Nordic Council Literature Prize
The Good Hope (Dedalus Europe 2010)
Set in 17th-century Tórshavn, the novel centers on the life of Reverend Lucas Debes and traces a world of oppression, poverty, conviction, and resistance. Its epistolary form brings the society and mental landscape of the Faroe Islands vividly to life.
Work Information
In a time of oppression, the weight of standing by one’s convictions gradually takes shape.
One of William Heinesen’s major works, this novel sets the history and spirit of the Faroe Islands against the lives of people tested by conviction. In a 17th-century harbor town, religion, power, and conscience collide as the novel asks what human dignity costs.
Review Summaries
-
Readers appreciate the blend of historical fact and invention, along with the novel’s focus on resistance to oppression. Some enjoy its epistolary shape and measured pace, while others experience it as weighty first of all.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Dedalus Ltd
- Published
- 2011-10-31
- Pages
- 384 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.34 x 2.54 x 19.69 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781903517987
- ISBN-10
- 9781903517987
- Price
- 3930 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Thrillers/Psychological & Suspense
First published in 1964 The Good Hope won The Nordic Prize for Literature. It is the first English translation of one of the greatest novels in the Danish language. . The Good Hope is an epistolary novel based on the life of the Reverend Lucas Debes, a larger than life character called Peder Ba, rresen in the novel. It tells a story of brutal oppression, poverty and terrible diseases, but also of resistance and of having the courage of one's convictions. It is a dramatic fantasy in which Heinesen's customary themes -- the struggle against evil, sectarianism, superstition and oppression --emerge on a higher plane, set against the backcloth of the Faroe Islands in the 1690s. The Good Hope is a masterpiece which took 40 years to write.
William Heinesen (1900-1991) was born in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands, the son of a Danish mother and Faroese father, and he was equally at home in both languages. Although he spent most of his life in the Faroe Islands he chose to write in Danish as he felt it offered him greater inventive freedom. Internationally known as a poet and a novelist he made his living as an artist. His paintings range from large-scale murals in public buildings, through oil to pen sketches, caricatures and collages. Emeritus Professor of Scandinavian Literature at the University of East Anglia he is the world's foremost authority on the novels of William Heinesen. His many translations from Danish include 4 novels by William Heinesen.
Reviews
-
A rare and brilliant writer. One wonders with his achievements he was not a Nobel Prize for Literature winner.