2026-04-23, 07:36 AM - Word count:
Kaas by Willem Elschot
I found myself feeling nostalgic this week. Being back in the Netherlands for a few days before our next away match, I picked up a copy of Kaas by Willem Elschot. It is a small book, a Belgian masterpiece that every Dutch schoolchild knows. Long ago I was one of those but today, this book hits differently.
The story follows Frans Laarmans, a simple clerk who suddenly decides he wants to be an international cheese merchant. He gets sent thousands of wheels of Edam cheese, and he spends the entire book being overwhelmed by them. He wants the status of being a 'General and Official Representative for Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg' for a dutch cheese firm but he has no idea how to actually sell the cheese. He’s a man playing a role that he hasn't earned yet.
I felt a strange sympathy for Laarmans during our recent wins. We are winning as a team, and we are sitting near the top of the table, but in my mind I am still a legendary goalscorer who only has one goal in four games. Sometimes, when I’m sprinting past a defender, I feel like Laarmans looking at his mountain of cheese. I have all the tools, the pace and the acceleration, and I put myself in good spots to score but the "sale" isn't happening. In the book, Laarmans realizes that he is just a clerk, not a merchant. He is a man who was happier in his small office than he is drowning in Edam. For me, the lesson is the opposite. I don't want to go back to being a clerk. I don't want to just be another Núnez. I want to be the goal merchant. I want the goals to justify the 'General and Official Representative for Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg' status I’ve given myself in this league.
Elschot writes with a dry humor that reminds me of the Dutch character. We don't like bullshit, we like results. My results are coming, slowly. Until then, I’ll try not to let the "cheese" pile up.
Rating: 5/5 Next Week: TBD
I found myself feeling nostalgic this week. Being back in the Netherlands for a few days before our next away match, I picked up a copy of Kaas by Willem Elschot. It is a small book, a Belgian masterpiece that every Dutch schoolchild knows. Long ago I was one of those but today, this book hits differently.
The story follows Frans Laarmans, a simple clerk who suddenly decides he wants to be an international cheese merchant. He gets sent thousands of wheels of Edam cheese, and he spends the entire book being overwhelmed by them. He wants the status of being a 'General and Official Representative for Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg' for a dutch cheese firm but he has no idea how to actually sell the cheese. He’s a man playing a role that he hasn't earned yet.
I felt a strange sympathy for Laarmans during our recent wins. We are winning as a team, and we are sitting near the top of the table, but in my mind I am still a legendary goalscorer who only has one goal in four games. Sometimes, when I’m sprinting past a defender, I feel like Laarmans looking at his mountain of cheese. I have all the tools, the pace and the acceleration, and I put myself in good spots to score but the "sale" isn't happening. In the book, Laarmans realizes that he is just a clerk, not a merchant. He is a man who was happier in his small office than he is drowning in Edam. For me, the lesson is the opposite. I don't want to go back to being a clerk. I don't want to just be another Núnez. I want to be the goal merchant. I want the goals to justify the 'General and Official Representative for Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg' status I’ve given myself in this league.
Elschot writes with a dry humor that reminds me of the Dutch character. We don't like bullshit, we like results. My results are coming, slowly. Until then, I’ll try not to let the "cheese" pile up.
Rating: 5/5 Next Week: TBD
In the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia, even the guillotine.
![[Image: ySrStzC.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/ySrStzC.jpeg)
