Peter Høeg

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Peter Høeg

Born May 17, 1957 (1957-05-17) (age 51)
Copenhagen
Occupation Author
Nationality Danish
Writing period 1988 - present
Genres Recent history
Influences


Peter Høeg (b. May 17, 1957, Copenhagen) is a celebrated Danish writer of fiction. He received a Master of Arts in Literature from the University of Copenhagen in 1984. Before becoming a writer, he lived a very varied life — from working on ships to being a ballet dancer (in addition to fencing and mountaineering) — experiences he uses in his novels. He lives in Copenhagen with his wife and two daughters.

Peter Høeg published his first novel, A History of Danish Dreams in 1988 to very positive reviews. In the years that followed he wrote and published the short story collection Tales of Night, and three novels; Smilla's Sense of Snow (1992), Borderliners (1993), and The Woman and the Ape (1996). It was Smilla's Sense of Snow that earned Høeg an immediate and international literary celebrity. His books are published in Denmark by Munksgaard/Rosinante, now a part of Blackwell Publishing, and have also been published in more than 30 countries.

Høeg has a reputation for being hard to place in terms of literary style. All his works are stylistically very different from one another, and have been labelled post-modern, gothic, magic-realist, to mention a few. There is a red thread to be found, however, in terms of theme; Høeg's work often seems to deal with the consequences of the progress of civilization.[1]

Contents

[edit] The Quiet Girl controversy

Always protective of his privacy, Høeg virtually disappeared in 1996 after the luke-warm reception of The Woman and the Ape. He re-surfaced in 2006 with The Quiet Girl, his first novel in 10 years. At the time of its publication, reception in Denmark was mixed at best, and the novel was generally disregarded as being either too complex or too post-modern.[2]

Norwegian author Jan Kjærstad rose immediately to Høeg's defence, saying: "it surprises me that a novel written by someone of Peter Høeg’s calibre, with such great intelligence, so much thought and originality, should be treated to such outpourings of pettiness and virulence. How could such a rollicking, generous, open book be greeted with so much gravity and severity, such closed minds and again: in my broad-minded old Denmark?[3]

In October 2007, the Danish literary critic Poul Behrendt published a book entitled 'Den Hemmelige Note: Ti kapitler om små ting der forandrer alt', in which he explains that the cold reception of the The Quiet Girl was due to its complexity and scope which the critics, according to Behrendt, didn't understand.[4][citation needed]

[edit] Books

  • The History of Danish Dreams (Forestilling om det Tyvende århundrede), 1988
  • Tales of the Night (Fortællinger om natten), 1990
  • Smilla's Sense of Snow (UK: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow) (Frk. Smillas fornemmelse for sne), 1992, later filmed by Bille August
  • Borderliners (De måske egnede), 1993
  • The Woman and The Ape (Kvinden og aben), 1996
  • The Quiet Girl (Den stille pige), 2006

[edit] References

  1. ^ Egesholm, Christian. "Peter Høeg". Danish Literary Magazine. Fall 2007.
  2. ^ Juul, Marianne, (Translated by John Mason). "Peter Høeg: Breaks the Silence". Danish Literary Magazine. Fall 2006.
  3. ^ Kjærstad, Jan. Politiken. June 3, 2006.
  4. ^ Skriver, Svend. Ekstra Bladet. "Oprejsning til Peter Høeg". October 21, 2007.

[edit] External links