Laterna Magica
by William Heinesen
On This Page
Description
Fortællinger med stemningsbilleder af livet i det gamle Thorshavn.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Short stories by a master. A bit uneven in quality but exceptional stories, wonderfully told. Life among the ordinary people in the Faroe Islands. The title is particularly apt: the magic lantern was a highly popular pastime in the 19th century, the forerunner in its way, of the slide projector. And each story is another slide. The stories are mostly about what makes people tick—and there are some extraordinary portraits here.
Fantastiske noveller hvor Heinesen er allerbedst med en uforlignelig humor
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
49+ Works 484 Members
As a young man in the Faroe Islands, William Heinesen thought of a profession in art or music. His early poetry from the 1920s---he writes in Danish rather than Faroese---demonstrates keen sensitivity to the powerful sensual contrasts of nature in the Atlantic islands. In the 1930s, his elegiac and ecstatic pantheism had a strong effect on show more readers' social awareness. Of novels from this period, Noatun (1938) has appeared in an English translation in Great Britain. In this novel, the reader meets the vital people of a Faroese settlement bravely surviving storms, sickness, and exploitation as they struggle to establish a noatun, or new town. The Faroese people's individualism and sharp beauty are Heinesen's subjects; his strong satire, humor, and imagination have made him one of Denmark's finest prose writers. The Lost Musicians (1950) and The Kingdom of the Earth (1952) share many of the same characters, created by Heinesen to depict fantastic events in Torshavn a generation or so ago. In Heinesen's rich fantasy is an expression of the antinaturalism and antirealism that also mark the writing of the Danes Isak Dinesen and Martin A. Hansen. It is not necessary to have even heard of the Faroes to enjoy the magic of William Heinesen. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Laterna Magica
- Original title
- Laterna magica
- Original publication date
- 1983
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 839.8 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures Other Germanic literatures Danish and Norwegian literatures
- LCC
- PT8175 .H367 .L313 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures Danish literature Individual authors or works 1900-1960
Statistics
- Members
- 37
- Popularity
- 778,222
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- 5 — Danish, English, French, Norwegian (Bokmål), Swedish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 10
