What is the author's style in the novel, War and Turpentine?

Translated into English from Dutch, the novel follows the narrator, who is an author, throughout the text, and the language he uses is that of someone who has a critical awareness of art and the different issues surrounding it. As a writer narrating the story, there is tranquility and depth of understanding to his prose that helps the reader better understand the issues concerning the complexity of Urbain's character.

Despite being translated into English, the novel stills uses original Dutch and French phrases, especially when trying to highlight the cultural differences between that two, such as the animosity that becomes clear during the war. Urbain's struggles with his French superior officers, and their interactions, are recorded in French, offering an insight into the power dynamics at play.