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Een spiegel voor prinsen
In eenzame ballingschap schrijft Reynhard, derde zoon van de tirannieke koning Basal van Brychmachrye, de geschiedenis van zijn leven als prins en koning. Een verhaal van de hartstocht en schittering van een feodaal hof, van een koninklijke familie waarover de doem hangt van een ongebreidelde honger naar macht. Een koning die zich via huwelijk en moord van de troon heeft meester gemaakt. Zijn minnares Beulah, die haar bekoorlijkheden aanwendt voor dynastieke doeleinden. De innig beminde zuster van de verteller, zijn "spiegel". Maar bovenal is dit het verhaal van de verteller zelf, een schuwe en tengere prins met een dichtersziel, die in permanente doodsangst voor zijn vader is opgegroeid.
(Bron: Achterflap van het boek)
(Bron: Achterflap van het boek)
444 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 15, 2018
I don't give out five stars very often. It's a score I reserve for those rare works which to some degree have changed the world in which I live. This is one of those. It's been a long time since I've read it, but it sits on my shelf waiting for its time to come again, which it surely will. A first person narrative told in flashback, it is the most compelling character study I have encountered in fantasy fiction. I use the word "fantasy," with a degree of hesitation, as the book was not marketed as a genre novel, and the only magic to be found within it's pages is in the exceptional quality of the writing. If it had been written about the Borgias or Medicis, perhaps, as a historical novel, it would have found the wider readership its quality deserves. But then, I might never have picked it from the shelf.
August 5, 2010
This was a gripping tale, dark but beautifully written. A first novel written under a pseudonym, I've always wished that this author had been more prolific.
October 10, 2008
Mirror for Princes is an oddly compelling book. 'Nardo is the third of four princes born to a conquering King. He is roundly ignored by his father who has eyes only for the eldest brother.
This has to be the most dysfunctional family in literature. The eldest brother is an ignorant boor, the second a dilettante, 'Nardo, is a useless wimpy dreamer and Peter the youngest completely fixated upon his older brother.
I won't go into details, but safe to say it involves incest, murder and excess, but these are all seen through the pen of 'Nardo who has run away to live in a squalid hovel in a village to get away from his responsibilities. He writes his memoir as ex-king of his country.
The book is tragic, violent in places and horrible but dreadfully compelling. And the character that is the villain of the piece as far as 'Nardo is concerned definitely comes out of it looking the best despite being an all-round nasty piece of work.
The writing is mournful and melancholy which prevents the story from seeming hysterical and overblown. I highly recommend this book.
This has to be the most dysfunctional family in literature. The eldest brother is an ignorant boor, the second a dilettante, 'Nardo, is a useless wimpy dreamer and Peter the youngest completely fixated upon his older brother.
I won't go into details, but safe to say it involves incest, murder and excess, but these are all seen through the pen of 'Nardo who has run away to live in a squalid hovel in a village to get away from his responsibilities. He writes his memoir as ex-king of his country.
The book is tragic, violent in places and horrible but dreadfully compelling. And the character that is the villain of the piece as far as 'Nardo is concerned definitely comes out of it looking the best despite being an all-round nasty piece of work.
The writing is mournful and melancholy which prevents the story from seeming hysterical and overblown. I highly recommend this book.
September 21, 2014
Everything that you love in fantasy except the magic. Plus it is amazingly well-written without a single wasted word. Grim, funny, relentlessly heartbreaking and with an astonishing cast of characters.
December 2, 2021
This is my absolute favourite book of all time: it's the perfect example of the unreliable narrator. It's a biased story, where the childishness and self-absorbed nature of the 'writer' is made clear by the skill of the author. I must have read this book dozens of times, but cry every time in certain points, and become infuriated in others, and feel complete joy in others. Just a brilliant piece of writing, and I'm so sad that I haven't been able to find any other books from the same author.
August 4, 2024
I found this book at my tenth-grade English teacher's house; she had invited me and one of my friends over to go through the books she was getting rid of and take what we wanted. An INCREDIBLY generous thing to do, and it introduced me to some fantastic authors: Judith Merkle Riley, Richard Adams...and Tom De Haan.
I've read this book countless times over the years. The dust jacket shredded away long ago, and the binding is starting to wear out. I should probably order another copy, just to be on the safe side, but there's something about coming back to the same physical object, time after time.
It's been over a decade since I last read this, and I was curious about how much would change in how I related to it. Before, it just seemed like an utter tragedy, A Little Life before A Little Life was released on the scene. Reyhnard, our protagonist, starts life in an astonishingly privileged position, but he's not needed, not even wanted, and so his ego is broken down from the moment he's born. Abused, neglected, bullied, it's no wonder he grows up craving love as much as he does.
But now, I find him sort of...laughable? Ridiculous, even, because even as the tragedies pile on, he is so intensely self-centered it's almost unbelievable. Characters are defined by how much they love him, or how much they reflect him back unto himself -- Madeleine, Peter -- to the point we barely get a glimpse of what they want or think. Their motivations fade into the distance, their interiority swallowed up by Reyhnard's pathetic bleating.
And I love it. He's such a wet rag of a person, but with the damage done to him by those years of neglect and bullying, is it any wonder he turned out this way? All Reyhnard wanted was to love his family and write some poems, and to be fair, he does love his family, totally and completely. As obsessed as he is with being loved, he is just as obsessed with loving them.
It doesn't change that he is wildly unprepared to be king, let alone to be a match for his wife, his own father's mistress. Beulah is still awful, on this reread, but she's a dynamic, driven, intelligent, and cunning woman, and I respect her so much for putting in the work of being not only the ruler the country deserves (as a power behind the throne), but also the sole functional adult in the cast.
On a prose level, it's still incandescent. I can see how this got into my writerly DNA, back when I was sixteen and still figuring out that I WANTED to write, let alone how. The pages go by, smooth as water, and I slipped into Tsvingtori and Ksaned Kaled without a ripple.
A very pleasurable, if grief-struck, way to spend the last two days.
I've read this book countless times over the years. The dust jacket shredded away long ago, and the binding is starting to wear out. I should probably order another copy, just to be on the safe side, but there's something about coming back to the same physical object, time after time.
It's been over a decade since I last read this, and I was curious about how much would change in how I related to it. Before, it just seemed like an utter tragedy, A Little Life before A Little Life was released on the scene. Reyhnard, our protagonist, starts life in an astonishingly privileged position, but he's not needed, not even wanted, and so his ego is broken down from the moment he's born. Abused, neglected, bullied, it's no wonder he grows up craving love as much as he does.
But now, I find him sort of...laughable? Ridiculous, even, because even as the tragedies pile on, he is so intensely self-centered it's almost unbelievable. Characters are defined by how much they love him, or how much they reflect him back unto himself -- Madeleine, Peter -- to the point we barely get a glimpse of what they want or think. Their motivations fade into the distance, their interiority swallowed up by Reyhnard's pathetic bleating.
And I love it. He's such a wet rag of a person, but with the damage done to him by those years of neglect and bullying, is it any wonder he turned out this way? All Reyhnard wanted was to love his family and write some poems, and to be fair, he does love his family, totally and completely. As obsessed as he is with being loved, he is just as obsessed with loving them.
It doesn't change that he is wildly unprepared to be king, let alone to be a match for his wife, his own father's mistress. Beulah is still awful, on this reread, but she's a dynamic, driven, intelligent, and cunning woman, and I respect her so much for putting in the work of being not only the ruler the country deserves (as a power behind the throne), but also the sole functional adult in the cast.
On a prose level, it's still incandescent. I can see how this got into my writerly DNA, back when I was sixteen and still figuring out that I WANTED to write, let alone how. The pages go by, smooth as water, and I slipped into Tsvingtori and Ksaned Kaled without a ripple.
A very pleasurable, if grief-struck, way to spend the last two days.
July 17, 2017
The main character is not likable, in that he is a lazy misguided artist, who seems to hate women, power and life itself. Author seems to identify with the main character. I understand the author was quite young when this was written. I think it shows in the main character's relations with women are those of an inexperienced young man. The incest with the sister is played out as a non-passionate idealized portrait that is nothing more than a mirror of self-love for the main character or author himself, not a passionate, or even realistic relationship. The main character's wife Beulah, seems to be the idealized form of an attractive popular young woman, who perhaps spurned the author and thus earns his vindictiveness and his respect. Serena is a very chauvinistic view of a simple, unattractive woman, who perhaps the Author feels he deserves as it would free him of the whole sex issue and its many psychological impacts. In the end, the main character seems to have no purpose, other than as a fool. I am not sure this works. Its a bit like I Claudius, but with an unrealistic fool as Claudius.
Its well-written. The prose is good. The author has sort of created a nice backstory, but hasnt really fleshed out any character. However, it becomes a bit of a bore as it goes on, since its structure as a memoir of the main character, and once king, gives away way too much in the beginning, with little payoff by the time he abdicates. Such an abdication should be a great scene, but its lost all of its power and most of my interest as the main character commands nothing but scorn. I would be curious if this author wrote anything else under a different name. With more time and life, I think he had the talent to write something quite good.
Its well-written. The prose is good. The author has sort of created a nice backstory, but hasnt really fleshed out any character. However, it becomes a bit of a bore as it goes on, since its structure as a memoir of the main character, and once king, gives away way too much in the beginning, with little payoff by the time he abdicates. Such an abdication should be a great scene, but its lost all of its power and most of my interest as the main character commands nothing but scorn. I would be curious if this author wrote anything else under a different name. With more time and life, I think he had the talent to write something quite good.
December 28, 2018
It took a lot of time to get into the story.
There were some surprising twists in it. The perspective of the narrator made the story believable.
There were some surprising twists in it. The perspective of the narrator made the story believable.
November 14, 2021
It’s a shame that this appears to be out of print. A Mirror for Princes is a beautifully written fantasy memoir about death. Heartbreaking and without happy resolution, it truly captures what harsh realities come from both being and loving those who are mortal.
As well, "mirrors for princes" was a genre of writing meant to teach new rulers the ins and outs of their new role--what to mimic, what never to do. This novel expertly crafts a "mirror" on exactly how NOT to be a prince or a king. It is an extremely original concept, expertly done, and I hope the author behind Tom De Haan has written more since.
As well, "mirrors for princes" was a genre of writing meant to teach new rulers the ins and outs of their new role--what to mimic, what never to do. This novel expertly crafts a "mirror" on exactly how NOT to be a prince or a king. It is an extremely original concept, expertly done, and I hope the author behind Tom De Haan has written more since.
October 9, 2019
The exile Reyhnard recalls his life as the son of Basel of Brychmachrye, a tyrant whose family is doomed by its lust for power and the burdens it imposes
May 18, 2012
I read this decades ago and even though the book is gone, the characters have stayed with me. Unforgettable. It's not a happy story, but it's beautifully written and highly original.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews