Gerard Reve

Writing

1923-12-14 · Amsterdam

Gerard Kornelis van het Reve (1923 – 2006) was a Dutch writer. He started writing as Simon van het Reve and later adopted the shorter Gerard Reve. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" (De Grote Drie) of Dutch post-war literature. Reve was one of the first homosexual authors to come out in the Netherlands. The humorous and recognisable way he wrote about erotic attraction and sexual relations strongly contributed to making homosexuality acceptable for many of his readers, and one could argue he influenced general opinion on the subject in Dutch society. Reve insisted that homosexuality was merely a motif in his work, the deeper theme being the inadequacy of human love. Among his most famous works are De Avonden (The Evenings, 1947), Werther Nieland (1949), Nader tot U (Nearer to Thee, 1966), Oud en Eenzaam (Old and Lonely, 1978) and De Vierde Man (The Fourth Man, 1981). The latter was the basis for Paul Verhoeven's film of the same name.