"Small but Mighty" by Teah Lierz

small but mighty

Téah Lierz Night Train Very Short Stories by A.L. Snijders New Directions, 2021.

A.L. Snijders’ Night Train Very Short Stories may be small, but they are mighty. Translated from Dutch by Lydia Davis (herself the master of very short prose stories in English) these stories manage to encompass an impressive range of human characteristics, making them relevant across cultures and generations.

Snijders’ style is so singular that he created his own term for his work, zeer korte verhalen, also known as zkv’s, or “very short stories.” His sentences are short and to the point, with some of his stories only a single paragraph in length. Davis, who was not fluent in Dutch when she began translating Snijders’ work, was “. . . grateful for his short and fairly simple sentences, his avoidance of subordinate constructions, and his choice, predominantly, of concrete rather than abstract nouns.”

Despite their simple prose and concise style, these stories leave an impression. “Message,” only three paragraphs in length, delivers a strong assessment of those who loudly assert their ideologies.

You seldom encounter Christians who say nothing about Jesus. That is logical, for his message is: Tell everyone, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And Christians are not

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B O OK R E V I E W

alone in having these claims, Muslims are also unfailingly convinced they are correct. As an atheist you can do no right.

Part of my family is vegetarian, I eat meat and must often pay for my bloodthirstiness with mockery. I have become accustomed to being taunted about this by Christians, Mohammedans, and vegetarians. But sometimes there is a chance for revenge.

I’m driving in the car with my vegetarians from Gorssel to Deventer. To the right, I see a cat coming out of the grass on the shoulder, mesmerized by his prey on the far side of the road. I see that he will suddenly accelerate—I know my animals—and will cross the road without any self-restraint. I honk the horn passionately for a long time, I wake him out of his trance, I save his life. The vegetarians haven’t noticed anything. The Christians also don’t notice that I love my neighbor, to say nothing of the Mohammedans. I myself say nothing about it, because I live without messages.

This “Message” is relevant for many different backgrounds and points in time. Along with the benefits of diversity come judgment and hypocrisy. The true acts of benevolence that are meant to accompany so many of our ideologies are often suppressed by all the voices arguing over whose is most righteous.

Snijders not only critiques humanity, but also finds the commonality in us, making the collection not only wry but generous. “Night Train” concerns itself with the kinds of thoughts and emotions we all experience, but offers a fresh point of view. Everyone is disappointed when an experience does not measure up to what we dreamed it would be, as Snijders describes in “Note.” But he offers a slant on the phenomenon, arguing that experiencing something is not always ideal because then the dream or fantasy can no longer exist.

I thought about the Turkish boys, two of them— students, I was their teacher. They wanted to see my house.

TÉA H LIER Z

I said no. They asked why not. I said that you shouldn’t go looking for reality, that as much as possible you should leave room for imagination. They said that I could come to Turkey any time, I would be welcomed by their parents, I could eat and sleep in their home as long as I wanted. I felt overwhelmed by their natural hospitality, but I did not want to let go of my little theory. I said I would never go to Turkey, because I wanted to fantasize about Turkey. I said my feet and eyes and nose were marvelous pieces of equipment but stood in the shadow of my imagination. I said they should not take it personally, I had just recently been invited by a friend to visit Odessa with him and walk through the streets of Benya Krik, but I had declined that too, with the same argument, I preferred to dream about Benya Kirk.

Snijders is able to convey so much in so little space. It is rare that the power and meaning behind a translated work remains intact from the conversion of one language to another, yet Snijders’ stories seem to withstand this test. His stories not only give a voice to significant topics and stir thoughts about humanity, but his work also speaks to the masses. The ideas so insightfully expressed in his stories do not require an extensive scholarly background or a prolific vocabulary to understand and connect with.

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