Cheese

The long-serving office-worker Frans Laarmans suddenly gets the chance to set up in business on his own account as a cheese importer. He's essentially a Flemish Mr Pooter, a kindly, mild-mannered husband and father who achieved his maximum promotion level in the shipyard office many years ago, but who can't resist this one last chance to bite off more than he can chew. Laarmans has a lot of fun picking a name for his business, ordering headed notepaper and setting up an office, but then the first batch of twenty tons of Edammer arrives and it becomes all too clear that he is not psychologically equipped to go into grocers' shops and persuade them to order his cheese, even after a session with an expert motivator.

A gentle little social show more comedy, no real fireworks, but an engaging central character and a lot of charming period detail about commercial life in the thirties. show less

Laarmans, a rather unassuming office clerk in the harbor of Antwerpen, is via an influential friend suddenly getting the opportunity to become general agent for a dutch cheese manufacturer. Despite hating cheese, Laarmans is swept away by the prospect of becoming an entrepenuer – and not least what such a label does to his self-image – and faking an illness, takes a sick leave from his job to start this new, prosperous venture. The future is so bright it’s blinding, despite what nay-sayers like his wife and brother think of it. However, finding the right desk takes time, finding the right type-writer and letter paper does too, and before he is even set up there are twenty tons of edamer delivered to him. How does one even sell show more cheese?

This is a deceptively light-handed, slender book about being in love with who you think you should be, and the inability to say no. It’s a fine example of early modernist writing, a little bit like a gentler Kafka. But the style and the awkwardness of Laarmans also reminds me a little of Magnus Mills, which is high praise. I also have to admit to blushing at times – there’s definitely a little Laarmans in me. show less

I liked this book a lot. It's very short and quick to read. Obviously I picked it up because it's called cheese and it's about cheese. It kind of reminded me of Death of a Salesman, but much more lighthearted and funny. The only thing that really bugged me was the main character's attitude towards his wife and kids. He's definitely a misogynist. I guess he wasn't supposed to be the most likable protagonist because he's both cocky and incompetent. He's kind of a bumbling sort of dumb guy who realizes he's in over his head in a business he never cared about just because he wants to seem cool. That being said, I think he's also supposed to be relatable in some ways, so I'm not sure if his attitude towards his wife is supposed to indicate show more that he's not the best guy or if it's just a symptom of the times. show less

What a delightful little book and an interesting addition to the 1001 list, in fact I would probably never have even heard of it otherwise. Elsscot true genius is to take such a banal, mundane subject matter as Edam cheese and turning it into something rather more interesting..

Frans Laarmans is a bored shipping clerk who after the funeral of his mother enters into the world of business as a cheese magnate in an attempt to escape his humdrum life and impress his new friends whom he feels inferior to. However, Frans has no aptitude for business and is a dreamer, fritters away his time away outfitting his new office rather than actually trying to sell the product. He does not even like the cheese.

It is a good job that this is a short book show more as I did not find Laarmans a particularily appealing character and am not sure how I would have felt if the story had dragged on for another 100 pages or so. In the end this short book is quirky rather than being funny, sad but never tragic, a parable of everyday life, the grass is not always greener on the other side or something about birds in hand and bushes. show less

Tenenkrommend. Tragisch-humoristisch. Je zíet het gewoon foutgaan. De hoofdpersoon lijkt niet veranderd aan het eind van het boek en dat maakt me verdrietig.
Goed boek? Ja. Leuk om te lezen? Nou, nee, tenzij je van hele wrange humor houdt.

A very funny book, but a tender one, even moving. Very economical, it brings Depression-era Belgium to life, portraying a lower-class bourgeois family intimately and sympathetically with virtually no sentiment. http://cshere.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-do-i-read.html

Willem Elsschot is one of my favorite authors. His stories always have something tragic, something in doing business that goes terribly wrong. This time with cheese. As the seller doesn't have experience, is busy bragging and decorating his office, while his son only sells a little cheese and he himself nothing.

Another good read, recommended.

http://boekenwijs.blogspot.com/2009/12/kaas.html