{"title":"Isak Dinesen","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"out-of-africa","title":"Out of Africa","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1937, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOut of Africa\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Karen Blixen’s lyrical memoir of the seventeen years she spent managing a coffee farm in colonial Kenya, writing under the name Isak Dinesen. Beneath the Ngong Hills, she recounts the rhythms of farm life, the changing seasons, the animals and landscapes that shaped her days, and the people whose lives became entwined with her own, including her Somali servant Kamante and her friend Denys Finch Hatton. Rather than following a strictly chronological narrative, Blixen weaves together anecdotes, portraits, and reflections, transforming personal recollection into an elegy for a place she was eventually forced to leave.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten after her return to Denmark, the book explores memory, belonging, loss, and the fragile relationship between human beings and the natural world. Its luminous prose and contemplative structure have made it a landmark of twentieth-century autobiographical writing, though its vision of Kenya also bears the complicated imprint of the colonial society in which Blixen lived. Both an intimate account of a vanished life and a meditation on the act of remembering, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOut of Africa\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e remains one of her most enduring works.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back…”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Isak Dinesen, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOut of Africa\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eOut of Africa\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The outstanding quality of this book is charm.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, 25 February 1938\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64063698501962,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"seven-gothic-tales","title":"Seven Gothic Tales","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1934, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSeven Gothic Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e introduced the world to Isak Dinesen, the pseudonym of Danish writer Karen Blixen, with a collection that revived the elaborate art of the nineteenth-century tale. Set in a richly imagined Europe of aristocratic salons, remote estates, monasteries and shadowed coastlines, these stories bring together eccentric noblemen, restless artists, mysterious strangers and characters whose identities are rarely as straightforward as they appear. Blixen’s plots unfold through disguises, unexpected encounters and stories nested within stories, exploring desire, faith, fate, vanity and the elusive nature of truth.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten in English before Blixen recast the collection in Danish, the book announced a singular literary voice at a time when realism dominated much contemporary fiction. Its ornate prose, philosophical wit and theatrical sense of the uncanny draw on Gothic romance, fairy tale and European storytelling traditions, while resisting easy moral conclusions. Both playful and unsettling, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSeven Gothic Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e established the imaginative world that would distinguish Blixen’s later work.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“It is not a bad thing in a tale that you understand only half of it.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Isak Dinesen, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSeven Gothic Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eSeven Gothic Tales\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“These tales are a modern refinement of German romanticism.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64063925289290,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"babettes-feast-and-other-stories","title":"Babette's Feast and Other Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in English in 1958, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBabette’s Feast and Other Stories\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e brings together five tales by Isak Dinesen, the pen name of Danish writer Karen Blixen, in which ordinary lives are transformed by extraordinary encounters. In the title story, Babette, a French refugee employed by two devout sisters in a remote Norwegian village, spends her lottery winnings preparing an elaborate banquet that challenges the community’s austere understanding of pleasure and virtue. Elsewhere, a young theologian encounters the mysteries of the sea, an actress finds herself caught in the shadow of Shakespeare’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Tempest\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and an eccentric millionaire attempts to turn an old sailor’s tale into reality.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlixen’s stories move between fable, irony and the uncanny, examining artistic creation, sacrifice, destiny and the tension between spiritual restraint and sensual experience. Her intricate plots and poised, almost theatrical prose give each tale the quality of an elegant parable, while leaving room for ambiguity and surprise. Among her final collections of short fiction, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBabette’s Feast and Other Stories\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e reveals a writer at the height of her imaginative powers, capable of finding the extraordinary in a meal, a chance encounter or a life shaped by fate.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The more one loves, the more one suffers.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Isak Dinesen, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBabette’s Feast\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eBabette’s Feast and Other Stories\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Each of these five stories bears the hallmark of Isak Dinesen.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64064041451850,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/isak-dinesen.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}