BOVEN IS HET STIL (DIRECT TRANSLATION: IT IS SILENT UP THERE, ENGLISH TITLE: THE TWIN)

Book ID/图书代码： 13356010B37951

English Summary/英文概要：

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 故事發生在荷蘭的鄉間，一對雙胞胎Henk及 Helmer，哥哥Henk一直留在父親身邊幫忙家裡務農的工作，弟弟Helmer則在在城市的大學唸書。一天哥哥因一場車禍意外身亡，家中的工作頓時失去幫手，弟弟Helmer只好放棄學業回到老家承接起哥哥之前的角色，當然，而他也預見自己日後每天只能在母牛度過下半輩子…
三十年後，父親因年老體衰無法在工作，甚至連自己的行動也出了問題，Helmer便將父親安置在樓上，自己則住在樓下。從此，他從家具擺設開始，依照自己的想法去作，試圖找回自己的生活及人生，一張雙人床及一套羽絨被。但沒多久，哥哥在離世前不久才訂婚的女友Riet，突然來信說與兒子要寄宿他家…〔Riet心想或許鄉下的生活能讓常製造麻煩的兒子有所安分，而Helmer卻自以為Riet是因為自己而回來〕他們是否能安穩的生活在一起？而Helmer內心的孤單及自我的追尋是否就能因此有了歸所或方向？
這是個發生在荷蘭鄉間的故事，但是透過一個農夫的眼光，我們將會看到一個現代人依舊尋找的問題：人是否能決定自己的人生，成為自己的主宰？(Vincent)

Awards/获奖情况：2010國際IMPAC都柏林文學獎得獎作品！荷蘭暢銷小說

More than 100,000 copies sold only in the Netherlands!

Winner of the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
Shortlisted for the 2009 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize
Shortlisted for the 2007 Libris Literature Prize
Winner of the 2006 Golden Dog-Ear Prize for best-selling debutante novel

Rights sold to
Germany, Suhrkamp Verlag; France, Gallimard; UK, Harvill/Secker; Australia, Scribe; USA, Archipelago; Italy, Iperborea; Denmark, Gyldendal; Norway, Arneberg Forlag; Korea, Moonji Publishing; Israël, Hakibbutz Hameuchad; Theatre rights, Het Vervolg; Film rights, Circe Films

Quotes from the press for The Twin:
“Maarten t Hart has complained about the lack of nature in modern Dutch fiction…. ‘t Hart can be pleased, there is now a novel with a typical Dutch landscape – Waterland, West-Friesland and the Kop van Noord Holland – as a backdrop. There is also a bit of Danish nature, and lots of birds, cows and donkeys. It’s fantastic…. But Boven is het stil shouldn’t be labelled a regional novel. Because the author grew up in rural Wieringerwaard, nature is described in all of its indifferent beauty. This is the first plus-point of this fine novel : the lack of multicultural street-talk without it becoming artificial or obscure or insubstantial. It is a beautiful, simple and “realistic” story which fits well with its natural environment…. Boven is het stil fulfils our growing longing for purity and authenticity…. as cities become ghettos, the countryside becomes popular.”---Noordhollands Dagblad, 9th March 2006

“Boven is het stil is a fantastic novel which everybody should read! … The power of the novel is that we read an apparently simple story, but we feel tension ripping under the surface from all sides. Between Helmer and the apprentice, between father and Helmer. Bakker is a master of holding back, there is a lot of space between the lines for one’s own interpretation… This novel is worth the effort. And the reader is also treated to rich and deep descriptions of nature, animals and the emotions that this environment arouses. Tommy Wieringa has said that reading Boven is het stil has made him no longer the best writer in Holland. I think he is right.”---Uitdragerij.nl

“The skill of this novel is the bubbling, boiling mass of emotions and unspoken longings which lies beneath the unostentatious, pared down surface, those things which are never openly stated. It never results in an explosion and this only serves to increase its power of suggestion. Despite its sober moments, this is an extraordinarily moving book which evokes a lot of subtle wisdom and poetry. It is evoked in a very compelling way, because the under-the-skin tension present in the first sentence is maintained until the very last sentence. It is easy to call this a stylistic marvel.”---Dagblad van het Noorden, 31st March 2006

“Boven is het stil is a lot more than a regional novel. Gerbrand Bakker, himself a farmer’s son, tells in a simple and effective style the gripping story of 55 year-old farmer’s son, Helmer, who has moved his bedridden father upstairs and is slowly but surely trying to find a new direction for his unfulfilled life.”---VPRO

“Despite his apparent resignation [to take over his brother’s role as farmer], Helmer is full of yearning and longing. A hooded crow and two donkeys add an extra dimension to this moving and powerful tale.”---Kniphorst Boekverkopers, booksellers pick.

This is a quiet book, humble in tone, with a fine, self-deprecating humour […] It leaves the reader touched and with the impression of having seen and smelled the ever-damp Dutch platteland---Times Literary Supplement

Bakker captures the feel of life in the Dutch countryside in a style which is both dazzling and subdued. He has produced a poignant story, recounted in a tone at once spare and loving.---De Volkskrant

About the Author/作者介绍： Gerbrand Bakker，1962年出生，畢業於荷蘭語文學學系，曾從事自然生態影片的字幕翻譯工作，之後改行園藝工作。出版過一本孩童的語文字典及青少年小說。《Boven is het stil》是他首部成人小說，2006年在荷蘭出版後，不僅榮獲許多獎項，更成為當地暢銷作品。去年本書在美國出版後，隨即入選「國際IMPAC都柏林文學獎」（International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award），並於今年擊敗其他作品，勇奪這全球獎金最高的文學獎。www.gerbrandsdingetje.nl

Format:HARDCOVER

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：SOLD(非我们代理）

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：Argentina (Bajo la Luna), Australia (Scribe), Brazil (Radio Londres), China (Shanghai 99), Croatia (Fraktura), Czech Republic (Paseka), Denmark (Gyldendal), Finland (Karisto), France (Gallimard), Georgia (Siësta), Germany (Suhrkamp), Hungary (Magvetö), Israel (Sifriat-Poalim), Italy (Iperborea), Korea (Moonji), Lebanon (All Prints), Norway (Arneberg), Poland (Foksal), Serbia (Karpos), South-Africa (Protea), Spain (Rayo Verde), Sweden (Nilsson Agency), Turkey (Metis), United Kingdom (Harvill- Secker), United States (Archipelago), Filmrights (Circe Films)

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