The Waterman
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of Dutch literary fiction, The Waterman chronicles the solitary, elemental life of Maarten Rossaert, a ferryman whose existence is inextricably bound to the rivers and waterways of the Netherlands. Arthur van Schendel crafts a quietly haunting narrative that follows Maarten across decades, illustrating how a man shaped entirely by water, wind, and tide becomes increasingly estranged from the rhythms of ordinary human society. The prose carries a mythic, almost biblical tone — spare and meditative — that transforms a simple working life into a profound meditation on fate, isolation, and the indifferent forces of nature. Van Schendel argues, through Maarten's stoic endurance, that some souls are claimed not by love or ambition but by the raw, impersonal world itself. Widely regarded as one of the finest works of twentieth-century Dutch literature, The Waterman stands as an unforgettable portrait of a man who is as timeless and unknowable as the waters he crosses.
Author: Arthur Van Schendel
Format: Hardback
Published: 1963, Sythoff Leyden / Heinemann London
Genre: Historical fiction
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of Dutch literary fiction, The Waterman chronicles the solitary, elemental life of Maarten Rossaert, a ferryman whose existence is inextricably bound to the rivers and waterways of the Netherlands. Arthur van Schendel crafts a quietly haunting narrative that follows Maarten across decades, illustrating how a man shaped entirely by water, wind, and tide becomes increasingly estranged from the rhythms of ordinary human society. The prose carries a mythic, almost biblical tone — spare and meditative — that transforms a simple working life into a profound meditation on fate, isolation, and the indifferent forces of nature. Van Schendel argues, through Maarten's stoic endurance, that some souls are claimed not by love or ambition but by the raw, impersonal world itself. Widely regarded as one of the finest works of twentieth-century Dutch literature, The Waterman stands as an unforgettable portrait of a man who is as timeless and unknowable as the waters he crosses.