by Hella S. Haasse · Actes Sud · tapa blanda · ISBN 9782742739363
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«Viser les cygnes» is the story by Hella S. Haasse, published by Actes Sud in paperback (149 pages, in French).
The starting point is a train journey in which the author sees a solitary archer and a wounded swan; the connection between the two images ignites her imagination. The story combines autobiographical notes (two domineering grandmothers and a brother who emigrated to Australia) with reflection on how memory becomes fiction.
Work originally published in Dutch as «Zwanen schieten»; this French edition is from 2002.
Hélène "Hella" Serafia Haasse was a Dutch writer, often referred to as the "Grande Dame" of Dutch literature, and whose novel Oeroeg (1948) was a staple for generations of Dutch schoolchildren. Her internationally acclaimed magnum opus is Heren van de Thee, translated to The Tea Lords. In 1988 Haasse was chosen to interview the Dutch Queen for her 50th birthday after which celebrated Dutch author Adriaan van Dis called Haasse "the Queen among authors".
