The Trouble with Happiness
and Other Stories
Published on 3. March 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-241-54531-7 (ISBN)
Description
A shimmering collection of stories from the author of The Copenhagen Trilogy, translated into English for the first time
From one of Denmark's most celebrated writers and the author of Childhood, Youth and Dependency, these short stories are brief, devastating, acid-sharp portrayals of love, marriage and family in mid-century Copenhagen. Here the ordinary events of everyday life - a wife anxious not to wake her husband, a little boy losing his father's beloved knife, a married woman's obsessive longing for a yellow silk umbrella, a girl dreaming of a masquerade ball - become dark and disconcerting, as we see what lies beneath. Translated into English for the first time, these are stories that explore yearning, fear, despair and the elusiveness of that strange thing called happiness.
Translated by Michael Favala Goldman
From one of Denmark's most celebrated writers and the author of Childhood, Youth and Dependency, these short stories are brief, devastating, acid-sharp portrayals of love, marriage and family in mid-century Copenhagen. Here the ordinary events of everyday life - a wife anxious not to wake her husband, a little boy losing his father's beloved knife, a married woman's obsessive longing for a yellow silk umbrella, a girl dreaming of a masquerade ball - become dark and disconcerting, as we see what lies beneath. Translated into English for the first time, these are stories that explore yearning, fear, despair and the elusiveness of that strange thing called happiness.
Translated by Michael Favala Goldman
Reviews / Votes
Splendid short stories... the purity and dazzling insight of Ditlevsen's writing speaks for itself -- Lucy Scholes * The Telegraph * An intense reading experience... so clear is Ditlevsen's eye that it's impossible to tear yourself away from the fates of her characters, however grim -- John Self * Guardian * These short stories show off her astonishingly precise prose -- New Statesman * Ellen Peirson-Hagger * A bracingly bleak selection of stories by the celebrated Danish writer Tove Ditlevsen... These are perfectly judged pieces: authentic, unforced and utterly lucid -- Phil Baker * Sunday Times * Ditlevsen's wonderful and devastatingly bleak short stories simmer with melancholy and despair ... Her prose is clear and spare, pared back to the essential task of describing the struggle for an unwon freedom from domestic despair and unsatisfactory marriages * Daily Mail * The depths of desire and despair are Ditlevsen's subjects and illuminating them is her talent * Monocle * Ditlevsen's writing is crystal clear and vividly, painfully raw * The Paris Review * A terrifying talent * The New York Times * Her writing is incredible, so focused and clear. Not a word that doesn't need to be there -- Tracey Thorn A beautifully written, resilient and relatable chronicle for the marginalized' (praise for Childhood, Youth, Dependency) -- Patti SmithMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
196 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-54531-7 (9780241545317)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2022
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€8.99
Available for download
Persons
Tove Ditlevsen was born in 1917 in a working-class neighbourhood in Copenhagen. Her first volume of poetry was published when she was in her early twenties, and was followed by many more books, including her three brilliant volumes of memoir, Childhood (1967), Youth (1967) and Dependency (1971). She married four times and struggled with alcohol and drug abuse throughout her adult life until her death by suicide in 1978.