Louis Ferron

In his treatment of historical subjects Ferron also thematizes a rather unclear reality. Especially German history fascinated him; the novels Gekkenschemer, Het stierenoffer, and De keisnijder van Fichtenwald are often referred to as his "Teutonic trilogy," and were republished in a single volume in 2002.

Ferron's work involves topics found in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud; he was influenced by Thomas Bernhard and especially by Louis-Ferdinand Céline. In his novels, Ferron unmasks ideologies and romantic illusions to uncover the chaos of desire and secret formal conventions. A number of critics call his work postmodern, especially considering his presentation of reality as unknowable. In Turkenvespers (1977), for instance, the protagonist (an unreliable narrator to begin with), finally no longer knows whether he himself exists independently, or is only an actor in the imagination of a perverse movie director.

Ferron's literary debut was a set of poems called "Kleine Krijgskunde," in the May 1962 issue of the literary journal Maatstaf, which also published, in August 1965, his short story "Ergens bij de grens." His first booklength publication was the poetry collection Zeg nu zelf, is dit ontroerend?, published in 1967. In 1974 he published a second book of poetry, Grand Guignol. After that he published mainly prose work, for which he is known best. Ferron was also a translator of James Baldwin and Vladimir Nabokov.

Louis Ferron (born Karl Heinz Beckering; 4 February 1942 – 26 August 2005) was a Dutch novelist and poet.