Isak Dinesen Books

To pick up Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales is to pick up one of the world's greatest literary masterpieces. Here in these seven stories we are presented with a universe that's compelling, beautiful and strange in a way that no other author has (in my opinion) ever equalled. If I was ever on a desert island and had one book I would hope it was this one.

If you enjoy stories by J. Sheridan Lefanu, Ray Bradbury, Hans Christian Anderson or Susanna Clarke, here you'll find similar ethereal qualities, but brought to a level of artistic beauty that surpasses everything that has been written before or since.

It is a mystery to me why this author is as little-known as she is - these tales represent, for me, the quintessential short fiction of the 20th Century.

dinesen/blixen was a true, living Scheherazade. this is an astounding collection of stories within stories within stories within stories. beautifully, elegantly written and set in various european locales, starring wonderfully alive characters straight out of fairytales, dreams and myth. these are strange, magical narratives (novellas, to be a stickler) with a modern sensibility. brimming with metaphors that will make you pause. kind of a cross between e.t.a. hoffman and a.s. byatt. definitely going to read more of her stuff.

This is a demanding work of seven multilayered and esoteric stories in this, Dinesen's first book.

We know of Dinesen more commonly by way of Meryl Streep, who played Dinesen, or the Baroness Karen Blixen, in "Out of Africa." But the woman we find here as the author of these stories is no easily-understood, Hollywood character. Her stories within stories are rich in symbolism, imagination, and a "long ago and far away" feeling that is carefully, carefully, controlled by the author. Dinesen wrote some of these tales in Africa, and finished others along with ordering the book back home in Denmark, after her farm had failed. She wrote, interestingly, in English (and did her own translations back into Danish later on). Many books follow this one, including LAST TALES and, of course, OUT OF AFRICA. Dinesen, while the heroic, strong, individualist of Streep's portrayal, is also kind of strange, introspective, and fabulously bizarre. She uses her stories' plot lines as a means, one feels, to work out her life philosophies, reshape and recast ideas and symbolic imagery, and impart creative insights. After getting to about the fourth or fifth story, one can see that she uses the same imagery repeatedly and even the same turns of phrase.

I have read this volume at least once before, and wanted to go through it again knowing just that much more literature and biblical references. (It helps to be well read in the classics when reading Dinesen.) Anything is up for her use, and if you don't see it, something will be lost to you as you interpret the stories and what they meant, or even, what happened. She loves Shakespeare (OUT OF AFRICA was written in five sections, after the five-act structure of Shakespearian drama), and Don Giovanni, she has interesting ideas about femininity and independent women, and symbolizes these issues with women who are doll-like, women who seem as if they can fly, women who are witches in some way or another, etc. She likes to toy with the mind of God, as well, having characters pronounce his proclivities, likes and dislikes, etc., quite often. I found these to be some of the most interesting passages, after some of the gender-defining ones, that is. (She chose her pseudonym, "Isak," as it is Hebrew for "He who laughs" and she definitely plays with many ideas here, many humorously.)

Of the seven tales (The Old Chevalier, The Roads Round Pisa, The Monkey, The Supper at Elsinore, The Dreamers, The Poet, and The Deluge at Norderney), The Roads Round Pisa is my favorite, and I have studied it for a graduate class. In the book, a mistake is the central event, and we learn of it only at the end. Our main character, Count Augustus Von Schimmelmann, is writing a letter to a friend, when a carriage accident occurs in front of him. An old woman, who seemed at first to him to be a man, is injured and asks that he go and seek out her granddaughter so that she may forgive her for an estrangement before she dies, as she believes she will do shortly. Augustus sets out for Pisa and in an inn meets a young man, with whom he engages in an interesting conversation. Soon, however, he finds out that this man is a woman, and whereas before he had been asking "him" for help in finding his way into the city, now he offers her his assistance as a gentleman. Their subsequent conversation holds a particularly compelling passage I have never forgotten. In it, Dinesen explicates a concept of women's differences, physically, psychologically and societally, from men through the artful use of the host and guest metaphor.

This passage is a key to the story's mood when toward the end the mistake around which the characters swirl is revealed. But the passage is also an interesting philosophical and societal analogy that provokes thought and discussion. This is, then, quintessential Dinesen.

The other stories deal with identity and loss (The Dreamers), a ghost who is allowed to rise up from hell whenever the sound between Denmark and Sweden freezes over (Supper at Elsinore), the mirage of lost love (The Old Chevalier), poetry and power (The Poet), the societal roles of women (The Monkey), and identity (The Deluge at Norderney), but these are very brief and basic categorizations. One could safely say that all the stories deal with many of the others' main themes. The book as a whole is an excellent study of the power of fiction to suggest and manipulate, with beautiful, evocative writing and deep and stirring underlying meanings. I recommend it.

These are strangely compelling stories, all of which evoke a sense of mystery and poetry. Floods and monkeys, skulls and puppet shows, vie with each other and figure here in short works that are too realistic for fables but too bizarre to be mistaken for reality.

Gothic surrealism might be the best way to describe the tone achieved by the author, whose real name was Karen Blixen (made familiar to modern audiences by the film "Out of Africa"). This is a reissue of a volume that first appeared in 1934.

Borrowing the author's phrase, each story is "like an echo in the engulfing darkness." Atmospheric and brooding, these tales are part Poe and part Brothers Grimm. Exotic in characterization as well as setting, we are introduced to a polyglot collection of virgin nuns and wandering n'er do wells, who cling to rooftops and journey on rhino-horn laden dhows.

Escape from the ordinary world is promised and delivered, but somehow, the people in these stories also remind us of people we know and situations that might not be as straightforward as we have assumed. A scarf may not be a scarf. The wind may be more than the wind. A scarf blown in the wind recalls to one character the memory of a little white snake -- madness is hinted at, at every turn.

They are seven distinctive tales. Yet, the evocation of place, the depiction of eccentricity, the precariousness of life, suffuse them all. They are magnetic and memorable. Even so, some readers may find the tales a bit too weird for their tastes.

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.

Why isn't I. Dinesen's work more widely known and accepted in the modernist pantheon? Her reputation seems to have settled into that of oddball literary personality and vehicle for Meryl Streep, however the work itself would have eluded me, despite a decent education in high school and university (for example, I was given Hesse and Camus to read in 10th grade, why not Isak?)had I not been attracted to this title in a dusty library. The work is about as anti-Hollywood as I could possibly imagine. Perhaps the answer is, she is not really a modernist but some sort of high baroque romanticist belonging more in the 19th century world of German prose; the "layering of stories" effect, especially in "Roads to Pisa", reads like she is channeling the world of Jan Potocki, enigmatic author of "The Saragossa Manuscript," who like Casanova moved in that incredible world of the international bohemian intellectual elite that Rexroth describes so well somewhere in one of his essays; that world of post-chaises and midnight rendezvous and military officers with seemingly endless resources of money, brains, education and cunning ... in fact "Saragossa" and Casanova's "Memoirs" were the books that came to my mind as I read her...reading this stuff is like eating a chocolate eclair with a brain more powerful than yours will ever be...why aren't there writers like this anymore? Was it all only a dream?

Ah, so I finally finished this biography last night. I had fallen in love with Out of Africa and Seven Gothic Tales, and in reading her biography, I had hoped to fall in love with Isak Dinesen, the Pellegrina. Sadly, I fell out of it.

The fault is not in the biography. It's a fascinating life, and it was good to have the blanks filled in as far as her childhood, and what happened in Africa, the continent to which she spoke, and which spoke back to her. The popularity of her work, the American reaction to it, I found this all good reading. But you know, eventually, she turned into quite the old megalomaniac. Thurman shows us where it all came from. (spoilers ahead) Dinesen had always believed that she was special, and was infuriated by her family's insistence on equality, fairness and calm. She felt restrained by it. stifled, dismissed. She felt that the loss of her father was uniquely hers, that it mattered less in the lives of her siblings that their father killed himself. She wanted to somehow own or claim that.

And sadly, the circumstances of her erotic life seem to have warped her terribly. She had syphilis, and had to live carefully and chastely even while madly in love (though therre is a question regarding this as far as her relationship with Finch-Hatten). I can see how this would do a woman in, I really can. She spoke of syphilis as both the price and the source of her gift, a horrible bargain with the devil that made her a genius at telling tales. But the cost was high, and the damage was deep.

The warping took various ugly shapes as she aged. She tried to usurp her sisters and brothers in the eyes of their children, found her nieces and nephews disappointing in their love of their parents. She berated and belittled her most faithful secretary and companion, Clara. She asked for and received constant adoration from younger men, letting them bask in the glow of her admiration and incouragement in exchange for a strict kind of allegiance. She manipulated, bored, dominated, demanded, and through it all, she suffered the humilation of syphilis and aging. While young, she wanted to be the thinnest in the room. She died of anorexia, unable and unwilling to eat, addicted to amphetamine.

That's what I get for reading a biography. I should have just stuck to her work, because, in truth, that's all any writer owes the reader; the work. And that aspect of this life, the story of her writing, is well-covered and interesting. I don't regret reading Thurman's biography, and I think it's extremely well-written and full of specific, interesting information and theories. I just feel personally disappointed in who Isak Dinesen turned out to be.

Had I not seen the movie "Out of Africa" I would never had given any thought to reading a book written by a Danish woman of her life in British East Africa in the early 1900's on a coffee plantation. The movie was enjoyable and that provoked me to read her memoir. Getting beyond the fact that Robert Redford and Meryl Streep played the main characters, I became fascinated with the wonderful story and even more so the beautiful tapestry of language presented by the author in her book. A few years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Nairobi, Kenya and first on my list of places to see and things to do was a visit to Karen Blixen's farmhouse. The house and a small portion of the original lands remain intact as a museum. Although the area has been built up over the last 75+ years (the area is known as Karen in honor of the Baroness) there are still a few coffee plantations in the area and of course the Ngong mountains can be seen off in the distance. With this backround in mind I set off to read ISAK DINESEN : The Life of a Storyteller. I found the biography to be very comprehensive and exhaustively researched. "Exhaustively researched" not in a negative sense in that I found it fascinating to learn of the web of personalities that floated in and out of Karin Blixen's life including Hans Christen Andersen, President Theodore Roosevelt's son Kermit, Playwrite Arthur Miller, Prince Edward, George Bernard Shaw, Marilyn Monroe, Beryl Markham, Lord Delamere.... Moreover what she read and how much she read (and learned)are testament to what one can accomplish with 'self education' (especially so when there are no televisions or radios as was the case in the early days in British East Africa). The footnotes in this biography lead the reader into intriguing digressions. For sure this is not an adventure book nor is it more of "Out of Africa". Karen Blixen led a very interesting life and accordingly it is the stuff of a very interesting biography that is well presented.

Isak Dinesen will always be remembered for her farm in Africa, although she had much more than that, not the least of which was a talent for writing and an appetite for life. Why dames like this are not admired by the feminists , I'll never know. She had it all: dough, looks, energy, courage. Doris Duke here in the States is a possible American version of this kind of gal; maybe Katherine Hepburn succeeded in creating the film persona of this sort of aristocratic "liberated" women, with family money backing her all the way. It's easy to be brash when you've got a sugar daddy who happens to be a Baron. Still, while many of her class were happy to do nothing with their lives in style, this one had the guts to make an extraordinary life. Thurman has written a thoroughly researched, beautifully edited appreciation of this woman. She tells the story well, but also provides a very convincing analysis of Dinesen's lifelong commitment to the art of fiction. A fascinating biography.

First captivated, despite the miscasting of Robert Redford, by the film "Out of Africa", I read on to find out who this woman was. I discovered she died the same year I was born, and lived through those marvellous decades that include WW1, the roaring 20's, the Depression, the boiling 60's and through to the 70's. What changes in the world she saw, and what stories she had to tell. I thought there was nothing left for me to learn about her; I've read her books & her letters, have visited her home in Rungstedlund, Denmark, watched documentaries about her, seen the films ("Babette's Feast", in addition to "Out of Africa", are based on her books). However, this biography is a revelation on every page. Minutely researched (obviously), Ms Thurman leads us through the details that explain why she did what she did, where she obtained her passion, and her compassion, and how she went from a sheltered Danish aristocratic life, to colonial Africa, and then to becoming a world-renowned author. Excellent read for all who love stories of the grand figures of the 20th century.

This is a thoroughly researched and beautifully written biography of the life of a great storyteller. Thurman in telling the story of Dinesen's life, also presents a miniature guide to her work. She does an excellent job of portraying the character of Dinesen, the complex aristocratic independent mind, the romantic nature, the connection with a fairytale world of storytelling, the great courage and determination in making herself into a story when all appeared lost in her life. Thurman tells of Dinesen's childhood , her special connection with her father , the division between two families one wealthy mercantile, and the other more wild and adventurous. Thurman tells the story of Dinesen's long African adventure, the story of her marriage and its sad ending in divorce, and too the story of Dinesen's great love , Denys Finch- Hatton. The story of that love that plays a central part in what is arguably Dinesen's most memorable book , " Out of Africa" is a story of the man as hunter, adventurer, coming home to be feasted and entertained by his lover- storyteller Dinesen. This story which too ends with Finch- Hatton's death in a plane crash is at the heart of the first part of Dinesen's life. The second part after the African adventure is when she returns home and begins to make that writing life which would make her world- famous. The second -half of the story sees Dinesen more and more playing the part she has created for herself , as storyteller and personnage. It too however has its great human interest, especially in her relation to her mother ,her brother and her extended family. There is of course a vast world of detail I cannot begin to mention in this review. But Thurman tells the story with taste and a beauty as befits a true reader and lover of the work of Dinesen.
I believe it really does justice to the spirit of Isak Dinesen's life and work.

These letters are the life and thoughts of an honest-to-God human female--a real woman, not a trumped-up tricked-out product of society. She is inspiring, honest, real, and as wild and natural as Africa itself was during her time. Every woman who has truly lived, even a little, will see herself in these pages. I reread it every few years as a pep-talk for courageous living, humility, and honesty. I will forever feel sad that she had to leave Africa.

I actually had several of Isak Dinesen's works - "Out of Africa," her seven tales, and her book of letters. I hadn't seen the movie and I honestly wasn't even that interested in Africa or Danish people. But I'm fascinated by women's letters, and that is why I bought this book. I have read these letters and nothing else by her, to be quite honest, and these letters have inspired me to read more of her writings (once I stop finding other women's letters in book form to read).

I share all of the other reviewers' observations and feelings toward this book, so I won't repeat them. One thing I will add is that it is truly fascinating to read passages of her letters that have to deal with hunting game ... I don't know much about Africa or its colonizations, but if I recall, the colonizing didn't start until late in the 19th century - when "game" was more than plentiful. Even with this in mind, I couldn't help but be appalled when she recited the numbers of animals that were killed simply for sport. This bias aside, these letters made it easy to see how animals became endangered and extinct.

Obviously, there is more to the letters than hunting - otherwise I never would have read the entire book. Karen Blixen was obviously a very determined, passionate woman and this came through in her letters. Her voice and her descriptions of her life in Africa made these letters worth reading to someone who previously had no interest in the colonization of Africa.

"... huge distant blue mountains and the vast grassy plains before them covered with zebra and gazelle, and at night I can hear lions roaring like the thunder of guns in the darkness". Passages such as this one make it worthwhile to read this book. Karen Blixen is a master at poetically describing her foreign surroundings. If you enjoy the movie and the book Out of Africa then you will enjoy reading this book. Although at times the letters are repetitious and the author tends to ramble on, it is still an interesting book as it allows the reader to look through a window into Colonial East Africa from 1914 to 1931. The reader is able to go into Karen Blixen's mind and follow her daily struggles, joys and sorrows during her long stay in Africa and through her many safaris. This book unlike Out of Africa is not written through rose colored lenses. As you read this book, you feel a much harsher Africa. Also in this book she writes about her lover Dennis Finch-Hatton and doesn't hide the fact that she's crazy about him from her family. I highly recommend this book to any fan of Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen.

There's no better way of getting to know the real Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen than by reading her Letters. Blixen shares her life with you a letter at a time, and in such rich detail that one feels a bit inclined to purchase a ticket to Kenya and appear on her veranda for tea!

Blixen's deep love for "her people" finally comes out in its truest sense in that she considered the African natives her soul mates.

The letters to Ingeborg, Aunt Bess, and brother Tommy, reveal (to me at least) that Blixen felt a greater kinship and sense of mutual acceptance with her "black skinned brother" than she did with her Danish relatives.

"Letters From Africa" is essential reading for any Dinesen fan.

Isak Dineson, or Karen Blixen, was a fascinating woman. Most people know her as the main character from the movie Out of Africa or as the auther of the book of the same name. While the movie and the book are both good, I feel that this collection of her letters gives the best picture of who she was and what was important to her. The struggles of trying to make a go of her farm are heartwrenching, but the joy she expresses in her surroundings is enchanting. She describes the people in her life, especially the Kenyans who worked on her farm, so well that you feel you know them almost as well as you know her. Her description of the Europeans who lived in Kenya for economic or political reasons has enough of compliment and criticism to seem much more fair than many books from the colonial era. By the end of the book, it is easy to think of Karen as a friend.

Karen Blixen wrote a number of fine books, but only 4 could be called short story collections. Her first book, _Seven Gothic Tales_ is usually the book of stories that people remember first-- deservedly, because any book that contains "The Deluge at Norderney," "The Monkey," and "The Poet" gets high marks. The other stories in the book aren't exactly chopped liver, either.

However, I will submit that _Winter's Tales_ deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as _Seven Gothic Tales_. Indeed, in some ways, it surpasses the earlier book as a work of art. The level of writing is uniformly high; the style is still ornate and surprising, but better controlled. There is some excellent work here, such as the story "Alkmene." But what puts this book over the top is that it contains "Sorrow Acre," probably the best of Blixen's fiction. In fact, one could argue that "Sorrow Acre" is on of the finest stories written in the 20th century by *anyone*. It's a marvel of subtle irony. By itself, it was worth the price of admission.

Her two later collections, _Anecdotes of Destiny_ and _Last Tales_ have their moments, but to my mind, she hit her high water mark in _Seven Gothic Tales_ and _Winter's Tales_.

These tales don't start with "once upon a time," but they ought to. These beautiful stories-within-stories are dazzling at times, disorienting at others--how deeply in can we go before the enframing story is lost? But the plots are intricately interwoven, the threads all tie into one another, and all makes sense as we move in and out of these complicated tapestry tales. And thanks to the previous reviewers who are providing overviews of her other fiction; I appreciate it.

This is a terrifc book by a unique writer.

That's no surprise, because Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) wrote a number of fine books. Her ledger contains a couple of volumes of reminiscence about her life in Africa, a pseudonymous novel of adventure (_The Angelic Avengers_), and posthumously published books of stories (_Carnival_) and essays (_Daguerrotypes_). Despite the interest and occasional excellence of these books -- especially in the case of _Out of Africa_ -- it's as a writer of long stories that she exhibited her greatest artistry and achievement.

She published 4 collections of short stories in her lifetime: _Seven Gothic Tales_, _Winter's Tales_, _Anecdotes of Destiny_, and _Last Tales_. She also published a slim novel (really a novella), _Ehrengard_. As a devoted reader, I've enjoyed every one of these books. Still, it does her no disservice to point out that some are better than others.

Her first book, _Seven Gothic Tales_ is usually the book of stories that people remember first -- deservedly, because any book that contains "The Deluge at Norderney," "The Monkey," and "The Poet" gets high marks. The other stories in the book aren't exactly chopped liver, either.

However, I will submit that _Winter's Tales_ deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the earlier book. I approached _Winter's Tales_ the first time expecting to be disappointed after the bravura performance of _Seven Gothic Tales_. I was surprised in the most pleasant manner imaginable. Indeed, in some ways, _Winter's Tales_ surpasses the earlier book as a work of art. The level of writing is uniformly high; the style is still ornate and surprising, but better controlled. And there are still the touches of melodrama and the gothic that give much of her work a strange feeling of having emerged from the 19th Century, while at the same time being very modern.

Although I found the whole of _Winter's Tales_ to my taste, some of the stories stand out. Two stories that I particularly liked were "Alkmene" and "The Fish"; but what puts this book over the top is that it contains "Sorrow Acre," arguably the best example of Blixen's fiction. In fact, one could argue that "Sorrow Acre" is one of the finest stories written in the 20th century by *anyone*. An historical and philosophical novella that reconstructs a day in 19th century Denmark, it plays out personal tragedy and comedy on an aristocratic estate with a subtle irony worthy of Theodor Storm or (dare I say) Thomas Mann. By itself, it was worth the price of admission. I've read it many times since. The thematic connections between this story and the earlier "The Deluge at Norderney" are patent.

Her two later collections, _Anecdotes of Destiny_ and _Last Tales_ have their moments. In particular, several stories from _Anecdotes..._ have grown on me over the years, such as "Babette's Feast" and "Tempests." Still, to my mind, she hit her high water mark in _Seven Gothic Tales_ and _Winter's Tales_.

Isak Diensen's book of ornate, Baroque prose is on an unreachable echelon separate from any writer writing literature today or even from her era. Her stories transport readers to a period where thinking and intelligence were elegant and refined, smooth and intermixed with tints of religiosity. Stories such as "The Invincible Slave-Owner" and "The Sailor-Boy's Tale" show Diensen's strong knowledge of Danish folklore and Baroque description. Mind you, this is not easy reading! The messages are simple, but yet they are dense, and it is very easy to overlook these simple truths as a result of that flamboyance and extravagant complexity for which she has become internationally recognized. Her themes are like those of any writer: strength, courage during adversity, love, etc... But it is how these themes are conveyed that make these tales remarkable. Isak Diensen a.k.a. Baroness Karen Blixen's childhood was not one of the best, and these tales seem to indicate that. They transport the reader, take him or her away to places that seem unreachable, but her life does not mitigate the beautiful intelligence and language that she is able to convey. Diensen was twice nominated for the Noble Prize in Literature, losing to Ernest Hemmingway and Albert Camus. For more on her life and stories, read Judith Thurman's Life of a Storyteller: The Biography of Isak Diensen.

I am a long time fan of Isak Dinesen's short stories. They are little jewels of rich, sometimes ornate, always beautiful and strange prose. Winter's Tales holds together from beginning to end especially well, and includes my favorite tale of all, "Alkmene." Isak Dinesen's stories are like fairy tales remembered in a dream (or is it dreams remembered in a fairy tale?). They resonate with deep longing and sadness as well as an appreciation for the jokester in the universe.

Dinesen is an amazing storyteller and hearing these stories in her own voice, with her wonderful phrasing and accent is a real thrill. Even though her voice is getting old and crackly, it is still wonderful. This tape is a must-have for Dinesen fans. Too bad it is not yet available on CD...

The author is known to most people for her famous book "Out of Africa". In that autiobiographical book Dinesen entertains guests in her home by weaving her own short stories. After listening to these two stories every hearer will understand why guests looked forward to the stories that would follow the evening meal. Isak Dinesen tells two powerful stories full of artistic detail and insights into human nature. These stories are as different as could be imagined. One takes place in the 20th century and the other takes place in the first. The first story, "The Kings' Letter" is entirely true and takes place in Kenya, the scene of Dinesen's famous novel Out of Africa. In this story the listener is treated to several interlocking sub-stories, each one entertaining in its right. The author goes to great pains to refrain from exaggeration and anything fanciful. The second story, "The Wine of the Tetrarch" is entirely a "fancy of her own imagination". Yet even the fiction speaks with such unexaggerated, measured and insightful descriptions that would seem to only come from an eyewitness. The second story is an imagined encounter of the Apostle Peter on the Wednesday following the Resurrection of Christ. Dinesen accomplishes this story with an obvious respect, if not reverence for the Christian account of the Resurrection. Even some of the words attributed to the Apostle Peter come directly from the epistle of 1 Peter. This lends to the story such a credibility that the listener will be tempted to add this account to the book of Acts. The live audience in the background give the listener the sense that others are experiencing the pathos, delight, and admiration for the author that will fill any listener with a sense of longing for more. These rare stories are like the last two bottles of the finest wine of a vintage that will never be again, and after they are consumed they warm the heart with the satisfaction of having enjoyed a rare luxury. These storie! s are the only known tapes of Isak Dinesen's voice telling her own stories.

This is a wonderful recording which I fear will soon be plunged into obscurity for a while due to the relative rarity of cassette tape players. Someone should immediately burn this into a CD or make it available for downloading. These stories were meant to be heard. The first thing you notice is the strange, deep voice, frail and powerful at the same time. Simply as a feat of memory for a person of advanced years (Dinesen worked from memory rather than notes), this is a remarkable performance. But it's much richer than that - it has all the power of her writing on the page, and more. If you're a fan of Dinesen and have read the biographies, you know how identified she was with the oral tradition. While her writing style isn't exactly "conversational", this recitation reminds us just how powerful the oral tradition is, and it needn't be ghettoized to talk shows and stand-up comedians. There's an interesting political incorrectness at work in some of her insights (probably not too controversial at the time) that are very thought-provoking. Dinesen never forgets that nature ultimately rules us. I listened to this tape in my car this morning while driving to work and I was transported. This treasure is well worth the few dollars it cost.

I've been looking to get another copy of this tape since our copy was "borrowed" permanently. It is easy to see why borrowers will keep this one: it is a joy to listen to one of the greaat storytellers of the century telling her own stories

This volume contains Babette's Feast which is the basis for the Oscar winning movie of the same name. A simple, beautifully told story of love and redention.

The stories in this book are completely in line with all her other works. Absolutely amazing! I highly recommend it to both newcomers and people who have already taken an interest in this author. But beware! Once you start reading the fantastic stories from this lady, you will want more.

Though I have not yet heard Isak Dinesen's own voice reading Lucifer's Tale, nor Out of Africa read by Julie Harris, I do own Ms. Colleen Dewhurst reading Babette's Feast. If you're a fan of the late Ms. Dewhurst like I am, you will thouroughly enjoy hearing her read this old-world story of a great chef of Paris who finds herself in a little out-of-the way town in Norway, and who is re-discovered for her great cullinary talents quite by accident. A delightful tale of redemption and affirmation from a time when life's pleasures seemed to have more meaning and were appreciated more than in today's world of instant gratification.

Ms. Dewhurst's unique, deep, "whiskey-and-cigarettes" voiced narration is a pleasure to listen to - a perfect accompanyment to Dinesen's "Feast." I've listened to this book on tape dozens of times and never grow tired of it. If you're like me, it is a recording you will count as one of your most treasured posessions and will replay again and again over many years.

This is a must for Dinesen fans as well as those who find Collen Dewhurst and Julie Harris ladies who can read with a soothing cadence and sound...hearing the author is a plus since I could have only imagined her sound...Meryl Streep captured her rhythm in Out of Africa very well
This woman was so ahead of her time and led a tremendous life and yet didn't get it all...she is a real story teller... of old times before TV and computers...entertainment full of creativity and imagination...you won't be disappointed!

With a title that sounds like a modern day adventure comic, The Angelic Avengers is a Victorian tale of adventure with a feminist edge. Written in World War II Denmark by Karen Blixen (the Isak Dinesen of Out Of Africa), it is the story of two young ladies who have lost their possessions and families. One is the forward-thinking daughter of a scientist, and the other a pampered child of the aristocracy. They bond together to protect themselves against the evils of a society corrupted by men. Yet they find themselves in the clutches of the most evil man they can imagine. I feel that Blixen wrote this book as an amusement to carry her through the horror of world war. Yet the book has a substance greater than its title and plot suggest.

According to one web site:
"During WW II, when Denmark was occupied by the Nazis, Karen Blixen started to write her only full-length novel, the introspective GENGÆLDELSENS VEJE (The Angelic Avengers), which was published in 1944 under the pseudonym Pierre Andrézel. The horrors experienced by the young heroines in the novel were interpreted as an allegory of falling Nazism."

The novel is divided into three parts. In "Rose-Strewn Roads And Thorny Paths," we see the golden cage of the well-bred life and the perils faced by women without means. Part Two is called "The Canary Birds." Here the young women find themselves in a position where they are like birds in a cage, fed and cared for, but helpless to control their fate. The last section of the novel is called "The Buried Treasure." In the end, the young women confront their avenging natures and find their true treasure is their angelic ability to oppose evil with goodness and compassion.

The happy ending reveals the book as a parable with a clear message as to how humanity should act when faced with evil: feelings of vengeance must be overcome and replaced with compassionate love. Righteous anger will destroy not only evil in the other, but the goodness within. Another theme is how the aristocracy and the middle class differ in facing adversity. The two young women's strengths compliment each other through the book suggesting that the two classes must work together to build a just society.

It is a well-written and tightly scripted adventure that will keep you involved and enthralled. I highly recommend it.

A couple of Isak Dinesen's best stories are here. Babette's Feast ,which is also a wonderful film, centers around a shared meal that brings grace and joy. An artist/cook gives all she has for a feast, two sisters, and her art. Sorrow-Acre resembles a folktale and shows the depths of a mothers love. Colleen Dewhurst does a superb reading.

Recently back in print! Here is a collection of eleven Dinesen tales which cannot generally be found elsewhere, but which are discussed in most of the prominent biographies of this author.

This collection was first published in 1977 after Karen Blixen's death in 1962. Blixen's literary executors exercised great care in selecting a beautiful ensemble of archived stories to fully delight and entrance the modern reader.

Bask in the intricate dreamworld Dinesen created in her early tales (juvenilia) of "Uncle Theodore" and "Carnival" plus "The DeCats Family" which is my personal favorite! Or treat yourself to a grownup's bedtime story called "The Ghost Horses" with a lasting bittersweet aroma that will spark even more curious wonders within your own dreamscape.

The final tale in this volume called "The Second Meeting" will also inspire you to create your own tale of what it might be like to have one last unforgettable moment with Isak Dinesen herself!

Yes, everyone... this modest paperback will feel (figuratively anyhow) like some wonderful old gilt-edged storybook bound in fine Moroccan leather. How I wish it were!