Oud West

I live in a part of Amsterdam that I really like, though I guess I ended up here more or less by accident. The area is called Oud-West and much of it was built at the end of the nineteenth century, very fast, to provide housing for the lower middle classes. The area has long, straight streets, most houses are about four floors high, and are divided up into appartments. It's a busy area, with too many cars and not enough trees, but it is both urban and suburban enough to feel good. The scale is just right, and I like the architecture.

I also like the history and the liveliness of the place. And then there is the literature. W.F. Hermans, one of Holland's greatest 20th century authors lived here, and wrote about the area, and for me it will continue to be associated with this man and with his work. And part of "De Kleine Waarheid", one of the ultimate Amsterdam novels, takes place in the Brederodestraat. I guess the literary connotations are everywhere simply because the streets are named after Dutch authors.

Towards the centre of Amsterdam, almost on the edge of Oud-West, is the former Wilhelmina hospital, an area now used by artists, which is full of life and has one of Amsterdam's nicest restaurants. The old hospital wasn't demolished, many of the buildings were renovated and are still in use.

I live on the edge of Oud-West, close to the park, where the houses were built just a little later, and my house is just a little bigger and lighter. I live on the third floor, on a corner, so I have a lot of windows and a lot of light coming into my house. That was one of the reasons why I bought it. That and the fact that it still has the old sliding doors, and an original kitchen cabinet. One that reminds me of scenes in the television adaptation of "De Kleine Waarheid".

Why does everything always come back to books?