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The Tsar's Dwarf

by Peter H. Fogtdal

The Tsar's Dwarf Cover

ISBN13: 9780979018800
ISBN10: 0979018803
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Soerine, a deformed female dwarf from Denmark, is given as a gift to Tsar Peter the Great, who is smitten by her freakishness and intellect. Against her will, the Tsar takes Soerine to St. Petersburg, where she becomes a jester in his court. There, she lives a life that both compels and repels her. Soerine eventually gives in to the attentions of Lukas, the Tsar's favorite dwarf, and carves out an existence for herself amidst the squalor and lice-ridden world of dwarfs in the early 18th century. In this inhospitable milieu, Soerine's intelligence and detached wit provide her some small measure of protection — until disaster strikes in the shape of a priest who wants to "save" her. The Tsar's Dwarf is a masterfully told and brilliantly translated novel about aberration, endurance, and the human condition.

Review:

"The brisk pace, flip tone, and confounding convictions of its seventeenth-century narrator make the novel, set in the distant past, feel contemporary...Fogtdal widens the potentially narrow first-person point of view...that allows her to relay and consider events she does not witness; this gives the novel a broader historical scope. Sørine's internal life, however, her observations of behavior and investigations of belief, are the source of the novel’s zest and contemporary relevance....Just as I began to grow weary, wondering what might happen next to Sørine, she makes a bold move that leads the novel back to its compelling premise: people's physical oddities are no match for the bizarre manifestations of their desire." The Believer

Review:

"Sørine's smart and witty...[her] life is mesmerizing." Bookdwarf.com

About the Author

Peter H. Fogtdal was born in 1956 in Copenhagen, Denmark and has a degree in playwriting from Cal State Fullerton. He is the author of twelve novels in Danish. Three have been translated into French, two into Portuguese. In 2005 he won The Francophonian Literature Prize (Le Prix Litteraire de la Francophonie) for Le Front Chantilly. The Tsar's Dwarf is his first novel in English. Peter H. Fogtdal shares his time between Portland, Oregon, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

Maggie E, November 17, 2009 (view all comments by Maggie E)
This book is all that is properly grotesque - deftly mixed repulsion and fascination. This is Sorine's story, the story of a Danish dwarf "gifted" to Peter the Great. She's angry yet tender, confused yet wise. This book is rich but handled with a delicate touch, so it's not too cloying. This is not a proper bildungsroman. Her life is ugly with moments of brightness and if you're the sort who needs a clear path and a clear plot, then it's probably best to avoid this work. But if you don't mind some ramblings through the consciousness of a fascinating human - and despite what the rest of her world seems to think, Sorine is decidedly a human being - try this. It's up there with the best I've read this year.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780979018800
Author:
Fogtdal, Peter H.
Publisher:
Hawthorne Books
Translator:
Nunnally, Tiina
Author:
Fogtdal, Peter
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Danish fiction.
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Publication Date:
20081031
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
289
Dimensions:
8.90x5.40x.80 in. .90 lbs.

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The Tsar's Dwarf Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$5.95 In Stock
Product details 289 pages Hawthorne Books - English 9780979018800 Reviews:
"Review" by , "The brisk pace, flip tone, and confounding convictions of its seventeenth-century narrator make the novel, set in the distant past, feel contemporary...Fogtdal widens the potentially narrow first-person point of view...that allows her to relay and consider events she does not witness; this gives the novel a broader historical scope. Sørine's internal life, however, her observations of behavior and investigations of belief, are the source of the novel’s zest and contemporary relevance....Just as I began to grow weary, wondering what might happen next to Sørine, she makes a bold move that leads the novel back to its compelling premise: people's physical oddities are no match for the bizarre manifestations of their desire."
"Review" by , "Sørine's smart and witty...[her] life is mesmerizing."
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