„Sunt vremuri grele pentru visători”, spunea Amélie Pulan în Amélie, acum 14 ani, și pot să continui spunând că sunt cu atât mai grele pentru scriitorii visători, fiindcă în lumea grăbită de azi visul nu prea își mai are locul nici măcar în locul unde acesta ar trebuie să fi la el acasă: între paginile unei cărți bune. Dar visătorii adevărați nu se împiedică de ce e sau nu la modă, de ce se cere sau nu se cere și își văd de treaba lor. Așa face și Karen Blixen, autoare pe care am citit-o acum foarte mulți ani, cu o carte care m-a atras, Din inima Africii, și din care nu îmi mai amintesc nimic, doar un sentiment de uimire și încântare, așa cum se întâmplă uneori cu cărțile citite în copilărie. De data aceasta cu siguranță o să țin minte volumul Povestiri de iarnă, ed. Humanitas Fiction, 2014, publicat pentru prima dată în anul 1942, în plin război mondial. Autoarea, Karen Blixen, care a semnat și cu pseudonimul Isak Dinesen, a fost o femeie foarte interesantă, care a călătorit mult, a scris destul de mult, în special proză scurtă, dar și romane, și însăși viața ei ar putea fi pusă într-o ficțiune.de la sursă: Din vis în vis: Karen Blixen – „Povestiri de iarnă” – SemneBune http://semnebune.ro/2015/din-vis-in-v... Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Follow us: @SemneBune on Twitter | 146207075393967 on Facebook
In a word - magic! 11 short stories which draw you in quickly - Dinesen has a gift for sparking interest in her characters from the outset and for pulling you into another world... and making you linger there long after the tale is over. *Sigh*Most of the stories are set in the author's native land (Denmark) sometime in the past (frequently the 19th century, though one story takes us as far back as the 13th). Dinesen's nostalgia for her country and its people can be felt strongly, which is part of the spell of these tales. More charm lies in the folk-tale quality of many tales, both in the events recounted and in their unfolding.Each of the tales reads well in isolation but there is a unity of theme in the collection - one biographer sums up the whole in the notion of 'longing' and I would add that the various protagonists' reaction to longing (particularly wrestling with forces which oppress) is a much explored element throughout. My favorite story? "Peter and Rosa" is a beautiful, sensitive narrative about two young people whose worlds - inner and outer - are opening up, but also coming together in an unexpected and unforgettable way....A must-read set of stories for Dinesen enthusiasts - both for their own sake, but also for their status as the author's own favorite.
What do You think about Winter's Tales (1993)?
This is my first taste of Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen and I was in love from the first page. I was encourage by Victoria Mixon's the Art and Craft of Fiction to study her and I am so glad I did. In fact, I'm planning on buying everything by this author and I rarely am that passionate. Blixen reminds me a lot of Flannery O'connor in the religious imagery, the intensity of the characterization and the perplexing endings. She makes me as charmed with 19th century Europe as OConnor does with Depression era and Post War South. Mans like with OConnor, when I'm done, I feel like I've had a worshipful experience. Pity the poor author who I read next.
—Katharine
It felt like an accomplishment finishing this short story collection, and I really did enjoy it despite how long it took to finish!! Each story was richly told, allegory heavy, and often had a story within a story so it wasn't light reading. I loved that some of these would ever so slightly bend towards fantasy supernatural in the tiniest ways, and almost all of them were based around Danish history and values. I can't actually pick a favorite now, and I think I'll have to sit a little longer with these stories to know how I feel about all of them. This was definitely outside my comfort zone, but absolutely worth diving into the completely foreign scenes that Dinesen creates.
—Jessica Fitting
She was an excellent story writer. Sorrow Acre was my favorite of the short stories. For example, this is the first paragraph -- "The low, undulating Danish landscape was silent and serene, mysteriously wide-awake in the hour before sunrise. There was not a cloud in the pale sky, not a shadow alone the dim, pearly fields, hills and woods. The Mist was lilting from the valleys and hollows, the air was cool, the grass and the foliage dripping wet with morning-dew. Unwatched by the eyes of man, and undisturbed by his activity, the country breathed a timeless life, to which language was inadequate." And there are ten short stories which are beautifully written, and so endearing, that they will stay with you years later. In 1931, Karen Blixen began to write under the nom de plume Isak Dinesen. Her book, Seven Gothic Tales was her first book and was a literary success.
—Carol
