'IN THE 3RD PERSON, PLEASE'. THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE COLD LOVER (1956)

The manuscript of Hugo Claus's novel De koele minnaar (The Cold Lover, 1956) is incomplete and has come to the Letterenhuis in seventeen parts, manuscripts and typescripts. Some are written in ink, others on a typewriter. They show us the different stages of the conception of the novel. It tells the story of an on-and-off relationship between Edward and Jia in the world of revue and film artists in Italy. The present article shows how several aspects of the narrative changed during the course of the genesis. One of the chapters Claus inserted near the end of the novel, is an adaptation of an earlier story, situated in Paris, but never published. The plot changed rather drastically during the writing process. Moreover, nearly halfway through the first version the novel shifted from first-person to third-person narration.