Right off the bat I ran into a bit of a challenge. It really should not be difficult for me to recommend 10 great books from my home country. However, I found that several of my favorites sadly have not been translated into English. (But some are available in German or French. So let me know if you would be interested in a list of those.)
But without further ado, here are my 10 choices for Denmark. The list coves both the true classics, existential reflection, juicy court intrigues, sea faring adventures and suspenseful mysteries. And the workplace ethics of a spaceship!
A list of books to read from Denmark
The Little Mermaid (and other fairy tales)
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Original: Den lille havfrue
First published: 1837
Genre: Fairy tale
I couldn’t very well make a list of books to read from Denmark, and not include H.C Andersen. Especially since I live close to his birth place. Andersen is well known and loved all around the globe, and you probably know some of his fairy tales already? But if you read just one, make it The Little Mermaid. If nothing else, just to see how the original tale is vastly different from (and very much darker than) the Disney adaptations!
The fall of the king
Author: Johannes V. Jensen
Original: Kongens fald
First Published: 1900
Genre: Historical fiction, Classics
If you’re looking for a true Danish classic, this has to be the one. The book tells the story of Mikkel Thøgersen and the social entanglements which bring him into the service of king Christian II of Denmark. The story is both an epic depiction of real events and a complex psychological novel. Johannes V. Jensen was awarded the Nobel Price for Literature in 1944, and The Fall of The King has more than once been voted the most important Danish novel of the twentieth century.
Terminal Innocence
Author: Klaus Rifbjerg
Original title: Den kroniske uskyld
First published: 1958
Genre: Classics, Young Adult
This classic Danish novel is the story of the unequal friendship between two teenagers, Janus and Tore. Tore is a gifted student, mature beyond his years, effortlessly able to impress teachers and fellow pupils alike. It is clear that he will fall in love with the equally popular Helle, and she with him; they are the school’s golden couple. But there is a snake in Paradise in the form of Helle’s mother. And Janus watches helplessly as the golden dream turns into a nightmare..
Rifbjerg has been a central figure in Danish literary life for 50 years, and Terminal innocence is generally considered his masterpiece. This is one of those books they make you read in school, and you do not understand how good it is until you get older.
The Royal Physician’s Visit
Author: Per Olov Enquist
Original: Livläkarens besök
First published: 1999
Genre: Historical fiction
For a different take on Danish history, maybe this will be your thing? The Royal Physician’s visit, is a work of historical fiction set in the Danish court in the 18th century. The novel tells the story of Dr. Johann Friedrich Struense, the royal physician, who became both an influential reformer and the lover of the Danish queen Caroline Mathilde. It is both a book of political intrigue and a tragic love story.
(Note: The autor of this book is from Sweden, so it actually does not fit my own rules for this project, but rules are to be broken, right?)
Babette’s feast
Author: Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)
Original title: Babettes Gæstebud
First published: 1958
Genre: Literary fiction, Novella
A French refugee, working as a maid for two maiden sisters, uses her lottery winnings to prepare an exquisite meal for the restrained, religious people of the village. But this is not simply food. This is a true work of art, and through it she tranforms the lives of everyone involved. Babette’s Feast is a a heartwarming story of art and how it affects both the artist and the people who experience it. And it is a must-read if you enjoy food descriptions! Most know Karen Blixen for Out of Africa, but Babette definitely also deserves attention. The book was adapted into an Oscar award winning Danish film in 1987.
(Note: Babette’s feast is actually and much to my surprise(!) not set in Denmark, but in a little Norwegian town. In the film however, the story is set on the west coast of Denmark.)
We, the drowned
Author: Carsten Jensen
Original title: Vi, de druknede
First published: 2006
Genre: Historical fiction
Hailed all over Europe as an instant classic, We, the Drowned is the story of the Danish port town of Marstal, whose inhabitants sailed the world’s oceans aboard freight ships for centuries. The novel spans over a hundred years, from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the Second World War, from the barren rocks of Newfoundland to the lush plantations of Samoa, from the roughest bars in Tasmania to the frozen coasts of northern Russia. We, the Drowned is a magnificent tale of love, war, and adventure, of the men who go to sea and the women they leave behind.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal
Author: Dorthe Nors
Original title: Spejl, skulder, blink
First published: 2016
Genre: Literary fiction, Contemporary
Sonja is over forty, and she’s trying to move in the right direction. She’s learning to drive. She’s joined a meditation group. And she’s attempting to reconnect with her sister. But Sonja would rather eat cake than meditate (wouldn’t we all …) Her driving instructor won’t let her change gear. And her sister won’t return her calls. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is a contemporary novel set in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. A poignant and sharp-witted tale of one woman’s journey in search of herself when there’s no one to ask for directions.
Smilla’s sense of snow
Author: Peter Høegh
Original title: Frk. Smillas fornemmelse for sne
First published: 1992
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Nordic Noir
In a snow-covered Copenhagen a six-year-old boy, a Greenlander like Smilla, falls to his death from the top of his apartment building. The police pronounce his death an accident. But Smilla knows snow – in fact she thinks more highly of snow and ice than she does of people – and she suspects that her young neighbor did not fall from the roof on his own. Soon she is following a path of clues as clear to her as footsteps in the snow.
Peter Høeg blends suspense with commentary on Danish-Greenlandic relations, and the story is a though provoking as it is gripping. Smilla’s sense of snow is an international bestseller and was adapted into a movie in 1997. If you like it, also look up other books by Peter Høeg, many are available in English, though in my opinion this one is his materpiece.
The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1)
Author: Jussi-Adler Olsen
Original title: Kvinden i buret (The woman in the cage)
First published: 2007
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Nordic Noir
Carl Mørck used to be one of Copenhagen’s best homicide detectives, but two colleagues were shot, and Carl, who did not draw his weapon, blames himself. Now he sits in Department Q, with only a stack of Copenhagen’s coldest cases for company. And one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But is she?
The Keeper of Lost Causes is the first book in the Department Q series, whose novels have been made into an ongoing series of highly successful Danish films. A new TV adaptation for Netflix which changes the setting from Denmark to Scotland, is also in the works. Jussi Adler-Olsen is hugely popular and a household name in Nordic Noir.
The employees
Author: Olga Ravn
Original title: De ansatte
First published: 2018
Genre: Science fiction
If the classics or the crime mysteries do not appeal to you, how about a science fiction novel set on a space ship, where the human and humanoid crew members complain about their daily tasks in a series of staff reports and memos? When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew becomes strangely and deeply attached to them, even as tensions boil toward mutiny, especially among the humanoids.
The Employees probes into what makes us human, while delivering a hilariously stinging critique of life governed by the logic of productivity. This new Danish piece of science fiction was shortlisted for the International Man Booker Price in 2021.
Join me, and read a book from Denmark!
Chose a book, grab a beverage of your choice, settle into a cozy spot and let these stories transport you to Denmark (or to outer space). Did you read some of them already? Let me know in the comments what you thought of them!
And If you already read them all, let me know, and I will happily give you a list of 10 more books to read from Denmark. And stay tuned for this Saturday, when I tell you which book I chose to start my journey thought the world. Do you have a guess?
