Amsterdam - A Traveler's Literary Companion
I really like this book. I started reading and I couldn't stop. Maybe the fact that the stories are pretty short helps since I'm in my mid-quarter "don't-have-too-much-time-to-spend-on-one-thing-'cause-there-are-a-bunch-of-other-things piling-up-behind-it" phase. Anyway, a couple of stories that I read really struck me. They are Chickens by Simon Carmiggelt, The Three Galleries by J. Bernlef and Living in the Red-Light District by Maarten t'Hart. All three of these stories have such strong imagery of the city. It made me feel like I was there in the day-to-day lives of all of these characters.
The description of the neighbor in the Chickens story is great: "[He] kept only serious thoughts in an unusually high-formed pointed head over which he pulled a black hat like a sheath every time he left his house." I see that neighbor standing in front of me. I not only get a sense of his physical characteristics from that sentence, but of the feeling he brings to a room.
The Three Galleries made me happy and sad (and a bunch of other things) all at once. So much of the story is about Tony's confusion and lack of direction which results in being taken advantage of my so many "art" dealers. But it's also a really nice story of Tony and Kookie and it really comes full circle in the end.
I liked Living in the Red-Light District because it added some humanity to an otherwise seemingly inhuman area of Amsterdam. Not that the red-light district seems cruel or barbaric, but just vacant. Reading about the people who live in the district and interact with the women in the windows for more than just sex was great. Putting a human face on the people who work there is very important.
The description of the neighbor in the Chickens story is great: "[He] kept only serious thoughts in an unusually high-formed pointed head over which he pulled a black hat like a sheath every time he left his house." I see that neighbor standing in front of me. I not only get a sense of his physical characteristics from that sentence, but of the feeling he brings to a room.
The Three Galleries made me happy and sad (and a bunch of other things) all at once. So much of the story is about Tony's confusion and lack of direction which results in being taken advantage of my so many "art" dealers. But it's also a really nice story of Tony and Kookie and it really comes full circle in the end.
I liked Living in the Red-Light District because it added some humanity to an otherwise seemingly inhuman area of Amsterdam. Not that the red-light district seems cruel or barbaric, but just vacant. Reading about the people who live in the district and interact with the women in the windows for more than just sex was great. Putting a human face on the people who work there is very important.
