Review of The Dwarf by Par Lagerkvist
Title: Queer story about a queer character
I'm appropriating the term "queer" and applying it to this odd-strange-wonderful story about a court dwarf serving an Italian Renaissance-era prince. I don't usually like reading novels or poetry in translation because so much of the author's intentions are lost, but I was drawn to this novel because 1. Lagerkvist won the 1951 Nobel Prize for Literature and 2. this is widely considered to be his greatest novel.
There's not much of an arc of narrative, this is more a "things happen" novel. The prose style is simple and direct, so it reads almost like a children's book, or a modern Aesop's fable.
Evil is its theme, both played out in reality in the novel and within the human heart--although the dwarf (Piccoline) points out that he is "from a race older than that which now populates the world." Lagerkvist skillfully uses the first person narrative to explore Piccoline's self-hatred and hatred for humankind. He is evil, and he seems to only delight in that. (He's not the "most evil" character written in fiction; I'll give that award to the judge in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.)
Read for a glimpse into a heart of darkness, if you want.
I really liked it
4/5 Goodreads
4/5 Amazon
I'm appropriating the term "queer" and applying it to this odd-strange-wonderful story about a court dwarf serving an Italian Renaissance-era prince. I don't usually like reading novels or poetry in translation because so much of the author's intentions are lost, but I was drawn to this novel because 1. Lagerkvist won the 1951 Nobel Prize for Literature and 2. this is widely considered to be his greatest novel.
There's not much of an arc of narrative, this is more a "things happen" novel. The prose style is simple and direct, so it reads almost like a children's book, or a modern Aesop's fable.
Evil is its theme, both played out in reality in the novel and within the human heart--although the dwarf (Piccoline) points out that he is "from a race older than that which now populates the world." Lagerkvist skillfully uses the first person narrative to explore Piccoline's self-hatred and hatred for humankind. He is evil, and he seems to only delight in that. (He's not the "most evil" character written in fiction; I'll give that award to the judge in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.)
Read for a glimpse into a heart of darkness, if you want.
I really liked it
4/5 Goodreads
4/5 Amazon
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James wrote: "Will read The Dwarf.I enjoyed "Mendel's Dwarf" by Simon Mawer very much. I find myself attracted to stories about those living on the edge of society. One of the reasons Cormac McCarthy is a favo..."
You'd like the short stories of Flannery O'Connor.
Robert - you are right. I've read her stories (The Complete Stories) and enjoyed them a great deal. Her two novels, not so much.
I think the same thing. Her writing style is very impactful in the short form, but in a novel it just doesn't work. And I've only read Wise Blood. I was so disappointed with it that I can't bring myself to read her other one. I'll stick with her stories. :)
I enjoyed "Mendel's Dwarf" by Simon Mawer very much. I find myself attracted to stories about those living on the edge of society. One of the reasons Cormac McCarthy is a favorite (besides his prodigious gifts).