Book Review | Book Chatter

The Danish Girl
By David Ebershoff
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: February 2001
ISBN-13: 9780140298482
288pp

The blurb from the publisher:

It starts with a question, a simple favor asked of a husband by his wife on an afternoon chilled by the Baltic wind while both are painting in their studio. Her portrait model has canceled, and would he mind slipping into women’s shoes and stockings for a few moments so that she can finish the painting on time? “Of course,” he answers, “Anything at all.” With that, one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the twentieth century begins.

The Short of It:

A non-traditional love story that will stay with you long after you put it down.

The Rest of It:

I absolutely loved this novel. The novel itself was inspired by the marriage of Einar and Gerda Wegener, both artists living in Copenhagen in 1925. As Einar realizes that he is indeed a woman, seemingly trapped in a man’s body, he becomes Lili and the three of them live together as a family of sorts. At first, he dresses as Lili in the privacy of the apartment that he shares with Greta but as the weeks pass and with the support of Greta, he begins to allow Lili to take short shopping trips. After several outings, Lili is introduced as Einar’s sister and even attends a few social gatherings. As her confidence grows, Greta sees less and less of Einar and she realizes that soon her husband may not exist at all.

Ebershoff paints Einar as a very delicate creature. Here is an example:

“Einar pressed the side of his face into the pillow. He fell asleep again. There he was, Greta’s huband. With his fine skin, and his small head with the temples that dented softly, almost like a baby’s. With his nose flaring with breath. With his smell of turpentine and talc. With the skin around his eyes, red and nearly on fire. “

The love that Greta has for her husband is what encourages her to support his transformation. As afraid as she is of losing Einar, she feels that his happiness means more to her than their marriage. Once she accepts this, she begins to seek medical advice which results in Einar’s permanent gender modification. The first of its kind.

There are some very tender moments and some very difficult decisions made. Lili is surrounded by supportive friends as she completes the transformation but where does this leave Greta? Greta misses Einar yet she loves Lili and realizes that at some point, she must let Lili live her own life.

I’m telling you, this story just broke my heart but in a wonderful, “ball up your hankie and shed a tear” kind of way. This is my book club’s pick for this month (selected by me) and the meeting is tomorrow so I have to wait a day to hear what they thought of it but I am hoping that they enjoyed it as much as I did.

The other item that I want to mention is that The Danish Girl is being made into a movie and will star Nicole Kidman as Einar/Lili and Charlize Theron as Greta. How’s that for casting?

David Ebershoff also wrote The 19th Wife, which I know a lot of you have read. The Danish Girl was his first novel.

I’ll leave you with this photo of Lili Elbe:

The Angel’s Game
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Pub. Date: June 2009
ISBN-13: 9780385528702
531pp

The blurb from the publisher:

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city’s underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner.

Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Close to despair, David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book unlike anything that has ever existed—a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, and perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realizes that there is a connection between his haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.

The Short of It:

Well told and beautifully written, even a tad haunting at times. This one is a bit darker than The Shadow of the Wind. An enjoyable read, but definitely NOT in the same vein as Shadow.

The Rest of It:

I loved The Shadow of the Wind.

Did I love The Angel’s Game? Not really.

Zafon’s writing is flawless, well-structured and poetic, BUT…something was missing and I cannot put my finger on it. A friend of mine suggested that this is a darker tale, and that this is perhaps the difference. That may be, but to me it sort of seemed too familiar to me. As if the story had been told before and I am not comparing it to Shadow when I say this.

Jill over at Fizzy Thoughts mentioned her holy crap moment when she hit page 441. I wanted to have a holy crap moment but when I hit that page, it was like “oh, that’s not good.” I think part of my reaction may have to do with the main character. I didn’t like him all that much. That’s not to say that he wasn’t well-developed (he was) or that he didn’t have the proper motive for his actions (he did). I just didn’t like him. I guess I just wasn’t wowed by the story. It was a tad predictable. Angel’s Game is in fact the prequel to Shadow, even though Shadow came out first. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read it before Shadow.

Would I recommend it? Most definitely. It’s still one of the best books I’ve read this year, just not one of my favorites.

Chatting with friends about books and life…