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Den forsvundne fuldmægtig
Satire over vanemenneskets afhængighed af den borgerlige tilværelses konvention og disciplin med embedsmandens kontortilværelse som eksempel.
182 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
8 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Hans Scherfig
61 books31 followersHans Scherfig was a renowned Danish author and artist.
His most famous works of literature include Det Forsømte Forår (Stolen Spring), Frydenholm, Idealister (Idealists), and Skorpionen (The Scorpion), the last of which was published in over 20 countries. He is also well-known for his distinctive Naivist lithographs which depict jungle and savanna scenes that owe something to Henri Rousseau, and various drawings and paintings with satirical, political, and biblical subject matter.
Central to Scherfigs work was his life-long political engagement. Already in his early years he became a dedicated communist and remained so until his death in 1979.
Because of this Scherfig was imprisoned by the Nazi German military occupation forces in Denmark during WWII. During the Cold War, Scherfig intensified his critical attitude against the USA.
His most famous works of literature include Det Forsømte Forår (Stolen Spring), Frydenholm, Idealister (Idealists), and Skorpionen (The Scorpion), the last of which was published in over 20 countries. He is also well-known for his distinctive Naivist lithographs which depict jungle and savanna scenes that owe something to Henri Rousseau, and various drawings and paintings with satirical, political, and biblical subject matter.
Central to Scherfigs work was his life-long political engagement. Already in his early years he became a dedicated communist and remained so until his death in 1979.
Because of this Scherfig was imprisoned by the Nazi German military occupation forces in Denmark during WWII. During the Cold War, Scherfig intensified his critical attitude against the USA.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 7, 2021
Yes, why? That is the question bureaucrat Amsted can not answer. He had been imagining for a long time. Imagining and conjuring up a poetic idea of a life of freedom. Of a life where he was in full control of himself. A quiet life, at one with nature. In the landscape he had known as a child, and which was etched in his mind as a paradise of leisure.
There are certain authors in the Danish pantheon you are "expected" to have read, and if not at the very least be familiar with. They are considered part of the cultural curriculum. Hans Scherfig was a dyed-in-the-wool communist, and his works reflect this quite unabashedly. As long as you are aware of this from the outset, you're in for entertaining reads. Because Scherfig is also - in my opinion - a keen "people-watcher". He manages to flesh out his characters, even the supporting cast, in such a way that you feel like "you know these people" if you grew up in Denmark. Or someone very much like them.
This particular work of his is one of his most famous - at least in Denmark - and has been dramatized multiple times. Two men, seemingly unrelated socially, go missing on the same day. There's an explosion on Amager Fælled (a nature reserve) and human remains are found. And the police investigates both disappearances - and the explosion. Only to find leads that tie the missing men together in unexpected ways. And then, in a small fishing village on the northern coast of Zealand, where everyone knows everyone else (and their business), a stranger shows up and rents a room outside of tourist season.
As someone who grew up in central Copenhagen, I was able to - with some allowances for differences in general traffic (no trams in Copenhagen in 2021) to establish all the locations in my head, as if I were walking them myself. And the little fishing village that gets invaded by tourists during the summer was equally familiar to me.
Scherfig is subtly acerbic in his satirical critique, though some might say his critique is overly skewered towards the bourgeoisie due to ideological standpoint. Mrs. Bureaucrat Amsted is almost reduced to a Hyacinth Bucket-esque stereotype, fussing over her "dishevelled" apartment when the police investigator comes to inquire about her husband's activities, while at the same time being seemingly incapable of connecting in a tangible way with her scrawny, somewhat fluttery son Leif. And the inhabitants of the fishing village are like a Jante Law microcosm, everyone's constantly on everyone else's backs.
The book is quickly read - just under 200 pages - and is definitely recommendable for commutes or road trips.
There are certain authors in the Danish pantheon you are "expected" to have read, and if not at the very least be familiar with. They are considered part of the cultural curriculum. Hans Scherfig was a dyed-in-the-wool communist, and his works reflect this quite unabashedly. As long as you are aware of this from the outset, you're in for entertaining reads. Because Scherfig is also - in my opinion - a keen "people-watcher". He manages to flesh out his characters, even the supporting cast, in such a way that you feel like "you know these people" if you grew up in Denmark. Or someone very much like them.
This particular work of his is one of his most famous - at least in Denmark - and has been dramatized multiple times. Two men, seemingly unrelated socially, go missing on the same day. There's an explosion on Amager Fælled (a nature reserve) and human remains are found. And the police investigates both disappearances - and the explosion. Only to find leads that tie the missing men together in unexpected ways. And then, in a small fishing village on the northern coast of Zealand, where everyone knows everyone else (and their business), a stranger shows up and rents a room outside of tourist season.
As someone who grew up in central Copenhagen, I was able to - with some allowances for differences in general traffic (no trams in Copenhagen in 2021) to establish all the locations in my head, as if I were walking them myself. And the little fishing village that gets invaded by tourists during the summer was equally familiar to me.
Scherfig is subtly acerbic in his satirical critique, though some might say his critique is overly skewered towards the bourgeoisie due to ideological standpoint. Mrs. Bureaucrat Amsted is almost reduced to a Hyacinth Bucket-esque stereotype, fussing over her "dishevelled" apartment when the police investigator comes to inquire about her husband's activities, while at the same time being seemingly incapable of connecting in a tangible way with her scrawny, somewhat fluttery son Leif. And the inhabitants of the fishing village are like a Jante Law microcosm, everyone's constantly on everyone else's backs.
The book is quickly read - just under 200 pages - and is definitely recommendable for commutes or road trips.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2025
hihihi hvor er den skæg
September 8, 2023
Elegant lille fornærmelse af borgerlighedens selvhøjtidelig og vanedannelse. Scherfig skriver i et dejligt underspillet, ironisk format, og bruger fortællevinklen til et dramatisk skifte godt halvvejs i bogen, som er vældig interessant også!
August 14, 2019
4,5. Fremragende skrevet og god portion satire. Samfundskritisk og morsom.
January 13, 2020
Den var hård at trække sig igennem, men slutningen reddede den lidt!
July 25, 2024
3,5 stjerne rundet op.
June 27, 2024
Det var en sand fornøjelse at læse denne lille bog. Scherfigs skrivestil er humoristisk og pirrer læseren (i hvert fald mig). Den forsvundne fuldmægtig er satirisk og så ironisk, at jeg flere gange måtte lægge bogen fra mig i ren og skær irritation over de sande stereotyper. Selvom bogen efterhånden har et par år på bagen, så genkender jeg tydeligt typerne og lader mig frustrere over deres handlinger, selv når det er på skrift.
Bogen er velskrevet, morsom og stadig relevant. Den åbner døren på klem for de ellers ikke særligt letlæste overvejelser. For hverdagens trummerum er skrækkelig triviel, og kan man komme ud af den? Den bureaukratiske maskine? Tilværelsen? Der opstilles to løsninger: Det faktiske selvmord, og det borgerlige selvmord.
Det spørgsmål, Scherfig stiller sin læser er dog først og fremmest, om vi overhoved kan finde ud af, at begå borgerligt selvmord. Læseren præsenteres for tesen om, at borgeren er programmeret til at leve i statens faste jerngreb af en ramme, fuld af instrukser og hierarki - og hvad sker der, når dette forsvinder? Forsvinder mennesket i rammen også? Der er klart en stor samfundskritik spundet ind i dette, men jeg finder det menneskelige aspekt mest interessant.
Det borgerlige selvmord løser ikke Teodor Amsteds kvaler - han finder fred i fængslet, hvor rammerne og hierarkiet er til stede, og hvor dagen byder på ensformighed og fast arbejde - en tilværelse som ikke er langt fra den, som han kom fra. Teodor Amsted, som er af god embedsmandslægt, er altså som skabt til fængslet - om det så er i embedsværket eller bag de faktiske tremmer.
Jeg måtte nødvendigvis overveje, hvor meget jeg kunne genkende mig selv i typerne - og i Teodor Amsted. Som læser må man stille sig spørgsmålet, om man selv ville være i stand til at begå borgerligt selvmord - og om det ligesom i Teodor Amsteds tilfælde heller ikke ville give fred.
/ TEB
Bogen er velskrevet, morsom og stadig relevant. Den åbner døren på klem for de ellers ikke særligt letlæste overvejelser. For hverdagens trummerum er skrækkelig triviel, og kan man komme ud af den? Den bureaukratiske maskine? Tilværelsen? Der opstilles to løsninger: Det faktiske selvmord, og det borgerlige selvmord.
Det spørgsmål, Scherfig stiller sin læser er dog først og fremmest, om vi overhoved kan finde ud af, at begå borgerligt selvmord. Læseren præsenteres for tesen om, at borgeren er programmeret til at leve i statens faste jerngreb af en ramme, fuld af instrukser og hierarki - og hvad sker der, når dette forsvinder? Forsvinder mennesket i rammen også? Der er klart en stor samfundskritik spundet ind i dette, men jeg finder det menneskelige aspekt mest interessant.
Det borgerlige selvmord løser ikke Teodor Amsteds kvaler - han finder fred i fængslet, hvor rammerne og hierarkiet er til stede, og hvor dagen byder på ensformighed og fast arbejde - en tilværelse som ikke er langt fra den, som han kom fra. Teodor Amsted, som er af god embedsmandslægt, er altså som skabt til fængslet - om det så er i embedsværket eller bag de faktiske tremmer.
Jeg måtte nødvendigvis overveje, hvor meget jeg kunne genkende mig selv i typerne - og i Teodor Amsted. Som læser må man stille sig spørgsmålet, om man selv ville være i stand til at begå borgerligt selvmord - og om det ligesom i Teodor Amsteds tilfælde heller ikke ville give fred.
/ TEB
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2024
Satirisk samfundsreflekterende fremstilling af bureaukratiske forhold. Bogen rummer en ironi, afstandstagen og gøren grin med statslig administration, hvilket formuleres i et utroligt let og sjovt sprog. Og minsandten om han ikke giver os svaret på hvad lykke er gennem karakteren fru Drusse som siger at "man er lykkeligst, når man lever for andre. Jo mere man glemmer sig selv, jo nærmere kommer man det, der kaldes lykke".
På samme måde som den fuldmægtige Amsted i bogen bliver beskrevet som en mand med “pertentlighed og ordenssans”, kan Scherfig ligeledes tildeles disse ord. Hans præcision er uvurderligt skarp; han skyder ikke forbi.
Hvis man vil læse noget mere nutidigt som har den samme humør vil jeg anbefale Penge & Bacon af Anna Juul, som rummer denne satiriske samfundsrefleksion. Den forsvundne fuldmægtig bare ældre, med flere karakterer og mere opbyggende og spændende.
På samme måde som den fuldmægtige Amsted i bogen bliver beskrevet som en mand med “pertentlighed og ordenssans”, kan Scherfig ligeledes tildeles disse ord. Hans præcision er uvurderligt skarp; han skyder ikke forbi.
Hvis man vil læse noget mere nutidigt som har den samme humør vil jeg anbefale Penge & Bacon af Anna Juul, som rummer denne satiriske samfundsrefleksion. Den forsvundne fuldmægtig bare ældre, med flere karakterer og mere opbyggende og spændende.
August 15, 2020
Den forsvundne fuldmægtig er en særegen levende (no pun intended) skildring af en tid, så anderledes end vores.
Da jeg har mange gange har holdt ferie og været på ture omkring Tisvildeleje og Tibirke Bakker, ser jeg levende for mig alle hans miljøbeskrivelser næsten helt ned til det enkelte hus, sti, mose og bakke. Fanstastisk!
Dog indeholder historien kun én egentlig enkelt handlingslinje og igennem denne ses knap nok nogen karakterudvikling. Bogen bygger derfor næsten hele vejen igennem på de satiriske skildringer af nogle ganske usympatiske bipersoner, ender derfor som en suppedas af ligegyldighed og gentagelse på gentagelse.
Læs den alligevel - hvis ikke du blev tvunget til det i din studietid.
Da jeg har mange gange har holdt ferie og været på ture omkring Tisvildeleje og Tibirke Bakker, ser jeg levende for mig alle hans miljøbeskrivelser næsten helt ned til det enkelte hus, sti, mose og bakke. Fanstastisk!
Dog indeholder historien kun én egentlig enkelt handlingslinje og igennem denne ses knap nok nogen karakterudvikling. Bogen bygger derfor næsten hele vejen igennem på de satiriske skildringer af nogle ganske usympatiske bipersoner, ender derfor som en suppedas af ligegyldighed og gentagelse på gentagelse.
Læs den alligevel - hvis ikke du blev tvunget til det i din studietid.
November 14, 2023
Scherfigs bog er en klassiker, som alle kultiverede danskere bør kende. Det er selvfølgelig skrevet med tungen i kinden, da bogen netop er en kritik af alt for kultiverede mennesker.
Bogen er et oprør med et samfund med snævre, veldefinerede rammer for hvordan et liv skulle leves i overensstemmelse med ens plads i samfundet. Hovedpersonen er fuldmægtig. Han er opdraget til at være fuldmægtig og kan ikke finde ud af at være noget andet selv når han prøver at kaste sig ud i et andet, uforpligtende liv.
Når jeg læser bogen i 2023, tænker jeg at Scherfig og andre kulturradikale lykkedes med deres oprør.
Bogen er et oprør med et samfund med snævre, veldefinerede rammer for hvordan et liv skulle leves i overensstemmelse med ens plads i samfundet. Hovedpersonen er fuldmægtig. Han er opdraget til at være fuldmægtig og kan ikke finde ud af at være noget andet selv når han prøver at kaste sig ud i et andet, uforpligtende liv.
Når jeg læser bogen i 2023, tænker jeg at Scherfig og andre kulturradikale lykkedes med deres oprør.
February 12, 2017
En anderledes fortælling, som har en god portion sarkasme, og jeg synes især skildringerne af de mest utiltalende personer vi møder var ret morsom, da der gøres et stort nummer ud af hvor frygtelige mennesker der er, men stadigvæk med humoren i behold. En klassiker som klart kan anbefales, da den rummer både samfundskritik og en stor portion humor
July 18, 2017
Nokså lett, men ikkje så verst moro heller.
October 19, 2019
Fed underholdning! Hehe... livet på landet var ikke så idyllisk, som han havde regnet med. Fedt persongalleri, der var lidt Gustav Wied over det.
December 9, 2020
Read for school
August 13, 2024
Er frihed at finde i friheden eller i valget om frihed? Det spørger Scherfig om 🙌
February 8, 2016
Two men, former schoolmates, disappear, and one appears to have committed suicide. Later, a strange man shows up in a rural town...
I can't remember where I found this book, but likely I picked it up due to the striking linocut print on the cover, made by the author, who was a painter and a naturalist as well as a writer. This novel is a scathing satire on life in pre-war Denmark written by an avowed Communist. Given that I am an avowed monarchist and reactionary from the other side of the globe, I'm not exactly his intended audience, but then I'm used to such matters.
I will give Scherfig credit for not being a doctrinaire ideologue in writing this. It's far too filled with a sort of humor and humanity for it to be so dull. If anything, I can share the in his view of the modern world as pointlessly bureaucratic, oppressive, corrosive and dehumanizing. Certainly, the humor and biting irony is what makes this short book enjoyable, as well as the skill in which the author portrays the natural world.
Two things brought me down about the novel. At times, when not focused on external description, the expository prose is almost horrendously clunky. I'm not sure if it's like that in the original Danish, or it's just a bad translator, but whenever the omniscient narrator takes over, it's just this flat passively written voice that describes and never *shows*. It brings everything to a stylistically screeching halt.
The other, and far more grating flaw, is one that I've noticed that a lot of Communists and Socialists of a bourgeois background have. Despite their revolutionary aspirations, they not only don't understand the proletariat, they fear and loathe them with a passion. For example, while the satirical parts set in the world the Copenhagen middle class are very deftly done, with an aura of verisimilitude, once the setting moves to the country, it becomes a wide farce with completely overdone caricatures done in a heavy hand. Other than the disabled farmer Anders, and the unnamed shop-girl, nearly everyone in the country is portrayed as a physically and morally monstrous person consumed with undermining and reporting on their neighbors, and ripping off people every possible chance they get. It's rather sad, because the descriptive prose is at its best in the countryside and it's all wasted on this overblown rendition of Jante's Law.
It's far better when misanthropes simply accept that humanity is doomed, rather than trying to find reasons why it's so and affix blame somehow. It allows for far more nuanced depictions of reality than this. That said, at times it's pretty funny.
I can't remember where I found this book, but likely I picked it up due to the striking linocut print on the cover, made by the author, who was a painter and a naturalist as well as a writer. This novel is a scathing satire on life in pre-war Denmark written by an avowed Communist. Given that I am an avowed monarchist and reactionary from the other side of the globe, I'm not exactly his intended audience, but then I'm used to such matters.
I will give Scherfig credit for not being a doctrinaire ideologue in writing this. It's far too filled with a sort of humor and humanity for it to be so dull. If anything, I can share the in his view of the modern world as pointlessly bureaucratic, oppressive, corrosive and dehumanizing. Certainly, the humor and biting irony is what makes this short book enjoyable, as well as the skill in which the author portrays the natural world.
Two things brought me down about the novel. At times, when not focused on external description, the expository prose is almost horrendously clunky. I'm not sure if it's like that in the original Danish, or it's just a bad translator, but whenever the omniscient narrator takes over, it's just this flat passively written voice that describes and never *shows*. It brings everything to a stylistically screeching halt.
The other, and far more grating flaw, is one that I've noticed that a lot of Communists and Socialists of a bourgeois background have. Despite their revolutionary aspirations, they not only don't understand the proletariat, they fear and loathe them with a passion. For example, while the satirical parts set in the world the Copenhagen middle class are very deftly done, with an aura of verisimilitude, once the setting moves to the country, it becomes a wide farce with completely overdone caricatures done in a heavy hand. Other than the disabled farmer Anders, and the unnamed shop-girl, nearly everyone in the country is portrayed as a physically and morally monstrous person consumed with undermining and reporting on their neighbors, and ripping off people every possible chance they get. It's rather sad, because the descriptive prose is at its best in the countryside and it's all wasted on this overblown rendition of Jante's Law.
It's far better when misanthropes simply accept that humanity is doomed, rather than trying to find reasons why it's so and affix blame somehow. It allows for far more nuanced depictions of reality than this. That said, at times it's pretty funny.
February 8, 2012
One of my professors in the Scandinavian department gave us in a small class copies of this book, but I'd never gotten around to picking it up until now. It was interesting, a Danish mystery with a nice little twirl at the end, keeping a good helping of suspense without straying beyond anything too believable. The writing was sensible and straightforward, if a little drowsy, although the criticisms of Danish society were definitely acidic.
The subtext of the book is that the protagonist, Teodor Amsted, had been built to be the way he was by society: a programmed being, who follows the track of what life is like all the way to end, the end goal being that pension upon retirement. The criticism is interesting, to see descriptions of a society that seems almost fundamentally different than the lifestyle and culture that Americans are used to. I enjoyed the read, I did see things coming but the plot dodged the easiest predictions quite nicely.
The subtext of the book is that the protagonist, Teodor Amsted, had been built to be the way he was by society: a programmed being, who follows the track of what life is like all the way to end, the end goal being that pension upon retirement. The criticism is interesting, to see descriptions of a society that seems almost fundamentally different than the lifestyle and culture that Americans are used to. I enjoyed the read, I did see things coming but the plot dodged the easiest predictions quite nicely.
August 29, 2015
Denne bog er genial! Bogen er en skarp satirisk fremstilling af danskheden og det danske samfund. Jeg sad flere gange og grinede for mig selv - Scherfig har en helt igennem original og morsom måde at formulere sig på. Bogen får formidlet den selvironi som, efter min mening, er karakteristisk for dansk humor og selvopfattelse.
September 15, 2008
The things you find in the dollar bins...1930's satire of the bourgeousie by this Danish writer. It is pretty funny.
February 18, 2010
Review of The Missing Bureaucrat and Stolen Spring by Hans Scherfig here: http://thesecondpass.com/?p=4640
March 31, 2013
Very witty. A sharp cross section of the Danish bourgeoisie with a cute little redemption in the end.
February 17, 2016
Brilliant little story. The conclusion is a bit extreme but all the small steps leads there. What is freedom? And what if you don't want it?
January 5, 2015
Read for school.
August 25, 2016
Ganske sjov og med gode iagttagelser og pointer vedrørende livet og samfundet.
November 13, 2016
Classique danois qui demontre l'absurdite du bourgeoisme. Malheureusement, l'ecrivain etait un grand fan de l'Union Sovietique, et entre les deux le choix n'est pas difficile.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews