in the provincial city of "W." At age five, Nol Rieske, a judge's son, hears a Sousa march played in the public garden and falls under the spell of the gifted alcoholic conductor Cuperus and his nine-year-old daughter Trix, whom Nol loves unconditionally. Before going off to medical school, Nol studies piano with Cuperus, inflamed by the master's musical fervor. When the Opera Society sponsors a gala performance of Carmen, Cuperus conducts the chorus, and Trix sings a small role, but mishaps spoil the event and the Cuperus fortunes plummet, with Trix becoming a barmaid, trapped into promiscuity. Nol's innocent illusions prevent his recognizing until too late how the town's crass indifference has crushed these artists. Vestdijk counterpoints bourgeois values against the lyricism of love and art, as the grief-stricken Nol seeks solace in his memory of the Garden's resonating magic.

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