Customer Reviews

The Vanishing

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Rex Hofmann and his girlfriend Saskia Ehlvest, a young Dutch couple, are on their way to the South of France. At a Fina gas station they stop to stretch their legs and have something to drink. Waiting for his girlfriend to return, Rex decides to take a picture of the gas station. He does not know that this picture will be the only clue as to what happened to Saskia at that same moment. Years later he still cannot comprehend her disappearance and embarks on an obsessive search for her.

This rather short story has a really sharp edge to it. The very well written plot builds up to suspenseful finale, where the reader is enticed to a dance with his own conscience: Can not knowing the truth become an obsession that drives you to the extreme? One thing is certain: this story will not leave your mind easily. It is a disturbing little bugger, but one you cannot but love for its genuineness.

This novella, written in 1984 by the Dutch writer Tim Krabbe, is titled "Het gouden ei" (The Golden Egg) and has been made into a Dutch movie "Spoorloos" (Untraceable) in 1988. This movie is sometimes even more disturbing that the original story, because the scenario, also written by Tim, is more elaborate and the characters seem to have obtained more depth. In 1993 an American remake "The Vanishing" was created, starring Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis and Sandra Bullock. But, believe me: you better skip this monster of a movie.

The book, The Vanishing, is a gripping, easy to read story about the formation of intense obsession and how it drives two men in their separate quests. Rex Hofman is a man who is deeply obsessed with trying to find out what happened to his girlfriend, who disappeared at a gas station during their vacation. This obsession is fueled by the intense need to know what happened to her, and it takes over his life, making it impossible for him to maintain relationships with other women. Raymond Lemorne, on the other hand, is a seemingly normal family man who wants to determine the extent of his evilness. When the obsessions of these men bring them together, the ending produced is unforgettable and truly disturbing. It is a unique ending for those who are tired of the predictability that is found in many suspense stories and it explores the limits of how far one will go to find the truth.

Krabbe wrote an amazing, unorthodox story. The book is one of the most horrifying I ever read, but at the same time it's a beautiful love story. A real pageturner and something to think about. One can really empathize in the main character's feelings. When he's about to make a deal with the 'devil', the reader feels the same dilemma: take the risk and find out the truth, or live in the agony of ignorance. But in fact there is no other choice than to turn to the next page.

Near Dijon, France, Rex Hofman and Saskia Ehlvest-his love interest-are heading to a hotel in Nuits-St. Georges in Burgundy; they are on vacation. After a brief spat while on the road, they pull into a gas station called TOTAL and make up. Saskia plans to drive the second leg of their trip, but before she does so, she needs to do a bathroom and drink break. Affectionally, she wants to buy a soda for herself and a beer for Rex, the latter being a researcher and journalist whose speciality seems to be directed more towards the sciences. While Saskia heads into the gas station, Rex waits in line at the pumps to tank up his car. When done, he parks the car and keeps himself entertained with some light exercise and whatnot. In that period, he is overcome by a sense of bliss at how lucky he is to have a woman like Saskia as his girlfriend, for she is definitely marriage material. However, as time passes, Saskia does not return to him, and he wonders where the heck she is. Searching frantically throughout the gas station, Saskia has totally vanished, and her whereabouts are unknown. This sends Rex on an eight-year odyssey that consumes him not only financially but mentally as well. He does a media blitzkrieg of a campaign which yields no clues; people tell him that she probably left and is simply living another life. He does not buy it, and so he embarks on a maddening journey that involves "witnesses" and psychics. Even his current girlfriend, Lieneke, who knows of Rex's heartbreaking past, cannot pull him away from his maddening desire to know what happened to his missing girlfriend, Saskia, for it is the not knowing that is killing him.

Quietly lurking in the background is another man; his name Raymond Lemorne, a loving spouse and father of two adoring daughters. He is a popular chemistry teacher who lives in Autin, in the district of Saone-et-Loire. By all accounts, he leads a rather idillic life. He is respected, good at his job and has a demeanor that is affable and approachable. One day, a young girl was drowning, and he saved her before the eyes of his family. Due to that incident, he became a superhero who had accrued family laurels. However, something is simply not right-in-the-head with Raymond, for if he can be brave superhero, can he not also be a methodical, villainous monster? So a scheme is hatched and perfected upon repeatedly. He plans to do evil on an innocent young woman, preferably a mother. He hunts for the perfect prey, scouting various locations and acting out scenarios in which to trap his victim. As it happens, he too was at the TOTAL gas station and ultimately has the answers that Rex Hofman is desperately seeking. Witnessing the media campaign of the beleaguered Rex, Raymond confesses that he is that man that Rex is looking for, the one who can help him acquire the horrific truth. However, he will not give it to him willingly; he must go through the motions as Saskia did. Then he will have his truth. Ever so compliant, Rex agrees to do whatever is asked of him, and he follows to the end. He must drink a chloroformed laced coffee and go to Lemorne's secluded log cabin in the woods. All eventually gets revealed. The answer is disturbing, and it will leave readers shuddering.

The Vanishing was a tightly woven novel with a very credible and unnerving plot that could have been ripped from current-day newspaper headlines. It is short, fast-paced and evocative of the dark side of warped human nature. The inspiration behind two good films of the same name, The Vanishing was a simple yet stellar read.

I wanted to give this book five stars, or at the least four, I really did, but then I went away to college and took this class.......... "The Vanishing" is disturbing, no doubt about it. The ending is horrific and the fact that Lemorne is rewarded at the end of the novel for his deeds is just plain wrong...but still, there's something about this story that grabbed ahold of me... The think you need to watch the Dutch film as well as read this novel, (it's also written by Krabbe) because it wasn't until the final scene that what I truly liked about this novel was hammered home. This is a novel about love, and about two people who are reunited in death. Rex's obsession with Saskia can be viewed as damaging, but it can also be viewed as something of beauty, to want, no, to need something so much that you're willing to die for it (not that I recommend anyone going the same route of Rex). It's hard to recommend this book because it can have an affect on a person, which I think is an aspect of good writing. This book isn't perfect, far from it, but I do think it's worthwhile to read and that someone can pull something valuable out of it (just switch the ending so Lemorne gets eaten by a pool of hungry pirahna, I think).

A terrifying tale. The moment at the end is described so vividly I felt for a moment I had suffered the same fate. A gem of psychological horror. The author also manages to portray the complexity of male/ female relationships with the same sophistication as Milan Kundera.

A man and his girlfriend stop for a break whilst driving to their holiday desination. She goes in to buy drinks and vanishes. He spends the next 8 years thinking abou ther, trying to work out what happened. He tries to get on with his life but his missing lover haunts him. After 8 years he spends a fortune trying to get the story by taking out ads and this brings the man who knows what happens to Rex's girlfriend to his door. Does he really what to know what happened?

In the original language (dutch), this short-story is titled »Het Gouden Ei« which means »The Golden Egg«. And this golden egg is just one out of many elements in the subtle symbolism of this story by Tim Krabbé.

It is basicly a crime story, and even one with no great surprises. At least not concerning what happens in the story itself. Even the ending is of little surprise (this, however, does not make it less scary!). But the way in which it is all told is of pretty high level. It is a simple story, with a lot of subtle elements, told in an exciting manner, written in a simple language.

All in all recommendable. Especially for impatient people.

If you are thinking of buying this because you liked the movie so much...don't bother. I didn't like it at all.