De Jong, Oek 1952–

PERSONAL: Born 1952.

ADDRESSES: Agent—J. M. Meulenhoff, Herengracht 505, 1017 BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

AWARDS, HONORS: Reina Prinsen Geerligs, 1976, for De hemelvaart van Massimo.

WRITINGS:

De hemelvaart van Massimo (stories; title means "Massimo's Ascension"), Meulenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1977.

Opwaaiende zomerjurken (novel; title means "Waving Summer Dresses"), Meulenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1970.

Cirkel in het gras (novel; title means "Circle in the Grass"), Meulenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1985.

De onbeweeglijke (stories), Muelenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1992, 2002.

De inktvis (title means "The Octopus"), Meulenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1993.

Mooi weer: verhalen, Meulenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1993.

Een man die in de toekomst springt (essays; title means "A Man Leaping into the Future"), Meulenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1997.

Zijn muze was een harpij: over het wereldbeeld van W.F. Hermans: Kellendonklezing 1998, Nijmegen University Press (Nijmegen, Netherlands), 1998.

Hokwerda's kind (novel; title means "Hokwerda's Child"), Augustus (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Dutch author Oek de Jong experienced popular and critical success very early in his writing career. His debut effort, the story collection De hemelvaart van Massimo, earned him the prestigious Reina Prinsen Geerligs. De Jong followed with Opwaaiende zomerjurken and Cirkel in het gras, two novels that became bestsellers and which have been highly celebrated in his native Netherlands. A severe case of writer's block, which he has said was partially a result of his early success, interrupted de Jong's career. It took him some eight years to publish another work, a volume of two novellas titled De inktvis, which de Jong admitted was a cautious endeavor.

During his early career, de Jong penned a series of essays while at work on a novel or short story. He compiled these essays in Een man die in de toekomst springt, which earned the praise of literary critics. The essays examine everything from de Jong's attitudes about life and humanity to his search for religion in a world he feels is lacking in moral values. For example, in "The Creation of Adam" the author, while visiting the Sicilian city of Palermo, kneels down next to a mound of dust and prays, saying, "Bless me, lay your hands on my head and bless me—I need your love. Call me from the bushes where I have retreated." Another essay focuses on the life and career of Flemish poet Paul van Ostaijen (1896–1928). De Jong describes the poet's work as "the reflection of a collapsing world and, at the same time, the only possible response to the catastrophe…. Van Ostaijen is a man leaping into the future." Other subjects include mysticism, the idea that "the novel has no future," and individuals such as Caspar David Friedrich.

The protagonist of de Jong's dark novel Hokwerda's kind is Lin, who was rejected in childhood by her father and, as a young woman, by Henri. Now she is unable to commit to a relationship with a kinder Jelmer, a lawyer, and ultimately returns to Henri and a destructive relationship.