The Royal Guest and Other Classical Danish Narrative

by P.M. Mitchell, Kenneth H. Ober

English, Danish (translation)

Genres: Short Stories

Paperback

First published October 1, 1977

Reviews

[Jacob Lehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Meir Goldschmidt's stories to be recognizably and enjoyably Jewish, while the eponymous "Royal Guest" and "Franz Pander" had more of the Scandinavian ennui that I expected.

[Larissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the type of collection that you (or, really, I)wish were more widely produced and read. Compiling a discriminating selection of (almost completely unavailable translations of) short stories written by the luminaries of 'Classical' Danish literature--including Henrik Pontoppidan (Nobel Prize winner in 1917), Herman Bang, and Jens Peter Jacobsen--the translators introduce and contextualize each author with a short biography and a bit of information about the story itself. These are exciting and important authors, indicated both by the aforementioned explanations, and also by the works themselves (the title story, by Pontoppidan, is one of the most enjoyable and elegant pieces of short fiction I've read in some time).

Unfortunately, this collection is a pretty severe tease for anyone who becomes interested--a quick survey of area university and public libraries, as well as several major bookstores yielded not a single copy of many of these authors' novels.

Pretty sad state of affairs when the work of a Nobel Prize winner languishes in non-translation.