Prince Book

Author of more than 20 books, Ib Michael is one of Denmark's most celebrated writers; Prince, impressively translated by Barbara Haveland, is the first of his works to appear in English. Its enigmatic subtitle--a novel of icebergs and amber--sets the tone of leisurely enchantment which runs throughout this story of childhood. There is a (more or less) straightforward narrative of the 12-year-old boy, Malte, who is spending the summer of 1912 in a small coastal village, developing his relationships with its eccentric inhabitants as well as land- and seascape: "He spends his days on the sands...He finds sticks and fits them with pennants of seaweed. He catches crabs and pops them into jelly jars". At the same time, Michael's writing is fabulous, drawing on the resources of fairy tale and magic. The chapter headings to this book give a sense of its epic, and fantastic, quality--"In Which Male Rides the Wind", "In Which the Fox Flies and the Spirit Splits in Two", "In Which a Pact is Sealed for Malte's Soul"--as well as the supernatural element of the narrative which appears to be told by a spirit: "I do not belong to any higher order; we have been called demons, the undead, devils, and the damned. Or angels, guardian spirits, and messengers of the gods". Or a lonely boy's imaginary companion? Above all, this narrator is mutable, symbolic, all-encompassing; the seductiveness of his voice is key to the success, or otherwise, of this unconventional and strangely charged book. --Vicky LebeauRead More