Customer Reviews

Cheese

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Willem Elsschot was the pseudonym of Alfons De Ridder, who is widely considered a giant in Flemish literature. All of his works are very concise and "Cheese" is no different.

Within a mere 126 pages, Elsschot humorously recounts the tale of Frans Laarmans, an ordinary clerk, who tries his hand vainly at the cheese business. Laarmans is a clerk with General Marine and Shipbuilding Company and is quite content to plod along until a friend prods him to delve into the cheese business. What follows is a wonderfully wry and funny look at business. Larmaans is quite unsure about what to do when ten thousand wheels of the red-rinded Edam cheeses arrive at his doorstep. He knows he has to sell them all, but would rather first set up his office with a proper desk and typewriter. In the end, his business collapses predictably, but Laarman's failure saddens the reader. One feels for the shy clerk right from the beginning to the end.

Elsschot had a wonderful gift for telling a story in just a few pages and "Cheese" is a wonderful example of it. I was tempted to read more by the author but sadly found out that most of the rest of his work is out of print. Special thanks then to Granta Books for republishing this one.

Other pluses for the book are the bright red jacket, the price, and the crisp writing style. I finished the book in one sitting at the beach.

"Cheese" is just as delectable as the full-cream Edams featured in it. Dig in!

I cannot remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud. In public. The self-deprecating flavor of the humor in this chronicle of an inept businessman is somewhere between Jerome K. Jerome and Jacques Tati. Highly recommended escapist, absurdist fun. Also for lovers of all things Belgian: Harry Pearson's comic travelogue "A Tall Man in a Low Land," which brings the 1933 Belgium of "Cheese" into the present.

I wish more people knew about this book; I guess it doesn't help that its title makes it impossible to search for amongst the "cooking with cheese" books and what-not. This is witty little novel about the ups and downs (mostly downs) or someone attempting to start their own business. Very wry and well observed. It's not roar-out loud type of humor, but it will make you smile and nod in recognition -- and sometimes that's exactly the kind of humor you need.

I agree with the other posts. This is a truly delightful book. I picked up a copy when I was in Amsterdam, and laughed through my plane ride home. The satire has broad implications and is as fresh today as when it was written.

I cannot remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud. In public. The self-deprecating flavor of the humor in this chronicle of an inept businessman is somewhere between Jerome K. Jerome and Jacques Tati. Highly recommended escapist, absurdist fun. Also for lovers of all things Belgian: Harry Pearson's comic travelogue "A Tall Man in a Low Land," which brings the 1933 Belgium of "Cheese" into the present.

Great book, a fast read and it will make you laugh!
It might be a good idea to send some copies to the Enron executives.

I consider this to be one of the best pieces of writing from a Flemish author (not Dutch, as Amazon clames, for that is something completely diffrent) between the two World Wars that hit Europe. I do think that only if you appreciate the dry, understated wit of British humor would you be able to make the leap to this reluctant and dry comedy in a class of it's own about a man who just goes with what comes his way, even though it is against his better instincts.