The History of Danish Dreams: A Novel (Paperback)

The manipulative Carl Laurids was adopted by the steward of Morkhoj, a place where (the tyrannical Count has declared) time stands still. Elsewhere, little Amalie Teander is nearby when her fearsome grandmother dies; despite the fact that the old lady was illiterate, she somehow predicted the future in the newspapers... and then in her last will and testament, including how her daughter-in-law would die and how the house would be run.

And then there is the sweet, innocent Anna Bak, seemingly one of God's chosen, and Adonis, who turns away from thievery. Taking place in several generations over four centuries (16th to 20th), it shifts from surreal aristocratic realms to impoverished fishing villages, as the fates of the different people intertwine.

Don't expect a taut thriller like "Smilla" or a chilly sociological study like "Borderliners." Hoeg's first novel is far more nuanced and rich, with a dark, weight atmosphere hanging over the ornate language. It's a social satire, but so subtle that it only dawns on readers gradually just what he's saying through his surreal stories.

This book is well-named -- "History of Danish Dreams" does, indeed, seem like a dream. It's a reflection of our own world, but twisted and darkened. At times, Hoeg lets the storyline run away from him, as if the many intricate storylines are spilling out of his hands. But he makes up for this with his outstanding, poetic descriptions of the decayed Count's lands, the dusty house of Amalie's family, and the stinking little village.

His characters tend to be rather distant; there are so many of them that it's a bit difficult to get attached to them. But they are definitely interesting, from the manipulative Carl to the observant Amalie to the sweet, innocent Anna. Somehow the nastiest characters are the most fascinating, such as the Count who declares time "a common, modern invention."

A strange and unique debut, "History of Danish Dreams" is Peter Hoeg's best novel to date. With its veiled social commentary and dreamlike language, it is a vivid experience in itself.

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This is the history of Danish dreams in the sense of hopes, of aspirations: of discussing what Danes of different classes and generations have wanted in the past two hundred years, and how these aspirations contributed to building the Danish society of today. Hoeg achieves a rare and seemingly contradictory feat: he criticizes a great many aspects of his country and its society, yet does so in a way that makes his Denmark captivating to non-Danish readers. Hoeg tells his story in a series of seven segments which relate to each other, through the lives of a cast of recurring characters and their children and grandchildren, paradigmatic of Denmark's different social classes. Hoeg brings to life the foolish 18th-century Count of Morkhoj, who one day decrees that on his estate time shall stand still forever; he gives us the Teander Rabow family, owners of a provincial newspaper whose power over their fellow townspeople is such that they print the news first and the events actually happen later, precisely at the time and in the fashion dictated by the influential journal. In one segment, Hoeg includes a recurring device in which several of the most influential figures of 19th-century Denmark --- a business tycoon, an architect, a Socialist rabble-rouser --- are secretly all siblings who have conspired to obscure their shared past as the sons of a small-time crook and a circus performer. And at the beginning and end of the story he introduces us to the devious Carl Laurids, the millionaire rogue whose underhanded schemes and shady dealings so perfectly epitomize the financial world of the twentieth century.

The wisdom in Hoeg's book is not exclusive to Denmark: he speaks of the nature of "the twentieth century, where things change so rapidly that parents' experiences are totally and hopelessly outdated by the time their children have need of them." This book works on two levels, both as an entertaining family saga of men and women in their times, and as an embroidered parable of the forces behind national conscience. This is a dreamy read that will please anyone who's looking for unusual philosophical storytelling and who welcomes a book that fully engages one's mind.

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