Beyond Sleep: A Novel

A deadpan comedy often subtly calling up the works of Heller or Vonnegut at their best, Willem Frederik Hermans’s Beyond Sleep is a unique and illuminating examination of how hard it is to be a true pioneer in the modern world.

“The language is dry; the socks are wet; the compass is lost. A masterpiece.” —Roddy Doyle

The young Dutch geologist Alfred Issendorf is determined to win fame for making a great discovery. To this end he joins a small geological expedition, which travels to the far...