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The Unsaid
The traumatised war correspondent J.R. Deo is being held at an institute for forensic observation to assess whether he is accountable for a vicious attack on fellow journalists at a bar. Initially, he spends a lot of time writing in his cell, taking stock of horrors, past and present. He regularly meets with a psychologist with whom he agrees to share his writing. But things gradually begin to unravel. Sinister figures Deo has encountered in the past take control of his pen and begin dictating their violent confessions.
Much like a dossier, The Unsaid consists of various components: Deo’s reflections on the horrors he has seen; his conversations with Eugene, his psychologist; Eugene’s reports on Deo’s behaviour; the confessions of the figures who populate Deo’s memory; and Deo’s reports on his interaction with fellow inmates. Together, these elements not only recount a fascinating story, but also question the way modern society deals with psychopathy, crime, punishment and rehabilitation.
The Unsaid is the last in the trilogy that began with De Nooy’s acclaimed novels Six Fang Marks & a Tetanus Shot (2007) and The Big Stick (2011). The books can be read separately and in any order.
Much like a dossier, The Unsaid consists of various components: Deo’s reflections on the horrors he has seen; his conversations with Eugene, his psychologist; Eugene’s reports on Deo’s behaviour; the confessions of the figures who populate Deo’s memory; and Deo’s reports on his interaction with fellow inmates. Together, these elements not only recount a fascinating story, but also question the way modern society deals with psychopathy, crime, punishment and rehabilitation.
The Unsaid is the last in the trilogy that began with De Nooy’s acclaimed novels Six Fang Marks & a Tetanus Shot (2007) and The Big Stick (2011). The books can be read separately and in any order.
178 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 8, 2013
About the author
Richard de Nooy
13 books45 followersRichard de Nooy (1965) grew up in Johannesburg, but has lived in Amsterdam for more than 35 years. He writes novels, short stories and non-fiction in English and Dutch.
He is currently translating his latest book, Verraad op Huize Zwaluwenburg, which was published by Nijgh & Van Ditmar in the Netherlands in 2022. The book is based on his mother’s experiences as a trainee nurse at a psychiatric institution for women and girls in the Netherlands during World War II. The author went in search of people mentioned in his mother’s stories, finding books, unpublished memoires, interviews, letters and even a journal written by a Jewish refugee hiding at the institution. Together their stories form a human tapestry that captures the heroism and tragedy of life at the Zwaluwenburg.
De Nooy's debut novel, Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot (Jacana, 2007), won the University of Johannesburg Prize for Best First Book. It was later published in Dutch as Zes beetwonden en een tetanusprik (Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 2008) in the Netherlands.
De Nooy was awarded a grant by the Dutch Foundation for Literature to write his second novel in Dutch. Zacht als Staal was published in August 2010 and was long-listed for the prestigious AKO Literatuurprijs 2011. It was published in English as The Big Stick (Jacana, 2011) in South Africa.
De Nooy's third novel, Zendingsdrang, was published in Dutch by Nijgh & Van Ditmar in January 2013. The English edition was published as The Unsaid by Jacana in South Africa in 2014.
His most recent novel, Van kleine helden, was published in Dutch in the Netherlands in May 2017. The English edition of this book has not yet been published, because De Nooy was distracted by six years of research and writing on his first work of non-fiction, Verraad op Huize Zwaluwenburg.
He is currently translating his latest book, Verraad op Huize Zwaluwenburg, which was published by Nijgh & Van Ditmar in the Netherlands in 2022. The book is based on his mother’s experiences as a trainee nurse at a psychiatric institution for women and girls in the Netherlands during World War II. The author went in search of people mentioned in his mother’s stories, finding books, unpublished memoires, interviews, letters and even a journal written by a Jewish refugee hiding at the institution. Together their stories form a human tapestry that captures the heroism and tragedy of life at the Zwaluwenburg.
De Nooy's debut novel, Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot (Jacana, 2007), won the University of Johannesburg Prize for Best First Book. It was later published in Dutch as Zes beetwonden en een tetanusprik (Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 2008) in the Netherlands.
De Nooy was awarded a grant by the Dutch Foundation for Literature to write his second novel in Dutch. Zacht als Staal was published in August 2010 and was long-listed for the prestigious AKO Literatuurprijs 2011. It was published in English as The Big Stick (Jacana, 2011) in South Africa.
De Nooy's third novel, Zendingsdrang, was published in Dutch by Nijgh & Van Ditmar in January 2013. The English edition was published as The Unsaid by Jacana in South Africa in 2014.
His most recent novel, Van kleine helden, was published in Dutch in the Netherlands in May 2017. The English edition of this book has not yet been published, because De Nooy was distracted by six years of research and writing on his first work of non-fiction, Verraad op Huize Zwaluwenburg.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 24, 2022
Zoooo alle boeken van de schoonvader gelezen 🤙🏻
May 6, 2022
A quick easy read, De Nooy is definitely a master of playing tricks with the reader's mind as the story went from confusing to enlightening to uncertain in quick succession. I have great admiration for the work honest journalists do and the dangers they place themselves in to get to the truth. I am ashamed that I must also place myself amongst those who mostly "shake their heads in horror" instead of doing anything concrete about those horrors we cause each other on a daily basis across the world. It reminded me of a saying - evil does not exist because there are evil people but because good people do nothing.
April 4, 2013
Nadat oorlogsjournalist Remco de Heer op café een aantal van zijn collega’s verwondt met een gebroken glas en in zijn zak ook nog eens een potje met daarin een vingerkootje wordt gevonden, belandt hij in een speciale gevangenis, waar nagegaan wordt in hoeverre hij wel toerekeningsvatbaar is. Deo, zoals Remco graag wordt genoemd, komt er in een bedreigend, tot claustrofobie leidend gezelschap terecht. De devote Cornelius aanziet hem voor God. Wim, die zijn kleinkinderen misbruikte, verklapt dat hij zich maar een zaak afvraagt: wie hem zal vermoorden. En de lipstickmoordenaar blijft erbij dat al die vrouwen stierven van genot. Deo probeert met zijn verleden in het reine te komen door het schrijven van extreem gewelddadige verhalen, steevast verteld vanuit het standpunt van neergeschoten massamoordenaars, waardoor je je gaat afvragen of hij wel echt een journalist is. De Nooy voegt aan deze heerlijke schotel vol ingehouden geweld een snuifje ondergronds rommelende humor toe, geeft op het einde zijn verhaal een magistrale ommezwaai en besluit wijselijk: “Wie schrijft die blijft... over zijn schouder kijken.”
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May 26, 2014- Obs noticed that the eyes of his fellow observees reflected the soul withi. You had the evaders, absent forever; the starers, always alert; the blinkers, beset by fear; the glisteners, possessed by emotions; the brain-dead, hungry for the living. -
- "As a child, I wanted to be a lion tamer." ... "That's a hard business to break into."
- "You've got friends here now, remember. People to watch your back." "Sure, if you define a friend as anyone who doesn't slit your throat and rape your stiffening body." -
- Is it a lie if we don't tell people what we should be telling them? -
- [I]n the short term, we writers always get the short end of the stick. We are vulnerable and poorly equipped to survive the painful reality of the struggles that have so often shaped the civilisations to which we think we are contributing. We writers are often the first to be rounded up and euthanised. -
- Photographing roadside monuments is a dangerous hobby. It's never a good idea to park your car in places where Death is known to take dinner. -
April 4, 2013
Een erg tof en heftig boek. Echt van onder de indruk. Het is filosofisch en observerend en er zitten prachtige vondsten in. De korte verhalen die de hoofdpersoon in het boek zelf schrijft, zijn gruwelijk, maar heel mooi en beeldend verteld en er blijft een sprankje hoop doorheen schemeren. Het is wel aan te raden om ook de vorige twee boeken van De Nooij te lezen, want als lezer moet je actief meedenken. Je krijgt steeds kleine brokken informatie, waar soms later op teruggekomen wordt. De structuur van De Nooijs boeken was voor mij wel wennen, maar hoe meer ik van hem gelezen heb, hoe beter ik het denk te snappen en hoe beter ik het vind.
January 21, 2013
I, what, wait , what, where, what!?
I'm confused - but in a good way. I'm still puzzling pieces together, and am considering re-reading part one and two,
because I can't wrap my head around it just yet.
Once again, beautifully written, exciting, humorous, sometimes unexpected.
When's the next one due?
I'm confused - but in a good way. I'm still puzzling pieces together, and am considering re-reading part one and two,
because I can't wrap my head around it just yet.
Once again, beautifully written, exciting, humorous, sometimes unexpected.
When's the next one due?
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews