Until Kikkerjaren, Josse de Haan (b. 1941) was virtually unknown in the Netherlands. For years, however, he had been devoting himself to Frisian literature. He has written novels, stories, poetry, plays, and children’s books. He has also been an editor for several Frisian literary magazines.
(J.M. Meulenhoff, 2001, 543 pagina's)
Josse de Haan is from Friesland, a northern Dutch province with its own distinct character and language, Frisian. His monumental novel Kikkerjaren (The Frog Years) was written in Frisian, but the Dutch translation nevertheless managed to impress the rest of The Netherlands. Which is as it should be, because De Haan’s strong, raw style and poetic images are truly exciting. ‘Kikkerjaren is raw, rough, merciless, wild and maladjusted,’ one daily newspaper says, ‘This book wants to be great, and it is.’
