Philibert Schogt

Philibert Schogt (1960) is a Dutch author who possibly has more readers in Canada and the United States than in the Netherlands. From 1964 till 1977 he grew up in the US and Canada. Therefore, many of his novels are simultaneously written or published in English in these countries, as the author is fully bilingual.

In De vrouw van de filosoof, Schogt's third novel, the author returns to the academic environment of his debut novel De wilde getallen (Engl. "The Wild Numbers), of young academics working towards a PhD. Particularly as compared with his second novel, Daalder (Engl. "Daalder's Chocolates") the both the development of the characters and the plot are much stronger. Although the outcome of the plot is revealed early in the novel, the effect is no longer that of an anti-climax as in Daalder's Chocolates. Instead, there is a considerable arc of tension as the story develops, making the book exciting to read.

The story is about three students of philosophy, Vera, who is modest and insecure, Luuk, her (ex-) boyfriend and Ute, Luuk's new girl friend. Following a summer flirt in France, Vera buys "Le printemps de Priape" by the controversial French philosopher François Malmédy. The central tenet of Malmédy's later work, particularly "Grâce à l'ennemi" is that the individual can derive strength from enmity. Vera is completely devoted to Luuk, supporting him in every way and thus enabling him to complete his PhD thesis of more than 900 pages, which also appears in a commercial edition. However, before the book is finished, Luuk abandons Vera and their illegitimate child suddenly. As Luuk increasingly comes under the influence of Ute and Malmédy, Vera makes a startling discovery as it turns out that Luuk ruthlessly slanders her in his book.

The novel is an wonderful exploration of benevolence versus ruthlessness in social relations, against a quite possible philosophical underpinning, which can be read as a social critique of our time. De vrouw van de filosoof is definitely Philibert Schogt best novel so far.… (altro)

[[Philibert Schogt]] is a Dutch author, who was born in the Netherlands but spent his youth from the age of four to seventeen in Canada, where he grew up. As Schogt is a relatively young and not very well-known author in Holland, it is unusual that all of his novels have already appeared in English translations, especially in Canada and the United States, which makes me wonder whether he translates or authors dual language versions, Dutch and English.

[De wilde getallen] ([The Wild Numbers]) is his first novel. The title refers to a fictional unsolved mathematical problem, in the novel ascribed to the fictional 18th century French mathematician Anatole Millechamps de Beauregard, probably a reference to the Canadian mathematician Gilbert de Beauregard Robinson.

It is the main character, a lecturer at a university, Isaac Swift's ambition to solve this problem. His colleague and supervisor have also already, but unsuccessfully tried to solve the same problem. At the beginning of the novel, it seems Swift has succeeded to solve the problem, and his paper is approved by the faculty and sent to a leading academic journal. Trouble starts when a "student", an elderly retired math teacher who is clearly out of his mind and enrolled in Swift's class, accuses him of plagiarism. The suspense of the novel is based on the question whether or not Swift has used Mr Vale's notes, and whether or not Mr Vale, in a stroke of madness, has been able to solve this problem, a wild story, which leads to a surprising conclusion.

The story is quite exciting, even a bit ludicrous, and very recognizable. Fortunately, the reader does not need to be a mathematician or even have a liking for mathematics, to follow the story. [[Schogt]]'s main character, Isaac Swift, does not relate very well to other people, an inhibition apparently caused by fanatic determination, something which can be seen in other characters in other novels by [[Philibert Schogt]]. There is very little character development, and some characters are stereotypical, such as the lone figure of Mr Vale. Another similarity with later novels is a sense of anti-climax: the story develops to a certain peak and then implodes like a bubble.… (altro)