Bart Van Lierde
Encyclopedia
Bart Van Lierde is a Flemish author. He has written several novels and thrillers, and also a Dutch version of the non-fiction book Een bestseller schrijven voor Dummies (Writing a bestseller for Dummies). Bart studied jazz singing at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and has written several songs and theatre plays.
states in his Diary 1953 - 1969 that in the 19th century composers have modernised the classical music in order to be in the spotlight, but the public lost interest as the music lost its natural form and sound. Van Lierde reflects this opinion in his two historical novels: the deformed protagonist in Violist van de duivel (Violinist of the devil) uses his musical inventiveness to gain the acceptance of the people, while in Een sprong naar de hemel (A jump to heaven), two musical brothers struggle against each other for the love of their parents.
According to J.R.R. Tolkien, literature has several levels; the highest level is a fictional story set in a fictional world. In his diary Gombrowicz advises writers to exaggerate situations in order to give them symbolic proportions. Influenced by both authors, Van Lierde studied the biographies of classical composers, made a personal mix of the most fascinating parts and exaggerated all situations and relationships, resulting in his two historical novels. Inappropriately Van Lierde was given De Slechte Seks Prijs (The Bad Sex Prize) by the TV magazine HUMO
for a scene from Een sprong naar de hemel, in which the protagonist, who has an incestuous relationship with his mother, tears out the womb of his brothers fiancé and devours it.
; the main character, though innocent, becomes the accused. He then flees from the police in order to find the culprit. But as he’s tailing the real offender, he’s seen in places where more crimes occur. The police try to shoot him rather than capture him, and the real offender also becomes a threat because he wants to avoid capture. The content of this youth book was inspired by the books of Marten Toonder
about Tom Puss and Mr. Bumble; Van Lierde creates a similar imaginary world. The story is situated in historic Venice
, all the characters behave in a modern manner, and the protagonist has a ‘stone eater’ as a pet; a beast that gets stolen by a crook to bite a hole in the wall of the treasury room of the San Marco Basilica.
was an American hypnotherapist, who laid the foundations for NLP
. Van Lierde studied his works, learned to hypnotize and applied this knowledge in the crime novel Luister niet naar Robert Blake (Do not listen to Robert Blake). Thanks to the switch between the chapters in which the hypnosis is explained, and the chapters in which these techniques are used for selfish reasons by the main character, the reader is learning unconsciously, which is the goal of hypnotherapy.
The story takes place in the city of Port Huron, Michigan which the author visited both as a member of the Belgium Youth Symphony and re-visited to do research on the book.
and Robert McKee
.
School. In Mokerslag (Sledgehammer) the young protagonist wants to murder his father, but as he does not dare, he decides to abduct the boy next door for ransom; with the money he could flee the country with his mother to start a new life elsewhere. However, as the ransom letter contains many spelling and grammatical errors, the investigators suspect a child, more specifically, a student of the Steiner School. In the historical novels the dialogues have the humour that characterizes the plays of Neil Simon
, the verbosity and eloquence of Fyodor Dostoevsky
, and also the raw aggression as in the books of Charles Bukowski
– three authors who influenced Van Lierde at his early stages as a writer. However, in Mokerslag Van Lierde no longer draws attention to his language, as he does not want the inner visualization of the reader to be interrupted.
, the frontman of rock group dEUS
, held a concert against the radical political party Vlaams Belang
to influence the outcome of the elections. Van Lierde took this incident as a starting point. The thriller stays within a time frame of 24 hours, there’re always at least four story lines running simultaneously.
and Robert McKee
into a writing course for authors. Writing a bestseller for Dummies is a book about how to structure a story to get a page turner. Only in his second historical novel does Van Lierde not follow this Hollywood rule himself. While the musical brothers renew the classical music by altering the traditional techniques and natural structures, Van Lierde allows the shape of the book to develop without formal structure.
in 2002. He wrote the story in such a structured way and in such a thoughtful language that it reads like a novel. To obtain this result he enlarged certain episodes of Haeck’s life to stress them, and he skipped other parts. Van Lierde derived the idea to write a biography that does not follow the facts, but is true to the spirit of these facts, from the fictionalised biography Summertime
by J. M. Coetzee.
Operation Solar (Operatie Solar) is a crime novel based on the characters of the popular Flemish TV series Witse
. To build tension Van Lierde uses the same techniques as in his thriller 0110. Crazy About Ya (Zot van A) is a Flemish hit movie, which Van Lierde adapted to a romantic novel. In both books he tries to evoke the same atmosphere as seen on screen. To do so he uses Flemish instead of Dutch, while occasionally he adds some Antwerp dialect.
2003
The Polish author Witold GombrowiczWitold Gombrowicz
Witold Marian Gombrowicz was a Polish novelist and dramatist. His works are characterized by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and an absurd, anti-nationalist flavor...
states in his Diary 1953 - 1969 that in the 19th century composers have modernised the classical music in order to be in the spotlight, but the public lost interest as the music lost its natural form and sound. Van Lierde reflects this opinion in his two historical novels: the deformed protagonist in Violist van de duivel (Violinist of the devil) uses his musical inventiveness to gain the acceptance of the people, while in Een sprong naar de hemel (A jump to heaven), two musical brothers struggle against each other for the love of their parents.
According to J.R.R. Tolkien, literature has several levels; the highest level is a fictional story set in a fictional world. In his diary Gombrowicz advises writers to exaggerate situations in order to give them symbolic proportions. Influenced by both authors, Van Lierde studied the biographies of classical composers, made a personal mix of the most fascinating parts and exaggerated all situations and relationships, resulting in his two historical novels. Inappropriately Van Lierde was given De Slechte Seks Prijs (The Bad Sex Prize) by the TV magazine HUMO
HUMO
HUMO is a popular Belgian weekly radio and television magazine, written in Dutch.Originally the magazine was titled Humoradio, a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio'....
for a scene from Een sprong naar de hemel, in which the protagonist, who has an incestuous relationship with his mother, tears out the womb of his brothers fiancé and devours it.
2004
In his youth novel De dief met duizend gezichten (The thief with a thousand faces), Van Lierde uses the structure that characterizes most films of Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
; the main character, though innocent, becomes the accused. He then flees from the police in order to find the culprit. But as he’s tailing the real offender, he’s seen in places where more crimes occur. The police try to shoot him rather than capture him, and the real offender also becomes a threat because he wants to avoid capture. The content of this youth book was inspired by the books of Marten Toonder
Marten Toonder
Marten Toonder was a Dutch comic creator, born in Rotterdam. He was probably the most successful comic artist in the Netherlands and had a great influence in the Dutch language by introducing new words and expressions....
about Tom Puss and Mr. Bumble; Van Lierde creates a similar imaginary world. The story is situated in historic Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, all the characters behave in a modern manner, and the protagonist has a ‘stone eater’ as a pet; a beast that gets stolen by a crook to bite a hole in the wall of the treasury room of the San Marco Basilica.
2005
Milton H. EricksonMilton H. Erickson
Milton Hyland Erickson, was an American psychiatrist specializing in medical hypnosis and family therapy...
was an American hypnotherapist, who laid the foundations for NLP
NLP
- Artificial intelligence :* Natural language processing, a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages- Medicine and biology :...
. Van Lierde studied his works, learned to hypnotize and applied this knowledge in the crime novel Luister niet naar Robert Blake (Do not listen to Robert Blake). Thanks to the switch between the chapters in which the hypnosis is explained, and the chapters in which these techniques are used for selfish reasons by the main character, the reader is learning unconsciously, which is the goal of hypnotherapy.
The story takes place in the city of Port Huron, Michigan which the author visited both as a member of the Belgium Youth Symphony and re-visited to do research on the book.
2006
Van Lierde stops enlarging situations and characters in his psychological novel 160 kilo (160 kilos) and writes for the first time about street characters. In this book a fat woman goes to a hypnotherapist to lose weight. But she has a blind spot; because she was abused as a child, she believes that the fatter she is the less likely a man would find her attractive. She overlooks that her state only attracts men who want to abuse her, and that each kilo less would increase her chances to enjoy a normal life. Van Lierde borrowed the idea to use a blind spot that conflicts with the main goal from the literature on the formal structure of American Hollywood movies, as interpreted by the authors Syd FieldSyd Field
Syd Field is an American writer who has become one of the most popular screenwriting gurus in the movie industry. Field has written several books on the subject of screenwriting, and holds workshops and seminars around the world that help aspiring and professional screenwriters produce the kind of...
and Robert McKee
Robert McKee
Robert McKee, born 1941, is a creative writing instructor who is widely known for his popular "Story Seminar", which he developed when he was a professor at the University of Southern California. McKee is the author of a "screenwriters' bible" called Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the...
.
2007
As a child Van Lierde followed lessons at the Rudolf SteinerRudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
School. In Mokerslag (Sledgehammer) the young protagonist wants to murder his father, but as he does not dare, he decides to abduct the boy next door for ransom; with the money he could flee the country with his mother to start a new life elsewhere. However, as the ransom letter contains many spelling and grammatical errors, the investigators suspect a child, more specifically, a student of the Steiner School. In the historical novels the dialogues have the humour that characterizes the plays of Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
, the verbosity and eloquence of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
, and also the raw aggression as in the books of Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
– three authors who influenced Van Lierde at his early stages as a writer. However, in Mokerslag Van Lierde no longer draws attention to his language, as he does not want the inner visualization of the reader to be interrupted.
2008
The TV series 24 starts with an incident that threatens world peace, and 24h later the danger has passed; every minute is filmed. Based on this idea Van Lierde wrote his thriller 0110. On the 1st of October 2006 Tom BarmanTom Barman
Tom Barman is a Belgian musician and film director.Barman studied at the film school of St.-Lucas in Brussels, but didn't finish his studies because of he wished to pursue a career in music. He began by forming the rock band, Deus in Antwerp, in 1989...
, the frontman of rock group dEUS
DEUS
Deus is a rock band based in Antwerp, Belgium, whose only continuous members up to the present day are Tom Barman and Klaas Janzoons...
, held a concert against the radical political party Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
to influence the outcome of the elections. Van Lierde took this incident as a starting point. The thriller stays within a time frame of 24 hours, there’re always at least four story lines running simultaneously.
2009
Van Lierde translated the ideas of Syd FieldSyd Field
Syd Field is an American writer who has become one of the most popular screenwriting gurus in the movie industry. Field has written several books on the subject of screenwriting, and holds workshops and seminars around the world that help aspiring and professional screenwriters produce the kind of...
and Robert McKee
Robert McKee
Robert McKee, born 1941, is a creative writing instructor who is widely known for his popular "Story Seminar", which he developed when he was a professor at the University of Southern California. McKee is the author of a "screenwriters' bible" called Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the...
into a writing course for authors. Writing a bestseller for Dummies is a book about how to structure a story to get a page turner. Only in his second historical novel does Van Lierde not follow this Hollywood rule himself. While the musical brothers renew the classical music by altering the traditional techniques and natural structures, Van Lierde allows the shape of the book to develop without formal structure.
2010
Van Lierde also translated his ideas about structure into the biography of the Flemish boxer Jurgen Haeck, who became Champion of the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in 2002. He wrote the story in such a structured way and in such a thoughtful language that it reads like a novel. To obtain this result he enlarged certain episodes of Haeck’s life to stress them, and he skipped other parts. Van Lierde derived the idea to write a biography that does not follow the facts, but is true to the spirit of these facts, from the fictionalised biography Summertime
Summertime (novel)
Summertime is a 2009 novel by South African-born author J. M. Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. It is the third in a series of fictionalized memoirs by Coetzee and details the life of one John Coetzee from the perspective of five people who have known him...
by J. M. Coetzee.
Operation Solar (Operatie Solar) is a crime novel based on the characters of the popular Flemish TV series Witse
Witse
Witse is a Dutch language crime drama produced by Belgian broadcaster VRT and broadcast on their één channel. It is also shown on BVN. First broadcast in 2004, as of 2010 the programme comprises eight series with a ninth and final series planned for 2012. It stars Hubert Damen as the eponymous...
. To build tension Van Lierde uses the same techniques as in his thriller 0110. Crazy About Ya (Zot van A) is a Flemish hit movie, which Van Lierde adapted to a romantic novel. In both books he tries to evoke the same atmosphere as seen on screen. To do so he uses Flemish instead of Dutch, while occasionally he adds some Antwerp dialect.
External links
- Official website .be
- Official website .nl
- Jurgen Haeck - Official website
- Jurgen Haeck - BoxRec
- Witse - Dutch Wikipedia
- Witse - Television Channel
- Zot van A - Dutch Wikipedia