Items related to Amsterdam Stories (New York Review Books Classics)
No one has written more feelingly and more beautifully than Nescio about the madness and sadness, courage and vulnerability of youth: its big plans and vague longings, not to mention the binges, crashes, and marathon walks and talks. No one, for that matter, has written with such pristine clarity about the radiating canals of Amsterdam and the cloud-swept landscape of the Netherlands.
Who was Nescio? Nescio—Latin for “I don’t know”—was the pen name of J.H.F. Grönloh, the highly successful director of the Holland–Bombay Trading Company and a father of four—someone who knew more than enough about respectable maturity. Only in his spare time and under the cover of a pseudonym, as if commemorating a lost self, did he let himself go, producing over the course of his lifetime a handful of utterly original stories that contain some of the most luminous pages in modern literature.
This is the first English translation of Nescio’s stories.
Who was Nescio? Nescio—Latin for “I don’t know”—was the pen name of J.H.F. Grönloh, the highly successful director of the Holland–Bombay Trading Company and a father of four—someone who knew more than enough about respectable maturity. Only in his spare time and under the cover of a pseudonym, as if commemorating a lost self, did he let himself go, producing over the course of his lifetime a handful of utterly original stories that contain some of the most luminous pages in modern literature.
This is the first English translation of Nescio’s stories.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Jan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh (1882–1961) was born in Amsterdam, the oldest of four children. After an idealistic youth, he joined the Holland–Bombay Trading Company in 1904, becoming director in 1926, suffering a nervous breakdown leading to a short hospitalization in 1927, and retiring at age fifty-five, on December 31, 1937; he married Aagje Tiket (b. 1883) in 1906 and had four daughters with her, born in 1907, 1908, 1909, and 1912. Meanwhile, as Nescio (Latin for “I don’t know”; he adopted a pseudonym so as not to jeopardize his business career, acknowledging his authorship publicly only in 1929), he wrote what is now considered perhaps the best prose in the Dutch language.
Damion Searls is a writer and a translator of many classic twentieth-century authors, including Proust, Rilke, Robert Walser, Ingeborg Bachmann, and Thomas Bernhard. His translation of Hans Keilson’s Comedy in a Minor Key was a New York Times Notable Book of 2010 and a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He also edited Henry David Thoreau’s The Journal: 1837–1861, available as an NYRB Classic.
Joseph O’NeilL is the author of three novels, most recently Netherland (2008), and of Blood-Dark Track: A Family History (2001). Born in Ireland, he spent most of his childhood in the
Netherlands.
Review:
Damion Searls is a writer and a translator of many classic twentieth-century authors, including Proust, Rilke, Robert Walser, Ingeborg Bachmann, and Thomas Bernhard. His translation of Hans Keilson’s Comedy in a Minor Key was a New York Times Notable Book of 2010 and a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He also edited Henry David Thoreau’s The Journal: 1837–1861, available as an NYRB Classic.
Joseph O’NeilL is the author of three novels, most recently Netherland (2008), and of Blood-Dark Track: A Family History (2001). Born in Ireland, he spent most of his childhood in the
Netherlands.
“His utter simplicity goes hand-in-hand with a great command of humour, irony, matter-of-factness, understatement and sentiment (never sentimtality or self-pity) all of which miraculously balance each other out. . . . Nescio is essentially a lyricist, a poet writing in prose.” —Dutch Foundation for Literature
“In every respect the work of Nescio represents an exception to the calm, bourgeois realism of the early twentieth century. . . . He was arguably the most non-conformist writer of his time. . . . In his stories Nescio created a number of extraordinary characters, who have become legendary in Dutch culture.” —Theo Hermans, A Literary History of the Low Countries
“Though he published few stories, his position in Dutch literature is a very special one.” —Cassell’s Encyclopedia of World Literature
“Nescio’s utter simplicity goes hand-in-hand with a great command of humour, irony, matter-of-factness, understatement and sentiment (never sentimentality or self-pity), all of which miraculously balance each other out. He is essentially a lyricist, a poet writing in prose.” —Dutch Foundation for Literature
“In every respect the work of Nescio represents an exception to the calm, bourgeois realism of the early twentieth century. . . . He was arguably the most non-conformist writer of his time. . . . In his stories Nescio created a number of extraordinary characters, who have become legendary in Dutch culture.” —Theo Hermans, A Literary History of the Low Countries
“Though he published few stories, his position in Dutch literature is a very special one.” —Cassell’s Encyclopedia of World Literature
“Nescio’s utter simplicity goes hand-in-hand with a great command of humour, irony, matter-of-factness, understatement and sentiment (never sentimentality or self-pity), all of which miraculously balance each other out. He is essentially a lyricist, a poet writing in prose.” —Dutch Foundation for Literature
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherNYRB Classics
- Publication date2012
- ISBN 10 1590174925
- ISBN 13 9781590174920
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages176
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 12.00
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Seller Image
Amsterdam Stories
Published by
NYRB Classics
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Softcover
Quantity: 5
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 15735639-n
Buy New
US$ 12.00
Convert currency
Seller Image
Amsterdam Stories (New York Review Books Classics) by Nescio [Paperback ]
Published by
NYRB Classics
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Soft Cover
Quantity: 10
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9781590174920
Buy New
US$ 14.65
Convert currency
Stock Image
Amsterdam Stories Format: Paperback
Published by
Penguin Random House
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Softcover
Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 9781590174920
Buy New
US$ 11.94
Convert currency
Stock Image
Amsterdam Stories (New York Review Books Classics)
Published by
NYRB Classics
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Softcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition 0.3. Seller Inventory # bk1590174925xvz189zvxnew
Buy New
US$ 19.96
Convert currency
Seller Image
Amsterdam Stories (Paperback)
Published by
The New York Review of Books, Inc, New York
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Paperback
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. No one has written more feelingly and more beautifully than Nescio about the madness and sadness, courage and vulnerability of youth- its big plans and vague longings, not to mention the binges, crashes, and marathon walks and talks. No one, for that matter, has written with such pristine clarity about the radiating canals of Amsterdam and the cloud-swept landscape of the Netherlands.Who was Nescio? Nescio-Latin for "I don't know"-was the pen name of J.H.F. Gr nloh, the highly successful director of the Holland-Bombay Trading Company and a father of four-someone who knew more than enough about respectable maturity. Only in his spare time and under the cover of a pseudonym, as if commemorating a lost self, did he let himself go, producing over the course of his lifetime a handful of utterly original stories that contain some of the most luminous pages in modern literature.This is the first English translation of Nescio's stories. The first translation of Nescio into English-all the major works and a broad selection of his shorter stories. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781590174920
Buy New
US$ 19.99
Convert currency
Stock Image
Amsterdam Stories
Published by
The New York Review Books Incorporated
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Softcover
Quantity: 3
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 208. Seller Inventory # 264655525
Buy New
US$ 17.82
Convert currency
Stock Image
Amsterdam Stories (New York Review Books Classics)
Published by
NYRB Classics
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Softcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published 0.3. Seller Inventory # 353-1590174925-new
Buy New
US$ 25.24
Convert currency
Stock Image
Amsterdam Stories (New York Review Books Classics)
Published by
NYRB Classics
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Paperback
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_1590174925
Buy New
US$ 21.39
Convert currency
Stock Image
Amsterdam Stories
Published by
New York Review Books 2012-05-14, New York
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
paperback
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9781590174920
Buy New
US$ 22.33
Convert currency
Stock Image
Amsterdam Stories
Published by
The New York Review of Books, Inc
(2012)
ISBN 10: 1590174925
ISBN 13: 9781590174920
New
Paperback / softback
Quantity: 3
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Seller Inventory # B9781590174920
Buy New
US$ 17.57
Convert currency