Author | Peter Høeg |
---|---|
Original title | Fortællinger om Natten |
Translator | Barbara Haveland |
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction |
Published | 1997 (The Harvill Press) |
Publication place | England |
Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
Pages | 308 |
ISBN | 9781860464201 |
OCLC | 38435233 |
Tales of the Night (Danish: Fortællinger om Natten) is a story collection by Danish author Peter Høeg. It comprises eight short stories that are about "Love and its conditions on the night of 19 March 1929".[1]
Jay Parini, in a review of Tales of the Night for The New York Times, wrote "Throughout this volume, Hoeg attacks the conventionality of Danish life, with its bureaucracy and rigid sense of duty, its reflexive worship of the institutions of science, law, commerce and art. When his urge to accumulate details and points of view does not drown the narrative, the stories blaze with intelligence and passion. But only in the bizarre, affecting tale of Ignatio Rasker's decision to throw everything away for love does Hoeg live up to his full potential."[5] The Denver Post found "Though sometimes self-consciously philosophical, reflecting the author's youth and desire to declare himself a cerebral sort, every tale in this collection has its own fascinations."[6]
Tales of the Night has also been reviewed by Publishers Weekly,[7] Kirkus Reviews,[8] Booklist,[9] and Library Journal.[10]
Despite a certain stiffness in the prose (the fault of the translation, perhaps), the deep despair and foreboding of well-intentioned Europeans victimized by the very culture that was supposed to educate them is often painfully credible.
An accomplished and provocative debut collection from one of the world's least predictable writers.
The earlier efforts, including this collection of short stories, reveal a wonderfully talented writer, rich with ideas and imagination, struggling to come to terms with his craft.
Hoeg's use of a polished 19th-century prose style to examine 20th-century issues strongly recalls the work of fellow Dane Isak Dinesen.