Seven Gothic Tales - Karen Blixen

Stumbled upon this yesterday. It surprised me because I'd never heard of it and might not have paid too much attention if I didn't recognize one of Karen Blixen's pen names.

https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20180507

That's a Canadian site where the work is public domain (1938). I did a quick search and didn't see much in past threads here that talked about it. It got me wondering whether Nordic/Scandinavian Gothic was a thing. Not so much, apparently, but elements show up as they do in any part of literature.

In my Scandinavian/Nordic literature studies we talked about how important the land seemed to be. In the start of sagas and even books like Out of Africa open with the landscape. Given how important setting and the landscape can be in Gothic writing, it might be entertaining to see what concoctions can be made with Nordic attention to landscape and old viking sagas, particularly on the cusp of the old gods and the introduction of Christianity.

Musing here. ;)

I read Babette's Feast for school (lots of reading for school). It's a short story so not too long to read. I quite liked it but it took a bit to get through the first pages. I like the story behind it. Apparently Blixen wanted to write a story to publish in the United States (or an American editor had asked her for one). She apparently thought something along the lines of "Americans like food. I'll write about that." It worked!

I got into Nordic Lit because my Grandmother was Danish. I took Swedish language courses (Danish was too early in the morning, but I'm hoping to pick some up online) and rounded out my English literature degree with Scandinavian lit.

It's frustrating that I haven't had much to contribute to these threads recently. I have seen the film version of Babette's Feast, on VHS a long time ago. It's slow (or stately if you prefer) and "feels" like an arthouse movie. I wouldn't have guessed it's based on something written for popular success (I'm guessing that's what "a story to publish in the United States" means!).

As for Seven Gothic Tales, I have to confess to having owned the Folio Society edition for a couple of years now (sorry, just checked, five years now) but I haven't read it yet. I have read one of the stories in in, "The Monkey", which is included in The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales.

Quite by chance, there's an article about this book in the Autumn 2018 edition of Slightly Foxed magazine. The author, of the article, Kate Tyte, draws out some themes in the Tales...an emphasis on atmosphere and heightened emotion (she does use the word melodrama); characters with believable attitudes for the time and place ("a pre-Freudian psychology as remote and alien from us as the mysterious creatures that scuttle in darkness across the ocean floors". nicely put). And that the stories require close attention, not just to perceive the moral, as Kate Tyte says, but simply to understand the plot. I have to confess that on my one reading of "The Monkey" I didn't feel that I had understood, "got", what it was about.

(Edited to correct some truly awful typing!)

Same here! (for pears).

It just so happens that my university has two Nordic language programs and those have extended into literature and some culture studies such that it's possible to get a minor in Nordic studies. I thought about it but didn't have the room in my schedule. "Scandinavian" covers Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, while "Nordic" adds in Iceland, Finland, and I think the Faroe Islands, depending on who you ask.

I remember that clue. It was regarding Nordic Noir, which I had never heard of either, but Nordic Crime Fiction was one of the courses available so that makes me think that it's something fairly prevalent. The Wallander series with Kenneth Branagh is from Swedish author Henning Mankell.

Just dug out my copy of Hrafnkel's Saga to look over the beginning again. It starts with an introduction about how Hrafnkel arrived at his home and how three points in the landscape acquired their names. I did notice that the narration will often pause with a side note to reference the name of a piece of land, or a mountain, or a valley, if the story being told has relevance to it.

>5 housefulofpaper: I think my record is 20 years for owning an unread (technically unfinished) book, so you really don't have to worry. My copy of Babette's Feast came in a book with other stories and I've had it around since about 2008 with the intention of finishing it.

I'm not sure how much of a fan of Karen Blixen I really am, but I'd like to read more, or maybe I just don't like buying books and not at least trying to get what I feel is my money's worth. Books for university are annoying that way.

>9 frahealee:

Timely bump for me, too--never did get round to reading these, that I remember.

You have a knack of regularly reminding me of stuff I've long meant to read but haven't ... you are sort of becoming my literary conscience ...

>12 alaudacorax:

Or 'becoming my sort of literary conscience'. No--ambiguous. '... becoming my literary conscious, sort of'. That makes better sense, and I know it's not incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition, but it just looks wrong to me. Actually, it's the 'sort of' that's the problem, sloppy grammar, probably slang, and certainly indicative of wooly thinking on my part--I'll get rid of it and think again. New post coming up ...

You have a knack of regularly reminding me of stuff I've long meant to read but haven't ... you are fast becoming my literary conscience ...

Sorry, started rambling a bit there. It's my age ...

I have been reading Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). I’ve just finished the first, ‘The Deluge at Norderney’.

I have to admit I'm quite at sea, here. I don't know what I've just read--parody, satire? Neither do I really know what she may be parodying or satirizing. I'm going to have to read it again and give it a lot of thought. I don't even know what she means by 'Gothic'; I suspect she may not mean my understanding of the word.

I forgot this thread existed, just moved this from 'So whatcha readin' now, kids?--vol. 3'. Stupid, as this thread is why I was reading the book in the first place.

>18 frahealee: - Did you like the story at all ... ?

Oddly enough, I did quite enjoy it ... while still being baffled by it. I felt a vein of humour running through that I wasn't fully grasping--if that makes sense. Been off on my wanders this last week and haven't got round to a second reading yet.

>22 frahealee:

That would explain, perhaps, why I felt there was something just a little 'off' about that introduction. There was just a little whiff of a student's essay--'Discuss Seven Gothic Tales (1500 words).' sort of thing. Never heard of Dorothy Canfield so no idea of her writing style, but I felt she was padding it a bit.