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The Asylum Seeker
''The Asylum Seeker'' () is a novel by Dutch author Arnon Grunberg. Published in 2003, the novel won the AKO Literatuurprijs and Ferdinand Bordewijk Prijs in 2004, and has been reprinted more than fourteen times. The jury rapport for the AKO Literatuurprijs praised the novel for being shocking, amusing, and touching all at once, and for its undoing of the bourgeois underpinnings of our society. Plot Christian Beck, a translator of technical manuals, has concluded that life consists of nothing but self-deception and illusions, and decides to devote his time to unmasking all illusions, false hopes, and high ideals. He denounces all deception in his friends and family and promises his own unmasking as a finale; swearing off all personal desire, he now dedicates his life to the happiness of his girlfriend, "Bird", a former prostitute. The couple lived for a time in Eilat, Israel, where Beck was a regular customer to the brothel and Bird was sleeping with ugly, deformed men. Back in Eu ...
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Arnon Grunberg
Arnon Yasha Yves Grünberg (; born 22 February 1971) is a Dutch writer of novels, essays, and columns, as well as a journalist. He published some of his work under the heteronym Marek van der Jagt. He lives in New York. His work has been translated into 30 languages. In 2022 he received the PC Hooftprijs, a Dutch literary lifetime achievement award. His most acclaimed and successful novels are Blue Mondays and Tirza. The New York Times called the latter ‘grimly comic and unflinching (…) while not always enjoyable, it is never less than enthralling’. ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' described him as ‘the Dutch Philip Roth’. Early life Grunberg was born Arnon Yasha Yves Grünberg on 22 February 1971 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He grew up in a family of Jewish immigrants, originally from Germany. His mother was a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Grunberg attended the Vossius Gymnasium in Amsterdam, but was expelled from the school in 1988. Before publis ...
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Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His works include ''The Stranger (Camus novel), The Stranger'', ''The Plague (novel), The Plague'', ''The Myth of Sisyphus'', ''The Fall (Camus novel), The Fall'' and ''The Rebel (book), The Rebel''. Camus was born in French Algeria to ''pied-noir'' parents. He spent his childhood in a poor neighbourhood and later studied philosophy at the University of Algiers. He was in Paris when the Battle of France, Germans invaded France during World War II in 1940. Camus tried to flee but finally joined the French Resistance where he served as editor-in-chief at ''Combat (newspaper), Combat'', an outlawed newspaper. After the war, he was a celebrity figure and gave many lectures around the world. He married twice ...
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Het Nieuwsblad
(; ) is a Flemish newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics, culture, economics, lifestyle, society and sports. History and profile In 1929, was published by for the first time. In 1939, the sports paper ''Sportwereld'' (established in 1912) was purchased by De Standaard and turned into a daily supplement to their two main newspapers, "" and "". In 1957, three other newspapers were purchased by and initially kept in circulation. In 1966, the further publication of two of them, ''Het Nieuws van de Dag'' and ''Het Vrije Volksblad'', was stopped. The same happened with the third paper, Het Handelsblad, in 1979. In 1959, two more newspapers were purchased, of which ''De Landwacht'' disappeared in 1978. The other paper, ''De Gentenaar'', was turned into a "cover-paper" for around the city of Ghent. ''De Gentenaar'' still exists today and contains the same articles and columns as plus local news from the Ghent area. In 1962, a special supplement ...
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Wim Opbrouck
Wim Opbrouck is a Flemish actor and singer from Belgium who is especially known for his work on stage. Early life and education Wim Opbrouck comes from Bavikhove, part of Harelbeke and studied at the Herman Teirlinck Studio. Career Opbrouck joined the Blue Monday Company. In 1997, he performed in a 12-hour theatre marathon production of ''Ten oorlog'' by Tom Lanoye. Following the merger of this company with KNS (Antwerp), he became an actor at the Drama House. He took on large roles in ''Aars!'' ''Leenane Trilogy,'' ''L. King of Pain,'' and ''Macbeth.'' In 2005, he transferred to NTGent and acted with the company in Ghent. In 2010, he succeeded Johan Simons as artistic director of NTGent. Other activities He gained fame through his appearance in the travel documentary ', a collaboration with composer and producer and photographer , in which he travels through Europe on a motorcycle. He's also well known for appearing in the television shows and In De Gloria. He pl ...
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De Volkskrant
''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized centrist compact. Pieter Klok is the current editor-in-chief. History and profile ''De Volkskrant'' was founded in 1919 and has been a daily morning newspaper since 1921. Originally ''de Volkskrant'' was a Roman Catholic newspaper closely linked to the Catholic People's Party and the Catholic pillar. The paper temporarily ceased publication in 1941. On its re-founding in 1945, its office moved from Den Bosch to Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re .... It became a left-wing newspaper in the 1960s, but began s ...
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Ghent
Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and the third largest in the country, after Brussels and Antwerp. It is a Port of Ghent, port and Ghent University, university city. The city originally started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie. In the Late Middle Ages Ghent became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe, with some 50,000 people in 1300. After the late 16th century Ghent became a less important city, resulting in an extremely well-preserved historic centre, that now makes Ghent an important destination of tourism. The municipality comprises the city of Ghent proper and the surrounding suburbs of Afsnee, Desteldonk, Drongen, Gentbrugge, Ledeberg, Mariakerke, East Flanders, Mariakerke, Mendonk, Oostakker, S ...
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De Morgen
''De Morgen'' (; ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium. History and profile ''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meaning "Onwards" in English) and ' (meaning "People's Newspaper" in English). The ''Vooruit'' was founded in Ghent by Edward Anseele and appeared the first time on 31 August 1884, just before the foundation of the Belgian Labour Party (Dutch: Belgische Werklieden Partij) in 1885. ''De Morgen'' was modelled on French daily ''Liberation''. The paper is published by De Persgroep which also publishes ''Het Laatste Nieuws''. ''De Morgen'' presents itself as an independent and progressive newspaper and a more dynamic alternative to its two competitors in the Flemish market, '' De Standaard'' and '' De Tijd''. On the other hand, the paper is described as a leftist and socialistic publication. According to the former editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EI ...
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Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. Belgium covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.8 million; its population density of ranks List of countries and dependencies by population density, 22nd in the world and Area and population of European countries, sixth in Europe. The capital and Metropolitan areas in Belgium, largest metropolitan region is City of Brussels, Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a complex Federation, federal system structured on regional and linguistic grounds. The country is divided into three highly autonomous Communities, regions and language areas o ...
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University Of Groningen
The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is the second oldest in the country (after Leiden University, Leiden). The University of Groningen has eleven Faculty (division), faculties, nine graduate schools, 27 research centres and institutes, and more than 175-degree programmes. The university's alumni and faculty include Johann Bernoulli, Aletta Jacobs, four Nobel Prize winners, nine Spinoza Prize winners, one Stevin Prize winner, various members of the Monarchy of the Netherlands, Dutch royal family, several politicians, the first president of the European Central Bank, and a secretary general of NATO. History The institution was founded as a college in 1614 in an initiative taken by the Regional Assembly of the city of Groningen and the ''Ommelanden'', or surroun ...
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Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Literary realism, realism and the fantastique, and typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surreal predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of social alienation, alienation, existential anxiety, guilt (emotion), guilt, and absurdity. His best-known works include the novella ''The Metamorphosis'' (1915) and the novels ''The Trial'' (1924) and ''The Castle (novel), The Castle'' (1926). The term '':en:wikt:Kafkaesque, Kafkaesque'' has entered the English lexicon to describe bizarre situations like those depicted in his writing. Kafka was born into a middle-class German- and Yiddish-speaking Czech Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, which b ...
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Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology). His work has influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution." Sartre held an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the culture, cultural and society, social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, ...
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Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of Provinces of the Netherlands, twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares Maritime boundary, maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium. The official language is Dutch language, Dutch, with West Frisian language, West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English_language, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean Netherlands, Caribbean territories. The people who are from the Netherlands is often referred to as Dutch people, Dutch Ethnicity, Ethnicity group, not to be confused by the language. ''Netherlands'' literally means "lower countries" i ...
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