A review by jaimeconcha
The Fall of the King by Johannes V. Jensen

1.0

An intensely lyrical novel light on plot with a major flaw: a poor English translation. I can understand the difficulties of transposing what seems to be a difficult novel to another language. I was willing to cut it a bit of slack and went with it until the end. But I felt the translation did not work. The translator's note at the end says how big of a challenge it was -- the translator had to adapt the author's brief and curt style and use of outdated language. Parts of the novel were in German, Latin, "proper" Danish and Danish dialect. The task was indeed monumental. The end result, however, was a barrage of clunky sentences and a lack of a flow to the prose.

Despite the one star rating, I think there is something interesting about this book -- it is strange and episodic, often misanthropic and bleak, elements which I enjoy. I could even promote the book to two stars, if I was feeling generous. I would be interested in reading a newer, fresher translation to have a better feel of why this is regarded as one of the most important books of Danish literature. In the end, I couldn't help contrasting this to Halldor Laxness' [b:Independent People|77287|Independent People|Halldór Laxness|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1282892439l/77287._SY75_.jpg|1391302], a similarly strange and lyrical book that I thought had a wonderful translation.