Understanding Isak Dinesen (Understanding Modern European and Latin American Literature) (Hardcover)

by Susan C. Brantly (Author) "Dinesen's tales have been described as puzzles, labyrinths, three-dimensional spaces, and multilayered texts embedded with new clues to be discovered upon each rereading..." (more)
Key Phrases: consolatory tale, marionette comedy, dreaming child, Lady Flora, Seven Gothic Tales, Isak Dinesen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Susan C. Brantly's introduction to the writings of Isak Dinesen elucidates the subtle complexities of a Scandinavian writer whose works have attracted a large, passionate following in her homeland, throughout the world, and especially in the United States. Highly regarded by a generation that followed her televised trip to America in the 1950s and by a later generation mesmerized by the Oscar-winning 1985 film Out of Africa, Dinesen gained her initial literary success in the United States. Brantly suggests that despite Dinesen’s wide appeal, her irony, allusiveness, obliquity, and mystery elude many readers, depriving them of a full appreciation of the writer's artistry. In this guide Brantly illumines the easily missed literary references, cultural kaleidoscope, and other complexities that enrich not only Dinesen's fictional works but also the memoir she wrote of her time in Kenya.

Brantly addresses the ambiguous qualities of Dinesen's life and literature that have caused critics to disagree on fundamental points of interpretation, examines her ties to English Gothic, German Romanticism, and other nineteenth-century trends, and considers her work within the contexts of modernism and postmodernism. Brantly reveals the thought and care that Dinesen devoted to the construction of her stories, her expansive knowledge of world literature, and the great pleasure awaiting readers as they unravel the mysteries embedded in her texts.

About the Author
SUSAN C. BRANTLY holds a Ph.D. in Germanic languages and literatures from Yale University and is a professor of Scandinavian literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The author of The Life and Writings of Laura Marholm, Brantly has published articles on Dinesen, August Strindberg, and other prominent figures in Scandinavian and Germanic literature. Brantly lives in Madison.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570034281
• ISBN-13: 978-1570034282
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,259,498 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Isak Dinesen, September 19, 2002

By A Customer

This is quite possibly the best book on Karen Blixen ever written. Brantly has synthesized most all scholars into a comprehesive look at Blixens work.