Amsterdam: A Traveler's Literary Companion

Traveler's Literary Companion

by Manfred Wolf (Editor)

Travel to one of the most dynamic cities in the world in the company of its finest writers. The stories in this volume will take you on a personal odyssey through the city's rich past to its dynamic present. Arranged by the areas of Amsterdam they illuminate, these stories offer up a rich literary banquet to the traveler who wishes to experience the character and soul of this great city. Join better-known Dutch writers such as Harry Mulisch and Cees Nooteboom, along with those whose writing appears in English here for the first time, as they lead you along the canals, through the neighborhoods, and from the past to the present in this rare collection of twentieth-century Dutch literature. Contributors include Cees Nooteboom, J.J. Voskuil, Simon Carmiggelt, J. Bernlef, Martin Bril, Remco Campert, Marion Bloem, Maarten 't Hart, Geert Mak, Hermine Landvreugd, Gerrit Komrij, Bas Heijne, Lizzy Sara May, Gerard Reve, Marga Minco, Harry Mulisch, and Hafid Bouazza.

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Tim Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthology of general fiction/literary fiction short stories by Dutch authors, edited by Manfred Wolf. There are seventeen short stories ranging in copyright from 1961 to 2001 (the book was published 2001), with most stories copyright mid 1990s to 2001. I was only familiar with one author, Geert Mak, author of _Amsterdam: A Brief Life of the City_ which I read immediately prior to this book. This is my second book I have read in the Traveler’s Literary Companion series (I read the one on Italy).

The editor placed the stories in different sections corresponding to areas of the city (Jordaan or Vondelpark for instance) or topics relating to the city (such as Jewish Amsterdam or canals). Many were a character sketch, a brief day in the life of a character, a childhood memoir of growing up or a traumatic event, or a recounting of World War II and/or its aftermath (three such stories). Though some are happy, most are a bit sad or very sad.

Highlights include “Amsterdam” by Cees Nooteboom (first story in the anthology, a very poetic and fanciful tour of the land and sea, quite unlike the other stories), “The Three Galleries” by J. Bernlef (about a budding artist named Tony Short and his attempts to break into the art world), “Soft Landings” by Remco Campert (a well-written if sad story of alcoholic poet Onno Mulder), “Flesh and Blood” by Bas Heijne (a story of estranged parents and their adult child trying to reconcile, unable to talk about the thing they need to talk about the most), “The Decline and Fall of the Boslowits Family” by Gerard Reve (a sad childhood memoir of the destruction of a Jewish family in occupied Amsterdam), “The Return” by Marga Minco (Jewish family that successfully hid and now are coming to terms with a transformed world in post war Amsterdam, Jewish Amsterdam completely replaced), and “Apolline” by Hafid Bouzzza (a Moroccan immigrant’s experience, culture shock magnified by his dominant, assertive, confident, and liberated Dutch girlfriend).

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of stories and excerpts by writers local to the great Dutch city: most of them depressing.