Tales of the Night
by Peter Høeg
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Description
These eight stories are linked by a date and a motif. All of them have to do with love. Love and its conditions on the night of March 19, 1929.In his second book and his only collection of stories, Peter Høeg proves himself to be a true storyteller in the tradition of Karen Blixen and Joseph Conrad. These beautifully constructed tales deal with love, the classic arts and sciences, and the confrontation of Western and non-Western cultures. Moving from a railroad car in the Congo to a show more sailboat in Lisbon's harbor to an upper-class apartment in Copenhagen, they include the tales of a young, disillusioned mathematician who comes face-to-face with his culture's distorition of Africa; an esteemed judge who runs off with the young man he has just sentenced to prison for his homosexual tendencies; and a town--sealed off from the plague--that is infiltrated by a troupe of traveling actors. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Drama without drama, that's how I'd describe these short stories. One or two of them were good enough for me to remember with a smile, but most were just maudlin and melancholy and went nowhere, very, very slowly. I think the tale of the sailor in love with a ballerina (if those details are rightly remembered) was, for me, the highlight.
I found these short stories enchanting.
I loved this, and if only I could remember why I would tell you all. quite possibly it had elements of time shifts.
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Blue Pyramid 1,276 Best Books of All Time
1,248 works; 32 members
Author Information
19+ Works 13,868 Members
Peter Hoeg, is a writer. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1957. Hoeg's first book, The History of Danish Dreams, was published in 1988. Another book, Smilla's Sense of Snow, received the Glass Key Award from the Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 1992. The book was made into a film in 1997 starring Julia Ormond, Gabriel Bryne, and Vanessa show more Redgrave. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
rororo (22314)
Keltainen kirjasto (283)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Tales of the Night
- Original title
- Fortællinger om natten
- Original publication date
- 1990
- Important places
- Copenhagen, Denmark; Christiansø, Denmark; Central African Republic
- Dedication
- Til min mor og far Karen og Erik Høeg
- First words
- Den 18. marts 1929 var den unge dansker David Rehn tilstede, da jernbanen fra Cabina, nær Congoflodens munding, til Katanga i Centralafrika, blev indviet til oprigtigheden.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Der var ingen fødselsdato, men nederst på stenen var en kort indskrift, og da Henrik læste den, huskede han, at det var titlen på det stykke musik, hans tante havde spillet. Det stod:
"Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude" - Original language*
- Dänisch
- Disambiguation notice
- Translation of: Fortællinger om natten
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Romance
- DDC/MDS
- 839.81374 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures Other Germanic literatures Danish and Norwegian literatures Danish Danish fiction 1900–2000 Late 20th century 1945–2000
- LCC
- PT8176.18 .O335 .F67513 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures Danish literature Individual authors or works 1961-2000
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 565
- Popularity
- 52,232
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.39)
- Languages
- 12 — Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Russian, Croatian, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 40
- ASINs
- 4
