The Penguin Book of Dutch Short Stories collects thirty-six tales, one tale per writer, and includes familiar names to the English reading public - Marcellus Emants, Nescio, Maria Dermoût, Willem Frederik Hermans, Harry Mulisch, Cees Nooteboom, Arnon Grunberg. However, in the spirit of freshness, I will focus my review on six outstanding Dutch authors whose books of fiction have not yet been translated into English.
THE KID WITH THE KNIFE by Remco Campert
Storytelling magic. Remco Campert instantly pulls a reader into a drinking party of young hipsters when Dick tells Wessel there are some people who are not drinking. Like that fellow over there, Erik’s friend. Hey, Erik, what is your friend doing here if he’s not drinking? Erik says he’s a real crazy kid, a photographer. Really? Does his take war photographs? No, Erik says, he takes beautiful photos of Leidseplein youth. What’s that all about? Hold on, says Wessel, the kid is holding something shinny. Dammit, he’s got a knife – he’s a kid with a knife. Maybe the kid is crazy after all,
Dick and Wessel go up to the kid and introduce themselves. The kid says his name is Oscar. What would you like to drink, Oscar? Oscar tells them he doesn’t drink. Oh, all you need is a knife? That’s about it, says Oscar.
A little deeper into the conversation, Wessel asks Oscar if he knows how to throw his knife. Oscar shrugs he shoulders and says he does. Wessel presses him: is your aim any good? Oscar answers flatly: yes.
Wessel asks: well, what if we choose something for you to hit, can you hit it? The kid answers yes. Wessel has Bella, one of the cool girls, come over and says he has something exciting he’d like her to be part of. Bella says, “Far out.”
This Remco Campert tale composed of nearly all dialogue continues, the suspense building with every exchange. A most remarkable story.
Remco Campert, born 1929
WAR IS FUN by Bob den Uyl
“Listen there’s a war on. What more could a ten-year-old boy want? At last, an escape from the rut of going to school each and every day.” Bob den Uyl's tale of a schoolboy’s excitement at the prospect of bombs and death. And a third- person narrator providing a touch of irony around the edges. But the boy’s enthusiasm for breaking out of a boring routine is as genuine as it gets. And maybe if he’s lucky, his awful teacher will be one of the casualties.
Here are several quotable lines:
“Everyone could die any minute. The national anthem over and over, as though the Holland-Belgium march were kicking off three times a day.”
“So what if the Queen has fled to England, she wouldn’t know how to handle a gun anyway.”
“Rumors: when the marines on the bridges run out of bullets they attack the Krauts with knives, when they run out of knives, they use their teeth. Take that.”
“He’s dead, he has to be! A fancy funeral, the whole class behind their beloved teacher’s bier, it makes tears come to his eyes. There really still is something like justice in the world. He keeps his joy in check. A smiling face could get him into trouble.”
Bob den Uyl, 1930-1992
SUNRISE DAY by Margriet de Moor
"She knew for certain that she was beautiful. As beautiful as the reeds and the ice and the deep blackness gleaming beneath her. The whole combination was perfect. She was not at all startled by his grasp when he caught her after all and kissed her so hard that her lips split and started to bleed." In nine pages Margriet de Moor's short story expresses the range and depth of a mature woman's memories and emotions, from elation to grief.
Margriet de Moor, born 1941
THE MOTIONLESS MAN by Oek de Jong
Although I do not like other people and avoid meeting them, I entered his room one evening and asked, “And what about you? How do you occupy yourself?” So opens this riveting tale of a writer’s encounter with “the motionless man,” a man he calls Tze.
At one point Tze tells the writer: “Be so kind as to remain still. Even my own movement is unbearable to me. I hate motion, things changing makes me ill.”
The writer returns again and again to the motionless man’s small room: “Tze’s room was remarkably small. If I stretched my arms above my head, I’d touch the ceiling; if I took a step forwards and reached out my arms in front of me, then I’d hit the opposite wall; holding out my arms to the side to their full length was only barely possible.”
Although I’ve read hundreds of outstanding short stories, for me, most especially with the tale’s shocking final scene, a scene containing elements of the surreal and the fantastic, this Oek de Jong seven-pager ranks in the top dozen most memorable tales I’ve ever encountered. Why, oh why, is this the one and only Oek de Jong translated into English? I feel like kicking someone in the publishing industry.
Oek de Jong, born 1952
TINCTURE by Thomas Rosenboom
"My fear continued to grow. I sorely wanted to escape. Mattij's grasp by giving him something, something to create a bond, something bad, and in doing so I would become bad myself, on the same side as Mattji, as safe as a crow among crows." A disturbing tale of foreboding among schoolboys with hints of sadism and torture.
Thomas Rosenboom, born 1956
POOP by Manon Uphoff
A powerful story of contrasts: the chance meeting of a rich lady and a poor man, the beauty of an autumn morning along an Amsterdam canal and the prospect of being subjected to one of the most disgusting experiences imaginable. “Her mother-of-pearl nail directed his gaze towards the two gleaming, dark-brown piles of dog poop. “If you eat both of those, I will give you my house. The house of your dreams, with the garden and everything along with it.”” This short story caused a bit of a stir among the Dutch critics and literati when first published. Any reader can clearly see why!
Manon Uphoff, born 1962
Again, these are only six of the thirty-six tales collected here. There is also an informative Introduction written by Joost Zwagerman. Highly recommended! Thank you, Penguin.
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