Trinity

The Nazi collaboration and subsequent imprisonment of Wide Vercnocke’s grandfather was never talked about by his family. His grandmother said that later, when he was older, he would understand. But now it’s later and the main character from ‘Trinity’ still doesn’t understand. Seeing the physical resemblance between himself, his father and his grandfather, he wonders whether this biological inheritance also extends to other areas. Does he bear any guilt for his grandfather’s political collusion?

Vercnocke has a remarkable and highly distinctive style in which the physical and poetic blend with magic realism. The way in which he represents the three generations in this book is a case in point: the narrator’s body brings forth his father and grandfather. And when father and son try to have a conversation with the grandfather it proves to be anything but straightforward. In brief yet detailed scenes, Vercnocke establishes convincing visual bridges to the past. This intriguing story is yet another building block in his innovative and unconventional oeuvre.