Lead Review

• Book: Amsterdam Tales
• Location: Amsterdam
• Author: Paul Vincent

Review Author: tripfiction

Amsterdam Tales is an eclectic collection of eighteen short stories and essays set in Amsterdam ranging from the 17th century through to the present day. The collection is expertly edited by Helen Constantine and beautifully translated by Paul Vincent. It offers a fascinating insight into aspects of Amsterdam life over the years…

The eighteen authors are very diverse – not only in time, but also in the subject matter they choose to write about. They range from Gerard Brandt (‘Joost van den Vondel goes into Hiding’: 1625) right through to Robert Anker (‘Pain in the Spleen’: modern day). The first is the story of a man who wrote supposedly subversive literature in the 17th century and the latter is the story of a night watchman conned by thieves. The sixteen in between range from a man railing against trams (W Otto’s ‘An Opponent inveighs against the Tram’ ), to a story of ice skating on the Amstel (Herman Heijermann’s ‘Amstel’), to the strange tale of a school mistress (Jacob Israël de Haan’s ‘The Black Cat’), to a story of Jewish survivors set at the end of the war (Frans Pointl’s ‘Amsterdam 1945-46’), to a commentary on Arab immigration into Amsterdam (Pieter Olde Rikkert’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Allah Akbar’), to man living opposite, and with an unhealthy fascination for, a massage parlour in the red light district (Thomas Herman van Voss’ ‘Massage Parlour’). I have picked only eight of the eighteen stories to mention. The rest are just as interesting and just as diverse. A truly fascinating collection. Before each story in the book there is a full page black and white picture to illustrate it – they in themselves make fascinating ‘reading’.

Amsterdam Tales says a lot about the type of city that Amsterdam was and is. It is a city with a strong immigrant tradition – Jews fleeing from various waves of persecution through to more modern immigration from the Middle East. It is a city full of tolerance (as, indeed, are most Dutch people) and diversity. The book is great way to cover part of its history in a very human way.

A book you can dip in and out of. Highly recommended.

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