Procedure, De

Inhoud

'Een fascinerende, vaak verbazingwekkende roman.' Arnold Heumakers NRC Handelsblad
'Het is wederom moeilijk om bij De Procedure, dat zich moeiteloos voegt in zijn rijkgeschakeerde, onderling samenhangende maar niettemin zich voortdurend vernieuwende oeuvre, niet ten prooi te vallen aan superlatievenhysterie.' Jeroen Vullings De Standaard
'Zo werd De Procedure een boek dat in structuur en inhoud probeert het zijn van de mens te ontrafelen. Zo'n boek moet en kan iedereeen lezen.' Menno Schenke Algemeen Dagblad
'Het mag een mirakel heten dat het Mulisch is gelukt zoveel verschillende en gevarieerde gegevens bij elkaar te brengen in een overtuigende samenhang, die desondanks geheimzinnig genoeg blijft.' Tom van Deel Trouw

Bespreking

Unforgettable!

It all started with the creation of Adam. But doesn't the bible tell us that man and woman were created equally? If so, Eve could not have been the first woman, because she was created out of Adam's rib. Who is than the first woman? The answer: Lilith. When Victor Werker is born nobody has a clue that he will turn out to be one of the most renowned scientist of the twenty-first century. His future accomplishment will come close to what God did when he created man: he will give life to death material, a new form of life called the eobiont. But is this a good thing or will he have to justify his actions because he unwillingly created an evil Lilith?

Harry Mulish is at his best in this metaphysical story about the most powerful subject of all time: life. At the start of the story you easily loose track of what it is all about, but this is clearly done on purpose. As some kind of inauguration the reader is offered a speed course in the biblical study of letters and numbers. Once you have struggled through this first episode the impact of what follows is even more surreal.

Slowly but steadily the scope of the book widens and flirts with topics like the human genome, twin studies and Egyptology. Although the book nears epic proportions, Mulish never looses track of the essence. Constantly he surprises the reader with new viewpoints and digs deeper in the soul of the protagonist. Victor Werker is not different from anyone else, although his impact on science has been enormous. On the run for the past, he does nothing but chase his own shadow. When finally he notices that the future has much in common with what has been, he can do nothing but start to embrace his past. Like atoms that collide, this act of defeatism leads to total catastrophe, but also to the sweetest redemption.

Only a limited amount of books can force the reader to start rereading them the moment you turn that last page. The Procedure is certainly one of the few. Without seemingly any effort Harry Mulish has again created a Masterpiece.