Customer Reviews

The Tsar's Dwarf

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Who are you? Are you defined by your country? Your gender? Your language? What about your body?

Soerine's story for us begins when she's expected to pop out of a cake and sing a song in Russian to the visiting Tsar Peter. It's a humiliating premise and from her refusal to play by the rules, we see her not only assert her deeper humanity, but let us know that she's not going to give up her dignity that easily.

We find her personal history interleaved with the story as it unfolds in Russia, a world of stark and cold whiteness, a perfect emblem for her unemotional state. She hates everybody, or claims to.

This is one of the real keys to this novel: first person narration is always unreliable, and in Soerine's case, she thinks she's telling us the truth, but she's lying to herself. As much as she claims insults don't hurt her, she hates this person or that person, we figure out pretty quickly she means the opposite.

She's in search of her humanity, and even more, her purpose on the earth, when of the countries (Denmark and Russia) are themselves wrestling with the problem of self-definition. That's what makes this novel a step forward in the Moll Flanders tradition: While Moll was an eighteenth century woman trying to free herself from dependence on men, Soerine is an eighteenth-century woman trying to find her purpose, especially tough in a time and place where women were thought not to have souls, and deformities were the sign of the Devil. Her purpose is not to dance and sing for money, exploiting her 'freakishness'; but what is it?

Options open up and are pared down by Soerine herself: we see her shutting one door after another, growing ever more worried that no more doors will be opened. The real crux of this novel is 'should she succeed' just as much as 'will she succeed'.

The prose is sparse and bleak, fitting Soerine's perspective, and more than a little vulgar. But it reads itself, like Soerine, deceptively easily--if you go back and reread, many passages are understatedly elegant. It's deep and rich and the sparsity of language allows for a wonderful complexity of symbolism--cold, herbs, letters, tales, etc. And though Soerine doesn't want you to like her, you end up caring very much. She's a character that will stick in your memory long after you've put this novel down. And, if you're like me, you might cry a bit at the end, which is always my test of great and moving literature.

The Russian Tsar Peter the Great collects dwarves like some people collect stamps. So when he visits Denmark, the Danish king has a complimentary dwarf jump out of a cake for his pleasure. Only, this is an ugly little dwarf named Sorine with a mind of her own. And, to the tsar's amusement she's jumped out of the cake naked.

Sorine becomes Surinka and goes to Russia to become part of the tsars collection of dwarves. The tsar has even built a dwarf-sized house for his little pets. Sorine a.k.a. Surinka is not amused. And she decks the first dwarf that tries to get her to sleep with him in his dwarf-sized bed.

It all sounds amusing, but Sorine is far from amused with her station in life. She's grumpy, ornery, and speaks her mind. Life hasn't been good to her, but part of this is her fault for pushing away the people in her life who have tried to show her affection. As she grows older, we watch the emotional walls she's erected around herself crumble.

I found myself enjoying this book much more than I thought I would. It's a pleasant, mindless read. Some might see the story as being a dark one, but I found more humor than darkness. Besides, what's a Russian setting without morosity? And I did enjoyed the psychotic character of the tsar and the grumpy character of the dwarf quite a lot.

Also, I have to say that I wish the cover of every paperback book was made like this one with expandable French flaps that function as built-in bookmarks.

I'll be honest -- the first 100 pages of this book were a slow read for me, and I felt more irritation than empathy for the main character. If I had just checked this book out from the library, it probably would have gone back unfinished.

Once I got past that point, though, the book started to pull me in. You begin to see a deeper level of Sørine, and you also see her become more open to changes in perspective. Rather than just hearing about all the parts of life that she hates, and about all the people who piss her off, you start to see glimpses of what truly matters to her. Over the book, Sørine goes from the slums in Denmark, performs at the king's palace, is given as a gift to the dwarf-collecting Russian tsar, is sent to a sadistic convent, is used as a museum exhibit, and stows away as a Polish nanny. Throughout, there's a lot of focus on Sørine's ever-changing internal dialogue about religion, and also about the parallel changes in how she sees being a dwarf -- is she human? Is she in the same "class" as the other dwarfs? The descriptions throughout were wonderful as well: enough so that I could truly see the book in my mind, but not so much that it kept me from seeing the story in my own way.

This is definitely literary fiction with a dark side -- so readers who feel put off by intense scenes of violence and sex probably aren't going to enjoy The Tsar's Dwarf.

Oh, and one note about the physical book itself. It is absolutely gorgeously made -- not only a great cover, but high quality materials and thoughtfully designed in a way that just feels great in your hands. I read this book over the course of a week's bus rides to and from work, and every day people would comment on it.

The Tsar's Dwarf is a beautifully crafted novel. It is as unique a story as its main character, Soerine, a dwarf given to Peter the Great by Denmark. What I loved about this novel is that it seamlessly weaves history into the plot so I never had to wade through any dreadful ten-page chunks of historical background. It is seamless. And the history is there to illuminate the characters. You feel when reading the novel that Soerine is every bit as real to the author as a modern-day character would be. There's no off-putting distance.

The prose is clean and rhythmic -- it's set at a pace that will have you absorbed and gobbling it up.

I felt so... human after reading this. So okay. There's something wonderful about the way we know that Soerine is worthy in spite of her ugliness or deformities. She is a truly appealing character, a small, bright spitfire. We don't have to be perfect. We don't have to be granted dignity -- we earn it simply by existing. These were the messages, to me, from this terrific book.

I enjoyed every second of reading this. It's a novel that will leave you heartbroken in spots, but thoroughly refreshed. It will wake you up.

Highly recommended. Read this book!

A memoir is typically a meandering document and, even though this is a fictional account, it is no exception to that rule.

This is the fictional memoir of a dwarf, Sørine Bentsdatter, born in 1684 in Brønshøj, Denmark. Her mother dies at her birth and her father eventually sells her to the nobility as a novelty. Sørine endures such treatment in stride, accepting that this is life for a dwarf.

Sørine is shrewd enough to educate herself learning to read, write, and to become trilingual. She also ends up in the forest with a local witch for a time who teaches her woodcraft, herbalism, and incantations for healing the sick. But Sørine's biggest struggle is with a God which she constantly denies - in fact she essentially becomes an agnostic in her early days, based chiefly upon her life philosophy, ergo, "We are creatures who serve only one purpose: we exist so that human beings can feel superior." (p. 15). Of course, the inference here is that Sørine does not view herself (or other dwarves) as human and based upon how she is treated by normal people, she has good cause to make this assumption.

Sørine is married to the King's executioner who dies of Tuberculosis and it's not long after that when Sørine becomes the personal property of the King of Denmark, Frederick IV. Frederick has a need to entice Tsar Peter the Great of Russia into helping him and other allies to invade and conquer Karl XII of Sweden; the Tsar will only go along with the plan if he is put in full command of the invading forces and that presents complications.

As a means to entice Peter into accepting Frederick's plan, the latter makes him a gift of Sørine, knowing that the Tsar is a connoisseur of dwarves. While Peter ends up going his own way back to Russia, Sørine develops a sort of love for the great Tsar whom, unfortunately for the dwarf was a self-centered sociopath. And so Sørine, now re-named Surinka by her master the Tsar, is thrust into one horrific environment after another and thus the reader follows her life story.

Sørine readily endures gropings, beatings, and ultimately imprisonment in the Tsar's Curiosity Cabinet (a bizarre museum) where she is housed and publicly displayed alongside other mutations of nature, some human, some not. But Sørine has no major problem in living such an existence - what really angers her is being ignored. On that point, she feels like a bull without a china shop.

The author, Peter H. Fogtdal, wrote this book in the Danish language in 2006. It was translated into English in 2008 by Tiina Nunnally who has achieved a tremendous success in her quest to successfully convey this story in the spirit in which it was originally written. This text flows like oil and Sørine's humor-noir and sharp tongue bellows through as I'm certain that it did in the Danish text. Here's an example of Sørine's sarcasm -- "Another detail from our [dwarf] history: the ones called trolls are also dwarves. The same is true of black fairies, pixies, and gnomes... We are all known to be evil." (p. 54).

This work, mostly due to its being a memoir, lacks a central theme other than Sørine's challenges to the existence of God (yet she refers to Him as a source of torment in one instance after another). There is a certain amount of redundancy in regard to her relationship with a God in whom she says she does not believe... perhaps a little too much.

But to his credit, Fogtdal does introduce us to a new and unique type of personality and also to a paradigm of life which we would likely not have otherwise ever experienced. We also get a pretty factually based account of Peter the Great, whom you can read more about here: Peter the Great. In summary, I would highly recommend "The Tsar's Dwarf" to anyone interested in historical fiction or in the social science of human cultures.

We would all like to believe that we live in a more "enlightened" age than the 17th century Danish dwarf Sorine Bentsdatter, who provides us with a voyeuristic tour of her world, and more importantly, her interpretation of it. This novel may convince us otherwise. Told in the first person, the reader is quickly drawn into the exquisite pain that results from the combination of a deftly analytic mind housed in a diminutive and deformed female body. Peter H. Fogtdal recreates a lush history and landscape for Sorine to move about in, but it is Sorine's attempts to make peace with herself, her world, and God, that define this novel as a great read.

Hopefully, readers will ask themselves whether the world has really changed at all. The political scenes Fogtdal describes highlights the fact that the actions of the powerful are very often based on personal agendas and whims that take little account of the masses whose lives they will affect. And, while our social etiquette has improved, how many of us truly understand (or even want to understand) what it feels like to be "other" in a world that continues to worship at the feet of beauty, fame, power and money? Sorine desperately tries to create a calloused exterior that will repel her tormentors and protect her from pain. She uses her intelligence and strong character to retain whatever shred of dignity remains in the situations she is thrown into. She turns her back on "opportunities" that would be embraced by others because she refuses to give up one of the few possessions she retains: choice.

Sorine is a flawed character, one that openly shows us both her dark and brilliant sides. Readers may be put off by Sorine's candid comments and moral lassitude, or they can allow themselves to become Sorine, feeling her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pain and the eventual measure of peace she finds. Choose the latter; you will be the better for it. Lee & Steven Hager are the authors of Quantum Prodigal Son: Revisiting Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Perspective of Quantum Mechanics

As it was for me, Peter Fogtdal's "The Tsar's Dwarf" may be the first novel you've ever read translated from Danish. I hope that the book sells well and that some of Fogtdal's novels get the same treatment.

In a first-person narrative that reads a bit like John Irving channeling Charles Dickens on a trip through 18th century Russia, Danish dwarf Sorine Bendsdatter takes us on the journey of her life--a journey of survival in a world that treats dwarves as animalistic freaks of nature rather than as human beings.

Sorine battles with her owners, her so-called protectors, her lovers, demons from her past deeds, and her God, first living in her native Denmark and then in Russia after being given by King Frederick of Denmark to Russian Tsar Peter the Great. Along with being Sorine's personal tale of her fight for survival, identity and a small measure of happiness in mostly cold, gloomy and vermin-infested surroundings, "The Tsar's Dwarf" tells us a good bit of Peter's story. Some of the story could be interpreted as historical fiction. Other parts are presented through "dwarf eyes", imaginations built from cruel experience.

"The Tsar's Dwarf" isn't a thriller, but Fogtdal's fast paced writing style and short chapters, some just snippets, make it read like one.

As a tale of personal courage and a look at history in long-ago and faraway places, "The Tsar's Dwarf" is hard to beat. Five enthusiastic stars for adult readers and for well-read teenagers.

I read a lot from all across the genres and it's rare for me to encounter a book that is thought provoking, entertaining, and sobering all at once. When I started reading this book, I was a little concerned that the writing style wasn't going to grab me. But then I started reading the book from the viewpoint of Sorine rather than reading it as if I were watching the story. WOW! I'm moved by her life and emotion; I stayed up all night. She has a bad attitude, but she's so lovable. I felt like yelling, "You go Sorine!" And I was appalled by her hardships and entertained by her stubbornness. I'm happy to read other reviewers enjoyed the book as much as me.

I vaguely knew that dwarfs weren't considered human beings and how awful they were treated, but it's wonderful how the author created a nuanced dynamic character to give a voice to her life. In the end, I think the author did Sorine's character a lot of justice by choosing to write the story using the words and style that she would have known and chosen. This book deserves another, WOW!

Sorine Bentsdatter is a dwarf (her term), who from the beginning informs the reader, "As a rule, I don't care for dwarves at all."

Living in Copenhagen in the early 18th century, she faces daily prejudice and ridicule, as well as limited opportunities for a career, although she is a skilled herbalist and medicine woman. When the man with whom she's been living, "The Scoundrel," dies, she finds employment with Frederik IV and Catherine the Great as an entertainer (dwarves are considered droll), and is then given to Russian Tsar Peter the Great to amuse his court.

Physically unattractive, stubborn, highly intelligent and decidedly un-droll, Sorine is an uneasy fit at the Tsar's court. The Tsar himself is an enigma, he collects dwarves, but treats them (comparatively) humanely; and is quick to violence, including against his own
treacherous son, but also a charismatic Renaissance man. Now nicknamed Surinka, the protagonist develops a relationship with the Tsar's favorite dwarf, Lucas, but her unorthodox ideas about religion and spirituality, cause her to be singled out for punishment. Following her banishment from court, Sorinne attemps to come to terms with her past, as she encounters adversity, and finally has a chance to return to Denmark.

"The Tsar's Dwarf," is a fascinating account of Russia (and Denmark) under Peter the Great's rule. Told from a unique and witty perspective, "The Tsar's Dwarf," is a story of love, betrayal, prejudice and the cruelty that arises as a result.

Sorine is a Danish dwarf who is first chosen to be entertainment for Peter the Great in Frederik IV's Danish court and then is chosen to be a gift for the Tsar. Sorine is, by her own admittance a lowly creature and according to her, not even human.

Throughout the book the issues of humanity and dignity are addressed beautifully by the ever pessimistic, yet oddly hopeful Sorine (or Surinka as she is known by her various Russian companions). Alone in the world, Sorine must constantly fend for herself. In the world of 1700 something Russia and Europe the world is cold, harsh and bitter--someone like Sorine is considered property--a prize, there for the use and entertainment of others. Sorine is acutely aware of her place in the world, yet she continually rises above her set station by being smarter and more thoughtful than everyone who surrounds her.

This story is beautifully written and translated, disturbing and poignant, I found myself thinking of Sorine often during the day while I was reading the book, and think I will think of her often in the future. An unforgettable character with an equally unforgettable story. A great book.