These stories have blended together for me. I can't tell you now the attributes of the individual stories. Instead, I have vivid images from them, feelings of power and beauty, short phrases, descriptions of a cloak, scenes of bedrooms and gardens and nineteenth century dock-side pubs late at night, but their separateness has faded, as if I read one story--a novel--and its narrator traveled within time and across the globe, crossing social classes and cultures, moving among people of different a More...

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 More...

I picked up this book in the past summer when I was thinking about the "snow queen" (H. Ch. Andersen) and was just curious to read some more danish fairy tales. But these stories were not what I expected, i.e. for children. They are 11 stories, mostly romantic (except 3 of them). I liked very much the narrative style with colorful descriptions, fjord-ish construction and sometimes unexpected situations. I also enjoyed some of the fantastic elements. But most of all I liked "Peter and Rosa", a lo More...

I went to Denmark, pretty much, to see Karen Blixen's home. It is a beautiful place; the land around the house, including Blixen's grave, has been made into a bird santucary. The house is near the water, and at least when I went there, the walk from the train station included passing what looked to be a Nor. Fjord breeding farm. There was even a resturant with Blixen inspired art work (pricey but very nice) and excellent food.

It seems strange that when reading Blixen's non-fiction what comes acr More...

Halfway through the "The Heroine"(about french ex-pats imprisoned during a 19th century conflict between France and Germany) I realized these stories were written in Nazi occupied Denmark. And then I realized the chill of history blew through these intricate tales especially the harrowing "Sorrow Acre", but these stories are surprising and unpredictable rather than bleak ruminations from Dineson's strange erudite mind. These resemble short stories or tales(10-20 pages)more so than the dense nove More...

Short story collections are always inconsistent: some stories you want to read again and again, and some leave you cold. This collection happened to lean toward the first.

Dinesen writes beautifully, absolutely beautifully. From "The Sailor-Boy's Tale": "It was April, the sky and sea were so clear that it was difficult to hold one's eyes up against them - salt, infinitely wide, and filled with bird-shrieks - as if someone were incessantly whetting invisible knives, on all sides, high up in Heaven More...

There are some fairy-tale elements to this book; mostly it's the tone. Each tale might as well begin with, "once upon a time." Dinesen admitted to being heavily influenced by the Romantics, and rejecting the so-called "realism" popular in Denmark at the time on the basis that she simply wanted to tell beautiful stories. But only the sailor boy's story has elements of magical realism. The transforming power of the stories comes from their acknowledgement of the intricacies of human nature. In mos More...

I read this book on a short trip to Denmark because I hoped to visit Karen Blixen's home/museum outside Copenhagen. Reading the short stories in Winter's Tales, many set in Denmark and often a century before she wrote them, I became immersed in the characters and surprising twists in her tales, making my visit to her home so special! I walked through the forest around her house, appreciating that she had left instructions for it to be a bird sanctuary, and stood under a huge beech tree where she More...

This is a beautiful and life-changing book of stories. Really something special.

I just couldn't get into this collection, and I wasn't finished by the time my book club met to discuss it. That said, everyone else at the meeting seemed to enjoy it, and the discussion was good enough that I finished the little bit I had left. I still didn't really see the appeal. There are some good stories in this collection - and lots of stories within stories - but there was something about the narration that I felt kept me at arm's length from the action. There was a sort of detached phil More...

When I bought this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard of its author before: Isak Dinesen is the pen name of Danish baroness Karen Blixen, who was portrayed by a heavy-accented Meryl Streep in the 1985 Oscar-winning epic Out of Africa. Dinesen, who died in 1962, was perhaps the last great female author to use a male pseudonym.

According to John Gardner's The Art of Fiction, every work of short fiction belongs to one of three basic types: the short story (exemplified by Anton Chekhov), More...

Like many Americans (I suspect), my introduction to Isak Dinesen was via the film version of Out of Africa. I actually never saw it until an adult, but my mother bought the film tie-in copy of Out of Africa and Shadows On the Grass which I read cover to cover two or three times in high school -- and my Dinesen obsession was born.

This collection of eleven short stories has the feel of a 19th-century fairy tale collection; while reading, I found myself musing if these stories were the ones Karen More...

While I absolutely loved Isak Dineson's (or Karen Blixen in real life) autobiographical tale "Out of Africa," her novel "Winter's Tales" really paled in the comparison. I found these stories -- mostly with a simplistic moral message to be extremely hard to read. It really came off like high school poetry -- an effort to be pretentious and deep that years later just reads as silly. Definitely avoid this book and read "Out of Africa" instead.

I really just read the last one, "A consolatory tale". It is supposed to console us that everything needs its opposite to be itself in the most essential manner possible: the poet needs the merchant, the king needs the beggar, woman needs man. And so we who are one need to be grateful for the other. If this doesn't console you, the story also suggests that the whole lesson is a load of crap, served up on a wintry night, of course.

This was a collection of short stories, some with fantasy elements, some with a bit of romance, but all having the same sort of wistful feel to them. All the characters seem to be dissatisfied with life. Some of the stories are resolved, some are not.

I had a hard time reading these stories. They didn't seem to have a definite theme, and even the plots were hard to describe. My favorite story was "The Heroine."

Dinesen is my hero. She once said, "Write a little every day without hope and without dispair." So, while she wasn't a prolific writer, the stories she's produced take your breath.
She shows the best and the worst of human nature in stories taht combine fairy tale, myths and morals readers can find in both.

I read this book of short stories for one of my book clubs. I generally am not a fan of short stories, and this collection was no exception. I find that just as I am starting to get into a story it is over, and when I set the book down I don't have anything compelling me to pick it back up again. The consensus at book club was that there were some interesting stories, but they were difficult to get into. The book did lead to a good discussion though.

When I first met you I was on my way to Africa, to see my younger sister and her children; she is a falcon too, when she chooses.

Eleven short stories written in Denmark during the 1930s and the German occupation. The title of the book seems to refer to the nostalgic mood of the stories rather than their settings, as they seem to be full of regret. The protagonists of most of the stories had a defeatist attitude toward life, which didn't appeal to me at all. Too much doom and gloom.

I did enjoy "T More...

I felt it was overly cliche and the writing was dull. The stories themselves were okay. ...Well, on second thought, "The Fish," "Alkmene," "A Consolatory Tale," and "Peter & Rosa" were the only ones I liked. Since those total a 3rd of the book, I guess it was worth it.

Enjoyed these short stories! Happened upon this book because I wanted to read something else by this author. My all time favorite is her memoir---Out Of Africa. Happens to be one of my all time fav movies too!

This is just not as good as her earlier collection "Seven Gothic Tales," which has some of the best short stories ever written. That book had a youthful excitement and vigor, full of surprising stories that delighted in the art of keeping the reader on his toes. "Winter's Tales" is much...frostier. Much of it seems cold and dead. It feels as if Dinesen has decided not to be childish any more and instead feels obliged to share great "mature" wisdom with everyone without bothering to tell a rippin More...

Just finished "Young man with the Carnation." Like the many twists, story-within-story, and style. My first time reading Dinesen! Though I think it takes a bit to acclimate, her writing is smooth, poetic.

A collection of short stories from a Danish author. Some were really good, all are a little bit strange, others didn't make the translation culturally and I didn't get them.

Read during my ongoing Isak Dinesen obsession in the early 1990s. Obviously, I read a different edition, but I liked this cover.

Love her. The Man with the Pink Carnation is my favorite, the Blue Jar is a great story. <3

I sort of ran out of time to read this completely before it was due. I did read a couple of the stories and they were both rather depressing. Didn't really inspire me to read more.

winter time- thought this would be a good one to start.

it seems ok but a bit melodramatic so far

Real lives gather the aura of a fairytale.