7 reasons to (re)read Elsschot's novels

With his new book The discovery of Elsschot Elsschot biographer Vic van de Reijt wants to get the whole of the Netherlands reading Elsschot's books. Seven reasons why these classics are timeless fun.

1. You can finish any of Elsschot's books in one day

'In 1970 I bought his Collected works for nine guilders, I remember it well. When I was a student, Louis Couperus was the greatest author, but I had little affinity with his work. He made those endlessly long, sculpted sentences with lots of adjectives, adverbs and you name it. The opposite of Elsschot, who was of the brisk style. His books are all thin. The Collected works counts 750 pages, while some authors need the same size for just one book. Where some authors make endless detours and first reveal the protagonist's entire past or ancestry, Elsschot readers get straight to the point. That makes Elsschot attractive to impatient readers or people who have little time to read: you can finish each book in a day and then you will have had a very enjoyable day.'

2. There is a lot of humour in it

'All his books contain humour. A slight irony, or something sardonic. Take the beginning of Villa des Roses, a novel about Mr and Mrs Brulot's boarding house in Paris. Elsschot writes: 'The Villa des Roses, in which the Brulot couple fed and rented rooms...' By that phrase 'fed' you already know that the food there is not much. He introduces people to Villa des Roseswith compassion and light mockery, making you constantly read it with a smile on your lips. His dry style means there is something in every sentence that makes your lips curl up or your eyes get a little moist. Because even sensitivity he knows how to write down understatedly. You see a similar ironic way of looking at reality in very few contemporary writers. Nicolien Mizee, for instance, has it; she too portrays her main characters as a bit of a loser to make their surroundings shine. Because of his ironic style, Elsschot was adored by writers such as Simon Carmiggelt, Karel van het Reve, Bob den Uyl and J.M.A. Biesheuvel.'

3. He writes about an unknown world

'Willem Elsschot was the pseudonym of businessman Alfons De Ridder. He wrote a lot about business life. When I was 16, my mother said I should Glue/The Leg once had to read because it was about my father's world. My father did business at Vroom & Dreesmann and was at the cradle of the first professional supermarkets in the Netherlands. By reading about the machinations of Elsschot's characters Boorman and Laarmans, two businessmen, I hoped to get closer to my father. Although I will by no means have understood everything at that age, I found it a fascinating book. That mysterious business dealings, the jargon in which men in that world talk to each other... I recognised that, because on Saturday afternoons, one Mr Hogenkamp always called to pass on a certain number. My father was working then and I had to remember the number and pass it on to him in the evening. So then this Mr Hogenkamp would call and say, for instance, '4500.' For me, it was completely unclear what that meant. Only much later did I realise that this was probably the daily turnover. Couriers also used to come to our house towards the holidays to deliver bottles of wine on behalf of business friends. In Elsschot's protagonists Boorman and Laarmans, I recognised behaviours of my father: the man who came home after seven, often with a slight odour of alcohol, sat down in his easy chair and put on his slippers, while mother was slaving away in the kitchen. This is also how things were in Alfons De Ridder's family. As a reader, he indirectly teaches you a lot about business life, a world unknown to many people. Even today, that is a unique subject for a novel.'

4. There is always something new to discover

'However concise his novels are, they are very rich. I always discover something new, because every sentence contains special images and observations. Just now I struck up a random chapter of Villa des Rosesand I suddenly discovered that even then, in 1910, he used the word 'outsider'. And I read a sentence about the maids having to draw lots to decide who should give the beggar a nickel on this day. Behind such a careless remark is a whole worldview. Because why do the maids have to draw lots? Because they enjoy giving the beggar a nickel? Or because they are sick of losing a penny? Elsschot observes, but leaves the interpretation to the readers - you can draw your own conclusions. That, of course, is true writing: show, don't tell. He was someone who mastered that par excellence. He never explains, and that's enjoyable.'

5. Elsschot immediately grabs you by the neck

'Elsschot's first novel Villa des Rosesis his master test as far as I am concerned. The book is almost cinematic; from the very first moment you are sucked into that house. I read it at my 20^e.Why would you want to read about a French boarding house and its residents at that age? But that's what's so great about Elsschot: the subject he writes about doesn't really matter, because through his way of narrating he simply draws you into the book. He is a man who invites you to his table: 'Gosh, what happened to me now...' And with a wink he then starts telling his story, as if you were sitting together behind a good glass of wine. Elsschot's work lends itself perfectly to a glass of wine while reading.'

6. The urgency is still palpable

'In the first chapter of Cheese Elsschot writes something wonderful about writing: 'Where pregnancy exists, giving birth naturally follows in due course.' That was his philosophy: only write when there is a great inner urge. He has always stuck to that. You can still feel that urgency. Cheeseappeared in 1933 and was one of his own favourites. It is a witty drama of fate about a man who gets too high. Office clerk Frans Laarmans is persuaded to set up a trade in cheese, but he is mainly busy furnishing and naming his office, his stationery. At one point, the 20 tonnes of cheese arrives and he thinks, 'My god, what am I going to do with this?' His daughter still manages to sell a few cheeses, but he himself gets no further than half a sphere. Finally, you see him wandering lost with a bunch of flowers through the graveyard, looking for his mother's grave, which he also cannot find. Elsschot incorporated all sorts of things from his own life, including the death of his mother seven years earlier. At some point that had to come out, and once he put pen to paper, he - páts - wrote this novel in a fortnight.'

7. Elsschot never gets bored

'Alfons De Ridder was a very successful advertising man. He was a visionary; he invented station and facade advertising. In my view, in his literary work he atoned for his antics in the business world. On the one hand, there was the tough businessman De Ridder; on the other, the gentle writer Elsschot. In other words: the hard Boorman versus the gentle figure of Frans Laarmans. Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. That makes the man never boring.'

Good to know

Published by Athenaeum, €19.99