Couperus, Louis (1863–1923)

Dutch novelist. His first novel Eline Vere (1888), a vivid picture of society in The Hague, was an immediate success. The same psychological insight typifies the characterization of De Stille Kracht/The Silent Force (1900; which relates to his early life in Indonesia), De Boeken der Kleine Zielen/The Books of the Small Souls (1901) and Van Oude Menschen, De Dingen Die Voorbijgaan/The Things that Pass Old People By (1906), which constitute Couperus's finest works. His other novels, though often technically brilliant, fail to add significantly to his recurrent themes of personal impotence in the face of heredity or sexual relationships.