Niels Lyhne

Here is an unconditional classic of Danish literature: a psychological drama in the best traditions of realism, a novel about a confrontation between a person and blind fate—“Niels Lyhne.” Its author, Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847–1885), died quite early of tuberculosis, leaving behind only two novels, seven short stories, and a small collection of poetry published posthumously—but this small literary legacy completely overturned the course of Danish literature’s development. Jacobsen managed to combine heavy, gloomy drama with the enduring beauty of the world. And his novel is the story of a boy who grows into a poet and, with a special, sharp rhythm of perception, feels the world around him—his losses and his joys—painfully letting go of the image of God as his soul tears and darkens after each new tragedy that catches up with him. It is an unbearably vivid, sonorous text, all of whose charm and colors the great translator Elena Surits (1929–2022) conveyed perfectly in her translation.