Karel van het Reve (19 May 1921, Amsterdam – 4 March 1999, Amsterdam) was a Dutch writer, translator and literary historian, teaching and writing on Russian literature.
He was born in Amsterdam and was raised as a communist. He lost his 'faith' in his twenties and became an active critic and opponent of the Soviet regime. With his help, work of dissident Andrei Sakharov was smuggled to the west, and his Alexander Herzen Foundation published dissident Soviet literature.
He is considered to be one of the finest Dutch essayists, his interests ranging from the fallacies of Marxism to nude beach etiquette. His works include a history of Russian literature, 2 novels and several collections of essays. In 1978 Karel van het Reve delivered the Huizinga Lecture, under the title: Literatuurwetenschap: het raadsel der onleesbaarheid (Literary studies. The enigma of unreadability).
His brother, Gerard Reve, was a prominent prose writer.
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reve, Karel van het |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Dutch writer, translator, literary historian |
| Date of birth | 1921-05-19 |
| Place of birth | Amsterdam |
| Date of death | 1999-03-04 |
| Place of death | |
Famous quotes containing the words karel, van and/or reve:
“You don’t know Leonie. She married me to achieve insecurity, and now you’re trying to take it away from her.”
—David Mercer, British screenwriter, and Karel Reisz. Morgan (David Warner)
“A classic is a book that doesn’t have to be written again.”
—Carl Van Doren (1885–1950)
“The reve was a sclendre colerik man.
His berd was shave as ny as ever he kan.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)