Jens Christian Grøndahl

An endless monologue, which, the connoisseur sees it passing by, goes through half of Denmark, of a woman who apparently notes everything without emotions, is sometimes blunt, and slowly makes us sharers in the relationships that lie behind her.
I once saw a play in the Arto theatre in Schoonhoven, where Bella Lens gave a performance. That monologue still sticks in my mind, so special.
What is special or beautiful about this book? If anyone knows, let them tell me. All the lyrical reviews from the book world can charm me just as little as the book itself.

Perhaps, if this book is ever performed as a monologue or play, I will give a standing ovation. I imagine that the story will only come to life then.… (more)

Irene Beckman is a middle class woman who seems to have it all: a home in a prosperous Copenhagen suburb, two successful adult children, and a husband who dotes on her. But numerous cracks lie beneath the surface: she had had an affair years before, her husband is leaving her for another woman, and her mother inadvertently reveals a secret that threatens her notion of who she is.

Most of this novel takes places in the protagonist's head, and the plot sometimes dips back in time without clear boundaries or takes on a dreamy quality as she imagines a scene as though she were watching it. At times it is as though she were a spectator to her own life, at a safe emotional remove. Only towards the end of the book does she act, although it is only to hear someone else's story.

I had a hard time engaging with this novel, and found the main character insipid. There was very little sense of place, which would have sparked my interest. The most intriguing aspect was that the male author wrote the entire book from the female perspective and did so without cliché.… (more)

Irene Beckman, age 50+, seems to have a perfect life in Denmark. She’s beautiful, successful, happily married with two now adult children. She works as a lawyer and the family is well off financially….quite comfortable And then, very unexpectedly, Irene’s husband wants a divorce, and while processing that news, her mother is taken ill.

It’s a lot at once, but more so, in a bedside conversation with her ill mother, Irene is told that her father is not her biological father, but it was another man, who fled Copenhagen for Sweden at the beginning of the war. Understandably, Irene is shocked by the news.

This is a immersive story of one woman’s transformation through personal crisis (or two or three). It starts out a bit slow as the author introduces Irene to us. Interesting to read HER story written by a male author…. hmmmm.

I have read all of Grondahl’s novels available in translation now. He’s another on my list of authors who infuse their storytelling with great compassion.… (more)

A skandináv minimalizmus tipikus példája. Ha ennél tömörebb lenne, akkor képeslapon küldték volna el a kiadónak. Pedig évtizedeket fog át - a kamaszkorból az öregkorba nyújtja indáit. Elbeszélője a világháború idején, a dán vidéken találkozik egy nálánál idősebb lánnyal, de kapcsolatuk nemhogy lezáratlan, de konkrétan elkezdetlen marad. Hogy ez a hiány, ez az élménylyuk, egymás megismerésének elmaradása bő fél évszázad után orvosolható-e, az felettébb kérdéses. De végtére is meg lehet próbálni. És ha nem sikerül, mi van akkor? Legalább csináltunk valamit. Tettünk egy könnyű sétát a hiány körül. Skandináv módra.… (more)