The Discovery of Heaven

The Discovery of Heaven
By Harry Mulisch

The book begins with a story the average life of a collection of a few people in Amsterdam. It takes on the liberal persona of Dutch living in the 1960s. It begins with a story of human drama that is marked by tragic events of life and death that may occur without notice or reason. Yet it defines a new direction in life and perspective; thought. Max and Onno share the fatherhood of Quinten, a boy blessed with a remarkable beauty that is only explained through implication at the end of the book. As 1960 drama would have it, the reason why they are sharing fatherhood is because Quinten’s mother Ada has sex with her old boyfriend Max in the ocean and then out of guilt she feels for her action she seduces her current boyfriend Onno, who had betrayed her while she was betraying him, all in that same evening. During Ada’s pregnancy there is a tragic accident and Ada becomes comatose and her father dies of a heart attack on the same evening. Out of guilt and mystery Max offers to raise the child along with Sophia, Ada’s mother who has a cold day time persona, but a passionate quirk to privately have wild sex with Max at night, of which is forever a secret. You begin to wonder; why am I reading this and what does this have to do with the discovery of heaven?

All this story is lightly interlaced with moral questions along the way and provides the framework for classic character introduction. In this case the introduction is required as it adds to the intrigue as the back half of the book uses mystery drama of a grand heist of the Ten Commandments. The intrigue is brought about not just through the logistics of the heist and how to fence the treasure, but the tension of contrast in philosophy of the meaning of life through the eyes of each character’s moral differences. Max is a scientist and all life and its meaning is explained in a rational way were numbers and equations are at the core. Reality is physical. Onno is a linguist and a politician where words take on an art form and are representations of the physical. Is reality the words or the action? In the tension the question is examined through story and conversation of fathers and son.

The scene building is equally masterful as the author draws on art history, architecture, religion, and the history of many philosophers. Ironically I have spent considerable time in Amsterdam, Venice, Rome and Israel. Now I need to return and look upon those cities with a whole new perspective. You are introduced to the notion that to be an architect you must blend the skills of an engineer, a poet, a musician, and an artist, in to the fabric of your work. Ironically the next book on my reading list is Godel Hescher Bach, by Hoffstadter, which studies that in more depth. My previous was the Secret of Fremasonry by Naubon studies architecture in depth. The reading order is pure coincidence? Surely the philosophy of this books answers that question. So with a rich blending of moral question the author examines the religions of Jerusalem with primary focus on Judaism and then Christianity as they both pertain to the Law, the Ten Commandments.

The reader if paying attention may find in the message that of Judaism, the law is a pragmatic interpretation of the material world with a prescription of rules to get to heaven. Where as in Christianity laws are less tangible and of the spirit of balance and harmony with all that is. Inner peace expressed outwardly. In the former a person’s moral compass is a mandate. In the latter the moral compass is an intangible desire to simply do the right thing, make the right choice. Through Quinten’s actions towards the end it is clear that heaven is obtainable through transcendence. He makes the right choice. The mystery is can you transcend the material world through other means than death. This is left for Onno to explain. Does he? I choose the same path as the author for likely the same reasons and invite you to read the book. Together we can all solve that mystery.

Myself I will provide the review now and begin examining more closely Mulisch’s work and an addendum with bibliography notes over the next month.