Summary of War and Turpentine
In “War and Turpentine”, Stefan Hertman reconstructs the life of his grandfather, Urbain Martien, before, during, and after the First World War, drawing heavily from his grandfather’s notebooks. The book describes Urbain’s childhood as a poor boy in Ghent and his experiences as a soldier in the Belgian army during the Battle of the Yser. When he finally returns home, Urbain falls in love, but his fiancée dies from the Spanish flu, and he ends up marrying her sister.
Reasons to read War and TurpentineÂ
“War and Turpentine” is a blend of novel, biography, and memoir, with the author describing his visits to important locations in his grandfather’s life. The book incorporates black-and-white pictures in a style reminiscent of W.G. Sebald. The result is a slightly detached homage to the author’s grandfather, a talented painter who considered himself an ordinary man. The original Dutch edition of this book was a bestseller in Belgium and the Netherlands. It won the 2014 AKO Literature Prize and was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. Both The New York Times and The Economist selected it as one of the best books of 2016. Stefan Hertmans is a Flemish poet, essayist, and novelist, who won numerous other literary prizes, including the 2002 Bordewijk Prize (for “As on the First Day”), the 2016 E. du Perron Prize (for “The Convert”), and the 2019 Constantijn Huygens Prize for his entire body of work.
Setting: Ghent, Ypres (Belgium)
Original title: Oorlog en terpentijn
Year of publication: 2013
Nr of pages: 304
