The Penguin Book of Dutch Short Stories (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Belcampo (Herman Pieter Schonfeld Wichers, 1902–90) was an admirer of E. T. A. Hoffmann and used one of Hoffmann’s characters as his own pen name. In 1922 he started writing stories, mostly of a fantastic and bizarre nature, which became his trademark. In 1958 he published his best known work, The Great Event, an apocalyptic novel situated in Rijssen, the town where he grew up.
A writer, journalist and translator, A. Alberts (1911–96) travelled to the Dutch East Indies to work as a civil servant. After the Battle of Java (1942) and his internment by the Japanese from April 1942 to September 1945, he returned in 1946 to the Netherlands. In 1953 he made his debut with The Islands, a collection of short stories about an imaginary archipelago, based on his experiences in Guinea and Indonesia. He wrote a classic oeuvre, consisting of short stories, novellas, novels, memoirs and historical studies.
Father of architect Rem Koolhaas, Anton Koolhaas (1912–92) started writing as a journalist on foreign affairs and since his first story appeared in a newspaper in 1936, he wrote many literary books of animal stories. In addition, he wrote about human beings as well, but there was always a major role for animals. Some of his novels have been filmed. He was also the director of the Dutch Film Academy, wrote film scenarios and directed one film.
The grande dame of historic fiction, Hella Haasse (1918–2011) was one of the key figures in postwar Dutch literature. She made her debut with the novella The Black Lake (1949), a story about a friendship between a Dutch and an Indonesian boy, based on her experiences of growing up in the Dutch East Indies. Haasse received many prestigious literary awards, among them the Dutch Literature Prize in 2004, and her work has been translated into many languages. The Tea Lords was the first work of hers translated into English for fifteen years.
Willem Frederik Hermans (1921–95) is another key figure in Dutch literature; a writer of many novels, short stories, essays, drama and poetry. He wrote two classic novels about the Second World War and the Dutch resistance, Tears of the Acacias (1949) and The Darkroom of Damocles (1958), and a novel about a young man’s search for a meteorite, Beyond Sleep (1966, filmed in 2016). The last two have been translated into English. Lesser known, but equally important, are his short stories and novellas, such as The Safe House (1951).
F. B. Hotz (1922–2000) started to write in the early 1950s when he was playing the trombone in a jazz combo. When finally he sent his story The Tram Race to a literary magazine, it caused a stir of excitement: never before had the editors read such an accomplished debut. With his polished style, he quickly became a cherished author of short stories and just one novel; much of his work was set in the depression era of the 1930s.
Harry Mulisch (1927–2010) was born to a Jewish mother and a German father. ‘I didn’t so much experience the war; I am the Second World War,’ he once famously claimed. One of his most successful novels, The Assault (1982), is about the Second World War. The author further gained international fame with his opus magnum, The Discovery of Heaven (1992). In addition to novels, Mulisch wrote plays, poetry, political pieces and philosophical studies. He was one of the most illustrious authors in the Netherlands. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, including English.
Author, sculptor and painter Jan Wolkers (1925–2007) became famous in the 1960s for his literary work, which caused a commotion because of explicit scenes. His Protestant upbringing is a theme in much of his work. The 1969 novel Turkish Delight became his biggest success; it has been translated into many languages and made into a movie, directed by Paul Verhoeven. In his later life, he lived on the island of Texel, concentrated on painting and less on writing and also presented a popular television show, explaining the wonders of nature.
Cees Nooteboom (b.1933) has written a huge body of work, consisting of novels, stories, poetry, essays, journalism and translations. He is one of the most successful Dutch authors internationally, especially in Germany, where all his work appears simultaneously in translation. He witnessed the revolutions in Budapest (1956), Paris (1968) and Berlin (1989), about each of which he wrote accounts. His novels include Rituals (1980), The Following Story (1991), Roads to Santiago (1992) and All Souls’ Day (1998). The author lives in Amsterdam and on the island of Minorca.
Remco Campert (b.1929) is one of the most popular writers in the Netherlands, who started writing poetry and short stories in the 1950s as a member of the legendary experimental group De Vijftigers. In comparison to his friends, his work was more accessible – always balancing dry wit and melancholia. He is also a widely read columnist for de Volkskrant. In 1976 Campert was awarded the P. C. Hooft Prize and in 2014 he received the tri-annual Prize for Dutch Literature. In recent years he has found inspiration for new novels, including the successful A Love in Paris (2004).
J. M. A. Biesheuvel (b.1939) became a sensation with his debut, the short-story collection In the Upper Berth (1972). After that, he published a large number of story collections and novellas. In 2007 he was awarded the prestigious P. C. Hooft Prize for his complete oeuvre. Suffering from depression, Biesheuvel has published little in the last decades. In 2008 his collected works appeared, followed by a couple of newly written short stories in literary magazines.
Bob den Uyl (1930–92) was a writer of short stories, with a famously ironic, observant and deadpan style. In his later work, the focus of his writing shifted to more autobiographical and travel stories, mostly concerned with bicycle trips in neighbouring countries. Several collections of stories have been published posthumously; 2008 saw the publication of the biography of this cult figure in Dutch letters.
Trained as a biologist in zoology and ethology, Maarten ’t Hart (b.1944) has been one of the Netherlands most successful novelists since the 1970s. Flight of Curlews (1978) was his breakthrough novel. His books have been translated into many languages, notably in Germany where he has a large readership. Protestantism, nature and classical music are recurrent themes in his work.
Born in Batavia, present-day Jakarta, Helga Ruebsamen (b.1934) was on a visit to the Netherlands when war broke out and her family could not return. In 1997, she published a bestselling autobiographical novel about her colonial youth and the contrast with the Netherlands during occupation, The Song and the Truth. Apart from this novel, she has published many short stories, most of them about people suffering from alcoholism, poverty and/or madness, in a witty trademark style. She was awarded the Anna Bijns Prize in 2003.
Mensje van Keulen (b.1946) made her debut with Bleeker’s Summer (1972), now considered a modern classic, followed by collections of stories and poetry, novels and children’s books. She is a subtle storyteller with an eye for significant, slightly bizarre details that give her work a melancholy atmosphere and a touch of suspense. In 2011 she was awarded the Charlotte Köhler Prize; in 2014 the Constantijn Huygens Prize.
Nicolaas Matsier (b.1945) is the author of many children’s books, short-story collections, essays and two novels: Closed House (1994, written after the death of his parents) and The Forty-Eighth Hour (2005, about illegal refugees). He has translated work by authors including Lewis Carroll, Stefan Themerson and Xenophon and for many years was an editor for literary journals De Revisor and Raster.
During his short life, Frans Kellendonk (1951–90) created an oeuvre of novels, short stories, essays and translations. From his debut Ruins (1977) to his novel Mystical Body (1986), Kellendonk won the admiration of readers and critics; with his intelligent and adventurous prose he is considered one of the most important names in Dutch literature. In 2015, his collected works and an edition of his letters were published.
Oek de Jong (b.1952) made his breakthrough with the bestselling novel Billowing Summer Dresses (1979), followed by three novels, and collections of stories and essays. In 2012 he published his opus magnum, Pier and Ocean, which was awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize and the Gouden Uil. De Jong’s books have been translated into nine languages. His most recent publication is an essay on the state of the novel, What Only the Novel Ca
n Say (2013). His story Motionless Man was first published in 1975.
Thomas Rosenboom (b.1956) has written novels, short stories and essays. Historical fiction is his trademark, with Washed Flesh (1994), Public Works (1999) and The New Man (2003) being prime examples. He is the only author to have won the Libris Literature Prize (best novel of the year) twice. Controversial was his essay on the decline of educational standards, Thinking About Holland (2005).
A. F. Th. van der Heijden (b.1951) is the author of two novel cycles: The Toothless Time and Homo Duplex, both of them spanning thousands of pages, which rank among the highpoints in Dutch literature. He has also written four memoirs, the last of which is about his son who tragically died, Tonio. The book became a bestseller and won three of Holland’s most prestigious literary awards. It has also been translated into English.
Margriet de Moor (b.1941) had a career as a classical singer before becoming a novelist. Her debut novel, First Grey, Then White, Then Blue (1991), was a sensational success across Europe, winning her the AKO Literature Prize, for which her second novel, The Virtuoso (1993) was also nominated. She has since published several other novels, including Duke of Egypt and The Kreutzer Sonata. Her books have been translated into twenty languages, including English.
P. F. Thomése (b.1958) was awarded the AKO Literature Prize in 1991 for his first collection of stories, The Southern Continent. Shadow Child (2003) spent several weeks in the list of top ten bestsellers, was nominated for the NS Readers’ Book of the Year Award, and was longlisted for the Libris Literature Prize. The book was his international breakthrough and has been published in nineteen languages. Since then he has written prize-winning novels, short stories, essays and novellas to wide acclaim. His novel J. Kessels has been adapted for the screen. His most recent novel – the bestselling The Underwater Swimmer (2015) – has been nominated for both the ECI and Libris Literature Prize.
Marcel Möring (b.1957) has published novels, stories and essays. He received the Lubberhuizen Prize for his debut novel, Mendel’s Legacy (1990), while his second novel, The Great Longing (1992), was awarded the AKO Literature Prize. It quickly became his international breakthrough, with translations into many languages, including English. In 2007, his fourth novel, DIS, was awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize. His most recent novel is Purification Mountain (2014).
Manon Uphoff (b.1962) is especially known for her short stories and novellas. She made her debut with Desire (1995), followed by a novel, Missing (1997). The story included in this anthology, Poop, caused a stir upon publication. Her most recent book is The Sweetness of Violence (2013), also a collection of short stories.
Joost Zwagerman (1963–2015) was a novelist, poet, essayist and editor of several anthologies. He started his career as a writer with bestselling novels, describing the atmosphere of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Gimmick! (1988) and False Light (1991). In later years, he concentrated on writing essays – notably on pop culture and visual arts – and poetry. Suicide was the theme of the novel Six Stars (2002). He took his own life just after having published a new collection of essays on art, The Museum of Light.
Hafid Bouazza (b.1970), is a Moroccan-Dutch writer of novels, stories, drama and essays. He received the E. du Perron prize for his 1996 debut Abdullah’s Feet, which was translated into English. He edited and translated an anthology of Arab verse. Later works include the 2004 novel Paravion, which won him the Golden Owl Prize. His last publication is the novel Meriswin (2014).
Arnon Grunberg (b.1971) is a prolific and versatile writer of novels, essays and columns, living in New York. He made his debut in 1994 with the novel Blue Mondays, which critics hailed as a ‘grotesque comedy, a rarity in Dutch literature’. The acclaimed novel Tirza was Grunberg’s first book to be made into a movie, after winning the Libris Prize and the Golden Owl. His work has been translated into thirty languages, including English.
Sanneke van Hassel (b.1971) is the author of four collections of short stories, which have been praised for their powerful atmosphere and economical style. In the summer of 2010 her first novel was published, Nest. She is the organizer of an international festival of short stories, Hotel Van Hassel. Together with Flemish writer Annelies Verbeke, she compiled an anthology of contemporary short stories from all over the world (To the City, 2012).
Joost de Vries (b.1983) is a writer, editor and literary critic. He made his debut with Clausewitz (2010), inspired by the work of Harry Mulisch. His second novel, The Republic (2013), which won him the Golden Owl and several nominations for other literary awards, will be translated into nine languages, including English.
Acknowledgements
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the below list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.
Introduction copyright © Joost Zwagerman, 2016, first published here.
Translation copyright © David McKay, 2016.
‘Een zonderling’ (‘An Eccentric’), by Marcellus Emants, first published in Mensen by Querido, 1920.
Translation copyright © Paul Vincent, 2016.
‘De binocle’ (‘The Opera Glasses’), by Louis Couperus, first published in Proza by L. J. Veen, 1920.
Translation copyright © Paul Vincent, 2016.
‘De groene droom’ (‘The Green Dream’), by Arthur van Schendel, first published in De pleziervaart by J. M. Meulenhoff, 1951.
Translation copyright © David McKay, 2016.
‘Titaantjes’ (‘Young Titans’) by Nescio, first published in Groot Nederland, 1915. First book publication: De uitvreter, Titaantjes, Dichtertje, J. H. De Bois, 1918. Reprinted with the permission of Nijgh & Van Ditmar.
Translation copyright © Damion Searls, first published by New York Review Books, 2012.
‘De aktetas’ (‘The Briefcase’) by F. Bordewijk, first published in De wingerdrank by Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1950.
Translation copyright © Paul Vincent, 2016.
‘De sirenen’ (‘The Sirens’) © the Estate of Maria Dermout, 1962. First published in De sirenen by Em. Querido’s Uitgeverij.
Translation copyright © Etty Kist and James Brockway, 1962.
‘De bruine vriend’ (‘My Brown Friend’) copyright 1935 by Simon Vestdijk. First published in De vrije bladen. Reprinted with the permission of the Estate of Simon Vestdijk http://www.svestdijk.nl.
Translation copyright © Paul Vincent, 2016.
‘Uitvaart’ (‘Funeral Rights’) copyright 1959 by Belcampo. First published in Tussen hemel en afgrond by Em. Querido’s Uitgeverij.
Translation copyright © Richard Huijing, 1993.
‘Groen’ (‘Green’) copyright 1952 by A. Alberts. First published in De eilanden (The Islands) by G. A. van Oorschot, 1952.
Translation copyright © Hans Koning, 1983, reprinted with the permission of Pollinger Limited (www.pollingerltd.com), on behalf of the Estate of Hans Koning.
‘Mijnheer Tip is de dikste meneer’ (‘Mr Tip is the Fattest Pig’) copyright © A. Koolhaas, 1957. First published in Vergeet niet de leeuwen te aaien by G. A. van Oorschot.
Translation copyright © Laura Watkinson, 2016.
‘Het portret’ (‘The Portrait’) copyright 1965 by Hella S. Haasse. First published in Van zes een jaar by Em. Querido’s Uitgeverij.
Translation copyright © Laura Watkinson, 2016.
‘Glas’ (‘Glass’) copyright 1953 by Willem Frederik Hermans. First published in Paranoia by G. A. Van Oorschot. Reprinted with the permission of De Bezige Bij.
Translation copyright © David Colmer, 2016.
‘Vrouwen winnen’ (‘Women Win’) copyright 1976 by F. B. Hotz. First published in Dood weermiddel en andere verhalen by De Arbeiderspers.
Translation copyright © David McKay, 2016.
‘Wat gebeurde er met Sergeant Massuro?’ (‘What Happened to Sergeant Massu
ro?’) copyright © Harry Mulisch, 1995. First published in De versierde mens by De Bezige Bij.
Translation copyright © Paul Vincent, 2016.
‘Gevederde vrienden’ (‘Feathered Friends’) copyright © Jan Wolkers, 1962. First published in Gesponnen suiker (Collected Stories) by J. M. Meulenhoff.
Translation copyright © Richard Huijing, 1993.
‘Paula’ copyright © Cees Nooteboom, 2009. First published in ’s Nachts komen de vossen by De Bezige Bij.
Translation copyright © Ina Rilke, 2011. First published in The Foxes Come at Night by MacLehose Press.
‘De jongen met het mes’ (‘The Kid with the Knife’) copyright © Remco Campert, 1993. First published in Nacht op de kale dwerg by De Bezige Bij.
Translation copyright © Donald Gardner, 2016.
‘De verpletterende werkelijkheid’ (‘The Shattering Truth’) copyright © J. M. A. Biesheuvel, 1979. First published in De verpletterende werkelijkheid by J. M. Meulenhoff. Reprinted with the permission of G. A. van Oorschot.
Translation copyright © Sam Garrett, 2016.
‘Oorlog is leuk’ (‘War is Fun’) copyright © Bob den Uyl, 1968. First published in Een zachte fluittoon by Querido.
Translation copyright © Sam Garrett, 2016.
‘Het Muiderslot’ (‘Castle Muider’) copyright © Maarten ’t Hart, 1981. First published in De zaterdagvliegers by De Arbeiderspers.
Translation copyright © Michele Hutchison, 2016.
‘Olijfje’ (‘Olive’) copyright © Helga Reubsamen. First published in De ondergang van Makarov by Contact in 1971. Reprinted with the permission of Atlas Contact.
Translation copyright © Michele Hutchison, 2016.
‘Zand’ (‘Sand’) copyright © Mensje van Keulen. First published in Een goed verhaal by Atlas Contact in 2009.
Translation copyright © Ina Rilke, 2011.
‘De Minnema-variaties’ (‘The Minnema Variations’) copyright © Nicolaas Matsier, 1979. First published in Onbepaald vertraagd by Querido. Reprinted with the permission of De Bezige Bij.