Making a return to the Dam next month so set to read a couple of books before I go.


A Widow For One Year - John Irving
...in the second part a successful literary novelist tours a book, has trouble with her boyfriends and takes research in the red light district of Amsterdam a bit too far for comfort.

The Acid House - Irvine Welsh
A short-story collection about Amsterdam's drug underworld.


I have also read in the past.

Filth - Irvine Welsh
With the festive season almost upon him, Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson is winding down at work and gearing up socially - kicking off Christmas with a week of sex and drugs in Amsterdam.

Working: My Life As A Prostitute - Dolores French
This details the author's time spent in a RLD window of Adam, but mainly her work in the US.


Any more to recommend?

Thanks
G~

If you feel the need of some literature, try The Fall by Albert Camus a mans confession of his downfall? A work of genius.

Are you sure about The Acid House, I don't remember much about the dam being in it.

I know rent boy fecks off to Amsterdam at the end of Trainspotting.

An interesting book is "Call Girl" by Dr Harold Greenwald.
It is about the psychology of escorts in New York but it is an interesting look at working girls.
As you read it you can see similarties with the girls of Amsterdam and other RLD'S.
Ted

If you are looking for a history book then I would recommed Amsterdam: The Brief Life of a City by Geert Mak which I purchased following a recommendation on this forum.

Now, I don't usually like history (I didn't even do it at GSCE level at school) and this is the first non-fiction history book I have read (aside from text books at school) but it's great! It's informative and interesting without being boring or hard to read. It mainly focussed on pre-WW2 events but there are chapters on modern day Amsterdam (including how prostitution and tolerance of Cannabis developed). I found it particularly interesting to learn how the city developed (the canals being built and filled in, Dam Square developing etc etc).

Irvine Welsh "Acid House" first "novella" story "Eurotrash" is all set in Amsterdam about a guy detoxing in the Dam (not the best place to do so one would have thought!), in fact I thought it was about Renton at first. Also "Porno" (sequel to Trainspotting) has several sections in Amsterdam after Renton is tracked down, and the prequel "Skag Boys" has sections in Amsterdam, though none of these are as funny as Filth I don't think. It's fun spotting the inaccuracies though, Welsh can't know Amsterdam as well as some people do.

Simon Schama's The Embarrassment of Riches......a history of Amsterdam and Holland in the Golden Age. A chapter on the tTerrific history of the Red Light District from the 1550s on.

Regards, Roland

"The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam" by Chris Ewan. An entertaining thriller (first in a series) set in the city. Highly recommended for an easy read.

The ten Van der Valk books written by Nicolas [sic - no "h"] Freeling, and published 1962-72 are excellent. Great detective fiction.

Ironically, the books were made into a TV series in the UK just as Freeling had had VdV killed off.

You've probably heard the signature tune - it was a massive no.1 hit in the UK singles charts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0O-2oAvNTo

I think I am correct in saying that it was I who recommended the Mak book?

Glad you liked it, Aardvark - as you would no doubt agree, it's worth its weight in gold.

Very old thread but I thought I'd resurrect as I've just read a very good book.
David Hewson
House of Dolls
It’s like a modern day Van der Valk, written by a British author living abroad who writes from personal experience basing his detectives there:
Pieter Vos, washed up detective lives in a run-down houseboat on Prinsengracht near the Johny Jordan statues (regular in “Cafe De Eland” and occasionally the coffeeshop next door).
It’s a bit political (topical) with the council trying to clean-up the RLD, which isn’t going down well with the gangsters. Predictable corrupt officers, slippery politicians, despicable Surinamese gangsters, as well as moral gangsters (hiding out in Begijnhof!) but interesting characters, quite believable.
But the most enjoyable thing is it’s all based in the centre of Amsterdam, it’s like reading a book written about your home town that you recognise everything mentioned, a lot in De Wallen including something nasty in my favourite old spooky alley Slapersteeg!
He’s written 4 novels in the series since 2014, they’ve been translated into Dutch so I suppose that means they’re not too bad.

The Amsterdam section of Filth is absolutely brilliant, although I might be slightly biased as Irvine Welsh is one of my favourite authors. I was a bit peeved when they changed the scenes to Hamberg (I think?) RLD in the (poor) film adaptation.

Porno is great too, glad to see these getting a look in on the board :)

Read Amsterdam Rampant

Don’t see why Filth the film was changed to Hamburg even if they did have to abbreviate it. They probably couldn’t do the (anal) sex scenes wherever it was based, but having everything else replaced by smashing a model boat is a shame. Especially the scouser scene. And deliberately crushing your mates glasses so you can be his “eyes” and pick out the “premium minge” for him, only to steer him into a fat hoors den by the old chuch and desert him, then plant your stash on him on the way back, priceless.