The Fall of the King

This the novel you as a Dane can read again and again,and I have read it since i was fourteen.Its abundant richness in Danish is here carefully translated.My hope is to be able to share hereby.The author himself never acknowledgedThe Fall of the King his best book;late in life he told an interviewer that he could write the the book so much betternow, because he knew so much more about the historical period that is the setting.."But not with its youthfulness"the interviewer remarked.You are back in time to the early sixteenth century to an exetent you can smell it,with light and longings,fate and fables and pictures on your retina that stays in your memory,allwritten in a rich highly evocative shortcut prose.Have eventually a map of Denmark and Sweden at hand and read about the king that falls:Christian the Second of Denmark-A newspaper survey in 2000 voted "The Fall of the King" the most important danish book and it has not lost a bit of its magic since it was written in 1901.Highly recommended.

It is easy to navigate. That's a real plus.

Interesting summary of Danish Mythology. Fascinating and important for people who lump all the Scandinavian countries together.

In 1520, Denmark's king Christian II secured his position by instigating the notorious Stockholm Bloodbath. Ultimately, however, this 'highly gifted but despotic and unstable ruler' (Prof T K Derry, cited in Insight Guide to Denmark) was imprisoned for the rest of his life.Jensen's novel is the story of the life of one Mikkel Thogersen, an impoverished student, who goes through life in the king's service:'Throughout his life Mikkel had felt that his fate was wedded to the king's. It was as if their paths were ever converging. the closer Mikkel had come to the king, the farther the king had fallen!'This is quite a lyrical book; the Danish countryside, rural life of the 16th century, love...and against this the brutality of life: violent battles, animals slaughtered, the coldness and bleakness of winter.Although I've given this 3 stars for enjoyability - found my concentration drifting at times - I must just say that it does remain with you when you've finished. Worth reading.

In 1520, Denmark's king Christian II secured his position by instigating the notorious Stockholm Bloodbath. Ultimately, however, this 'highly gifted but despotic and unstable ruler' (Prof T K Derry, cited in Insight Guide to Denmark) was imprisoned for the rest of his life.Jensen's novel is the story of the life of one Mikkel Thogersen, an impoverished student, who goes through life in the king's service:'Throughout his life Mikkel had felt that his fate was wedded to the king's. It was as if their paths were ever converging. the closer Mikkel had come to the king, the farther the king had fallen!'This is quite a lyrical book; the Danish countryside, rural life of the 16th century, love...and against this the brutality of life: violent battles, animals slaughtered, the coldness and bleakness of winter.Although I've given this 3 stars for enjoyability - found my concentration drifting at times - I must just say that it does remain with you when you've finished. Worth reading.

Fantastic

The content has been well covered by other reviewers and I generally agree with them. However, I have read translations of other Danish books that have flowed so well that you hardly realize it's a translation. This, on the other hand, is not so. Translating requires the mastery of a large and versatile vocabulary in both languages and a deep understanding of the subtleties of the original language. There is an uncomfortable clumsiness to this one. I believe that is the "weakest link" in this publication.