The History of Danish Dreams: A Novel [Paperback]

Peter Høeg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008

From the author of Smilla's Sense of Snow comes this highly imaginative novel, "wonderful in scope . . . crammed with Danish history, social realism, satire, magic realism, high romance, and sexual goings-on" (Newsday).

In a Danish feudal castle, 1520, a count believes he has pinpointed the center of the universe--a patch of land on his estate. But when his discovery is met with disbelief, he walls off his mansion and has all of the clocks stopped. Four centuries pass instantaneously, and the count's young secretary, Carl, emerges from isolation to find a world bursting with war, innovation, love, sexuality, danger, and all the values of the sixteenth century turned upside down as though by supernatural forces--namely, the force of history. From one of our most gifted international writers comes a dazzling epic fairy tale, a tough fable about the gifts and iniquities of progress.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

His name having been established here through his second and third novels, Smilla's Sense of Snow and Borderliners, Hoeg now offers his debut work, first published in Denmark in 1988. As its subtitle indicates, this is an ambitious and quirky novel, reading like an epic fairy tale in which the magic elements are the social revolutions of the modern era. These revolutions are fancifully cast in terms of the characters' ever-evolving "dreams"-such as "the dream of rebellion" or the "dream of the Village"-in a sprawling plot that progresses as a sort of surreal family saga. Introduced in the first section are four characters born around the turn of the century: Carl Laurids, whose ambitions lead him beyond his estate, where, in the 16th century, the resident count had banned the keeping of time; Amalie Teader, a girl whose delusion that she has been "chosen" springs from a wealthy and powerful grandmother, who writes a newspaper that predicts the future; Anna Bak, a pastor's innocent child who is deemed worthy of bearing "the new Messiah"; and Adonis Jensen, the son of roving thieves, who refuses to learn how to steal because of "his compassion for mankind." In Part II, which ends at 1939, these four become couples: Carl and Amalie have a golden child, Carsten, for a son, while Anna and Adonis produce rebellious Maria; in the final section, Carsten and Maria marry and have children of their own. The characters are as vivid and believable as they are eccentric; unfortunately, they become somewhat buried under an over-staged plot, which seems intent on reflecting every trend of the 20th century, itself fated to bear "the weight of so many dreams that refuse to amalgamate." Luckily, Hoeg's use of a casual first-person narrative voice to frame the story infuses humor and a certain earthy wisdom into his philosophical musings.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In a series of linked vignettes that move from 16th-century aristocratic arrogance to 20th-century social crisis, Hoeg offers a wildly inventive account of Danish history. He opens with the story of Carl Laurids, a steward's son at the manor of Morkhoj, where time has stood still for four centuries following a decree from the count. Amalie Teander, scion of a newspaper family whose matriarch cannot read but magically predicts the future; Anna Bak, a parson's daughter who seems to be one of God's elect; Adonis Jensen, who veers from the family profession of thievery?all are remarkable creations embedded in an ornate, carefully observed text. In the book's second half, these characters link up in explosive combinations. While profoundly different in style from the suspenseful Smilla's Sense of Snow (LJ 8/93) and Borderland (LJ 8/94), a hard-edged social fable, this new novel?actually, the author's first, though the third published here?sustains Hoeg's attack on conformity and social injustice. A dark but brilliant fairy tale; highly recommended.
-?Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Picador; First Edition edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312428014
• ISBN-13: 978-0312428013
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dreamy read, August 17, 2002

By 

Matthew Hovious (London/Madrid) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The History of Danish Dreams (Paperback)

This book is a stunning literary accomplishment that should be much more widely known than it is. Peter Hoeg weaves this tale in a way that marries the magical realism of García Márquez with philosophical ruminations reminiscent of Kundera.

This is the history of Danish dreams in the sense of hopes, of aspirations: of discussing what Danes of different classes and generations have wanted in the past two hundred years, and how these aspirations contributed to building the Danish society of today. Hoeg achieves a rare and seemingly contradictory feat: he criticizes a great many aspects of his country and its society, yet does so in a way that makes his Denmark captivating to non-Danish readers. Hoeg tells his story in a series of seven segments which relate to each other, through the lives of a cast of recurring characters and their children and grandchildren, paradigmatic of Denmark's different social classes. Hoeg brings to life the foolish 18th-century Count of Morkhoj, who one day decrees that on his estate time shall stand still forever; he gives us the Teander Rabow family, owners of a provincial newspaper whose power over their fellow townspeople is such that they print the news first and the events actually happen later, precisely at the time and in the fashion dictated by the influential journal. In one segment, Hoeg includes a recurring device in which several of the most influential figures of 19th-century Denmark --- a business tycoon, an architect, a Socialist rabble-rouser --- are secretly all siblings who have conspired to obscure their shared past as the sons of a small-time crook and a circus performer. And at the beginning and end of the story he introduces us to the devious Carl Laurids, the millionaire rogue whose underhanded schemes and shady dealings so perfectly epitomize the financial world of the twentieth century.

The wisdom in Hoeg's book is not exclusive to Denmark: he speaks of the nature of "the twentieth century, where things change so rapidly that parents' experiences are totally and hopelessly outdated by the time their children have need of them." This book works on two levels, both as an entertaining family saga of men and women in their times, and as an embroidered parable of the forces behind national conscience. This is a dreamy read that will please anyone who's looking for unusual philosophical storytelling and who welcomes a book that fully engages one's mind.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative funny dreamlike tour of the twentieth century, April 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The History of Danish Dreams (Paperback)

When I finished this book, I suddenly realised that it was 3AM, and I had been reading solidly for about 6 hours. That's how good this book is. Characters like Amalie are so lifelike, that you can love them on one page and hate them on the next, without seeing any contradiction in their characters. The book starts off in the realms of fantastic myth and dream, but as the 20th century progresses, history creeps in and memories become more reliable. The dreams of the title are the "memes" (the cultural equivalent of genes) of the characters, passed on from generation to generation,hybridised and mutated. They are also the symbolic visions of sleep. One reviewer said that the characters are "too heavily laden with symbolic baggage". I think this misses the point. Hoeg is saying that everyone's personality is shaped by the dreams or memes of those who have come before, through family, religion and society. The symbols aren't baggage, Hoeg has seen through the twentieth century and found the underlying myth.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expect the unexpected, May 23, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The History of Danish Dreams (Paperback)

Danish author Peter Hoeg is best known for "Smilla's Sense of Snow," in which he took what could have been a tepid thriller and froze it into an icy sculpture. But his most outstanding work may be "History of Danish Dreams," a magnificently dreamlike novel -- not of Danish history, but Danish dreams.

The manipulative Carl Laurids was adopted by the steward of Morkhoj, a place where (the tyrannical Count has declared) time stands still. Elsewhere, little Amalie Teander is nearby when her fearsome grandmother dies; despite the fact that the old lady was illiterate, she somehow predicted the future in the newspapers... and then in her last will and testament, including how her daughter-in-law would die and how the house would be run.

And then there is the sweet, innocent Anna Bak, seemingly one of God's chosen, and Adonis, who turns away from thievery. Taking place in several generations over four centuries (16th to 20th), it shifts from surreal aristocratic realms to impoverished fishing villages, as the fates of the different people intertwine.

Don't expect a taut thriller like "Smilla" or a chilly sociological study like "Borderliners." Hoeg's first novel is far more nuanced and rich, with a dark, weight atmosphere hanging over the ornate language. It's a social satire, but so subtle that it only dawns on readers gradually just what he's saying through his surreal stories.

This book is well-named -- "History of Danish Dreams" does, indeed, seem like a dream. It's a reflection of our own world, but twisted and darkened. At times, Hoeg lets the storyline run away from him, as if the many intricate storylines are spilling out of his hands. But he makes up for this with his outstanding, poetic descriptions of the decayed Count's lands, the dusty house of Amalie's family, and the stinking little village.

His characters tend to be rather distant; there are so many of them that it's a bit difficult to get attached to them. But they are definitely interesting, from the manipulative Carl to the observant Amalie to the sweet, innocent Anna. Somehow the nastiest characters are the most fascinating, such as the Count who declares time "a common, modern invention."

A strange and unique debut, "History of Danish Dreams" is Peter Hoeg's best novel to date. With its veiled social commentary and dreamlike language, it is a vivid experience in itself.