Can I read Beyond Sleep on EtoBox?

Beyond Sleep by Willem Frederik Hermans, Ina Rilke is a work of fiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is Beyond Sleep about?

“In this moving tragicomedy,” an academic hoping to secure his reputation gains “self-knowledge . . . achieved at great cost” in this literary novel. ( Publishers Weekly) Alfred Issendorf is a Dutch geology student obsessed with the thought of dying without a major scientific discovery to his name. Setting off on a geological expedition which brings him to Norway, Issendorf is out to prove that craters in the landscape are actually holes caused by the impact of meteorites. But his trip quickly turns sour: the unearthly atmosphere of the midnight sun makes him paranoid; nights are too hot; clouds of mosquitoes steal his sleep; he is exhausted. Suspicion takes over and he sees secret plots against his scientific work by everyone and everything. Haunted by down-and-out scientists, the ghost of his dead father, and apparitions of ancient animals, Issendorf's character is both naïve and cynical, ambitious and distrustful, grandiose and talentless and his story is one of adventure and discovery, psychology and pride. Beyond Sleep is a classic of post-war European literature: the saga of a man at the limits of the civilized world. “An exceptionally well-crafted novel. . . . [the characte

Who reads Beyond Sleep?

Author

Willem Frederik Hermans, Ina Rilke

Publisher

The Overlook Press

Published

2008

Language

EN

ISBN

9781468303759

Category

work of fiction

Subjects

Literary Fiction, Fiction

Rating

3.87 / 5 (93 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14