#stine pilgaard

[mmepastel]

Pépite. C’est danois. Quel peuple étonnant.

Quand je suis allée au Danemark, après quelques jours dans la campagne et quelques jours en ville, un mot m’était venu pour qualifier l’atmosphère du pays : lénifiant. Ça n’est en aucun cas un jugement définitif puisque deux semaines en touriste ne permettent pas de saisir l’essence profonde d’un pays. Mais je garde un souvenir « lénifié » de ce séjour. Tout a l’air propre, calme, plat, ronronnant, pas loin d’être un peu chiant, n’ayons pas peur de le dire. Sentiment différent à Copenhague, parce que les capitales sont des petits pays en eux-mêmes, avec une pulsation indépendante.

L’héroïne du roman a quitté Copenhague avec son mari qui se met à enseigner la littérature dans un genre de collège-lycée pour le peuple (truc typiquement danois qui ressemble à une communauté new age, écolo et vaguement à une secte). Elle s’ennuie car elle est déracinée, sans amis véritables ; avec son mari, ils ont un enfant en bas âge qui les épuise de manière aussi banale que drôle. Elle s’acharne pendant presque tout le roman à diverses tâches : passer son permis, lier amitié avec autrui, comprendre comment les gens fonctionnent dans le Jutland de l’Ouest (le fameux pays des phrases courtes où elle peine à se calquer sur le rythme taiseux des conversations qui la déroutent).

Le récit est d’une grande sensibilité, car avec fantaisie, elle excelle à retranscrire des dialogues étranges, qui montrent sa solitude, et à exprimer des sentiments de désespoir tout autant que d’allégresse assez subtils, difficiles à saisir et à appréhender. Grâce à des images étonnantes et à une immense honnêteté, elle touche en plein cœur tout en nous faisant nous gondoler. Car le livre est désopilant, avec cette forme d’absurde proche du désespoir.

Je me suis sentie proche de la narratrice-héroïne, je l’ai comprise ; je crois que c’est parce qu’elle se sent profondément inadaptée au lieu où elle vit, et qu’elle se montre à la fois totalement immature et très sage. Je comprends ce sentiment, et je pense que tout le monde le peut aussi. On se sent toujours un peu différent des autres n’est-ce pas ? On croit que les autres réussissent mieux que nous, et on se sent bêtement humilié pour des choses dérisoires (cf le chapitre sur la poussette, grand moment). Pourtant, cahin-caha, elle réussit à accepter d’être elle-même, et à ce que les autres l’acceptent aussi telle quelle. L’air de rien, le roman parle avec originalité de choses ultra importantes comme le couple, l’amour, la maternité, la communication, tout en restant léger, farfelu et sans cesse étonnant.

Ce livre est une bouffée d’air frais, absolument pas lénifiant, mais plutôt revigorant.

[missglass]

2022, the year of great books

i had a fantastic reading year in 2022. these were some highlights in no particular order:

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi. What a peculiar little book. A man lives in a gigantic ruinous house - a kind of castle with grand halls and statues - where life is dominated by the tides of an ocean in the lower levels of the building. The protagonist is a kind man with almost child-like curiosity, he seems like a monk living with the utmost worship for this strange place. Like the house, the story unfolds like a labyrinth and as a reader you only slowly discover what exactly is going on. Best read in January by the sea.

Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads. I mean, yes, guys like Franzen rewrite the same kind of book again and again, but man, are they good at it. I'm a sucker for the same story told from multiple perspectives, and who doesn't love to think about God and a complicated relationship with faith through the eyes of one of the most pathetic protagonists I have read about in the past years, a housewife with the most unhinged backstory, and a bunch of unnecessarily dramatic children.

Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire. One of my absolute favourites. A retelling of Antigone set in modern Great Britain about three siblings - a set of twins and their older sister - whose father was a jihadist. I found the classic themes of Antigone - struggles with family, duty, sacrifice - really well updated to reflect more contemporary struggles with identity, faith, as well as political issues like immigration and the toll it can take to be pulled into two different directions: tradition/modernity, fitting in/staying connected to your roots, conforming/preserving some form of inherited cultural identity.

And yes, you obviously know how the story ends from the start, but the ending is still so heartwrenching. As we know from Fleabag, the greatest love stories are still between siblings ("the only person i'd run through an airport for is you" and such).

Ali Smith, Autumn and Summer. I have been a fan of Smith since reading "How to Be Both" and I am now three quarters through her beautiful Seasonal Quartet. I hardly know another author who writes about our contemporary times with such ease. i love how art is always present in her works and how her prose is playing sly tricks on the reader. she is sometimes so literal in her imagery that you can only think something is meant poetically or metaphorically, only to find out two sentences later how it was indeed meant literally.

Rachel Cusk, Transit and Kudos. One of my favourite discoveries of 2022. I loved reading about Faye's encounters and her conversations with friends and strangers alike. It reminds me a bit of Salinger's "Nine Stories" in the best way, enough love and squalor to please Esmé. Especially Transit was so full of great stories; Cusk really is able to capture that uncomfortable, liminal space in between two situations, to describe what it means to go through upheaval, to not know how something will turn out. To know something old - a relationship, a flat, a homecountry - was not the right fit, but not knowing at all that what will come will be any better.

Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait. "Hamnet" is a fictional account of Shakespeare's youngest (real) children - insightful, inutitive twins Hamnet and Judith - as well as of their mother, Agnes (the secret protagonist). O'Farrell's descriptions of grief and quiet domesticity are very lovely. The scenery is a bit mystic or unsettling at times, especially chapters about Agnes' life, and I found the novel generally beautifully written. (As the Guardian put's it: "read it and weep").

The Marriage Portrait takes place in Renaissance Florence and also features a very insightful, inutitive child, Lucretia de' Medici, the smart and rebellious daughter of the Duke of Florence. This story is about her arranged marriage at 15 to the Duke of Ferrara, and - as stated on the first page of the book - about the rumour that her husband killed her less than a year after their wedding.

I found the book quite suspenseful, but also very tender, poetic and loving. Also, I love books about artists and seeing through their eyes how they approach their art, which was a big part of TMP.

Honorable mentions:

Stine Pilgaard, Meter pro Sekunde - features my personal favourite, most fun protagonist of 2022.

Katja Oskamp, Marzahn Mon Amour - tales of a pedicurist/podiatrist and her clients.

[ekuboo]

I was tagged by @russenoire

CURRENTLY READING: the land of short sentences (Stine Pilgaard), On photography (Susan Sontag), satantango (Laszlo Krasznahorkai)

FAVOURITE COLOUR: warm vibrant yellows, reds and greens (come back tomorrow for a slightly different but mostly similar answer)

LAST SONG I LISTENED TO: trouble with dreams (Eels)

LAST MOVIE I WATCHED: L.A. Confidential

Out of SWEET/SPICY/SAVOURY: Savoury

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: a needle felting project, two watercolours, a lampshade, a garden plan, my exercise “routine” lest I perish, surviving a bout of feeling like that gif of a gummy bear aggressively combusting in a test tube

Tagging (no pressure, only appreciation and fun and curiosity): @muninnhuginn @exilepurify @scribefindegil @snorfin-here @mitknnen @wojtekaneko

[grandteatret]

Meter i sekundet

🇩🇰 BASERET PÅ STINE PILGAARDS BESTSELLER: Maries liv bliver vendt op og ned, da hun – lettere modvilligt – tager fra København til Velling i Vestjylland, fordi hendes livs kærlighed, Rasmus, har fået job som lærer på en højskole. Mens Rasmus hurtigt suges ind i højskolelivet, er mødet med Velling et kulturchok for Marie, der med sine malplacerede tirader gang på gang oplever, at hun ikke hører…

[boglady]

Thanks @thesumdancekid for tagging me!

+ Last song: Angel by Judas Priest (have been alternating between the new Florence + The Machine and a playlist I made called queer dad music)

+ Last movie: I’ve become unhinged about Better Call Saul, so to ward off my desire to rewatch Breaking Bad, I finally watched El Camino. 

+ Currently watching: Everything is airing at the same time so I’m watching Better Call Saul, Taskmaster, Barry, Hacks, and trying to find time to watch the newest season of Russian Doll with my roommate. 

+ Currently reading: Lejlighedssange by Stine Pilgaard which is extremely Danish and I can’t imagine it exists in translation. (It’s about the Danish tradition of writing songs for special occasions and performing them communally) 

Tag some people you want to get to know better (no pressure!): @theodore-lasso @freetobegrace @magicae  @chainofclovers @ohtendril and @bumblingalong 

[alexmotamots]

Le pays des phrases courtes - Stine PILGAARD

Le pays des phrases courtes de Stine PILGAARD : surtout des chants

La narratrice et son mari viennent juste de s’installer dans une petite ville de l’ouest du Danemark. Nous ne connaîtrons jamais leur prénom ni celui de leur enfant. J’ai aimé le slogan de la ville : à Velling on en veut. Et elle en veut, la narratrice qui ne compte plus ses heures de leçons de conduite. J’ai ris chaque fois que les moniteurs, pourtant motivés, jetaient l’éponge et, de guerre…

[danisergeluk1]

Het is een zegen om praktisch aangelegd te zijn en dat moet je nooit vanzelfsprekend gaan vinden. Hang die lantaarn op, pak de barbecue en laat de pinksterzon dansen.

Personage uit METER PER SECONDE van Stine Pilgaard. 

[miss-mesmerized]

Stine Pilgaard - Meter pro Sekunde

Mit Mann und Baby zieht die Ich-Erzählerin in das beschauliche Velling in Westjütland, wo er einen Job an einer Schule annimmt. Was so idyllisch klingt, wird zu Herausforderung, denn die Menschen dort ticken anders und jede noch so kurze Unterhaltung wird zum Vabanquespiel. Außerdem muss sie endlich den Führerschein machen, sie hat schon fast alle Fahrlehrer verschlissen und gilt als größtes Projekt. Aber wie soll das gehen, wenn man dank Neugeborenem nicht mehr zu Schlaf kommt und schon beinahe beginnt zu halluzinieren? Ihre Emotionen kann sie nur an einer Stelle ungehemmt rauslassen, als Kummerkasten Tante der Lokalzeitung antwortet sie scharfzüngig und bissig auf die großen und kleinen Anliegen der Bewohner.

 In ihrer dänischen Heimat ist Stine Pilgaard bereits seit ihrem Debüt 2012 ein Star und ihr Roman „Meter pro Sekunde“ wurde dort begeistert aufgenommen. Die Banalität und Absurdität des Alltags, die humorvoll auf den Punkt gebracht wird, hat offenbar viele ihrer Landsleute sich selbst erkennen lassen. Die Autorin greift eine ganze Bandbreite von Alltagsthemen einer jungen Mutter auf, die in eine Gegend mit eher schweigsamen Menschen zieht und dort ihr Leben neu sortieren muss. Das ist oft zum Schmunzeln, konnte mich jedoch nicht immer erreichen.

 Es liegt vermutlich daran, dass ich kaum eine Beziehung zur Erzählerin aufbauen konnte, dass mich der Roman doch eher unberührt ließ. Sie hadert mit ihrem Schicksal, dass jedoch selbstgemacht ist und durchaus absehbar gewesen wäre. Die Einschübe des Gesangbuchs haben mich eher ratlos gemacht, zusammen mit den Kummerkasten Fragen und Antworten war mit das etwas zu viel Textdiversität. Vielleicht gibt es hier einen tierliegenden Sinn, in solche Tiefen bin ich jedoch nicht abgetaucht. Es ist eine Zeit lang ganz amüsant, ihre bissigen Kommentare zu verfolgen, diese werden jedoch irgendwann auch recht vorhersehbar und verlieren an Reiz.

 Der Roman wird sein Publikum und seine Leser finden, für mich bleibt er Dank der Kürze eine schnelle Lektüre, die vermutlich nur wenig nachwirken wird, dabei hatte ich vor allem auch wegen des Übersetzers Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel recht viel erwartet.

https://missmesmerized.wordpress.com/2022/02/16/stine-pilgaard-meter-pro-sekunde/

[bongoramadk]

Arne Herløv anmelder Stine Pilgaard Af Arne Herløv Petersen Jeg har læst "Meter i sekundet" af Stine Pilgaard. Det er en god bog.

[astriddalum]

Forfatter Stine Pilgaard

Forlaget Gutkind, januar 2020.

[franquear]

05 February 2016

A Danish author, Stine Pilgaard visited our school to give a lecture/share ideas about her new book, Lejlighedssange (2015). The participants of Opdigtet Onsdag had the choice to read her book and have an open discussion about it with the author herself. The lecture/visit occurred in Danish, which for me, was a bit of a challenge to ask questions. I understand and speak the language more or less fluently after living in Denmark for five years, but the insecurity is often on the way. I was able to overcome that insecurity by showing up to the gathering and it was worth it.

I prepared for the gathering by reading the whole book, which I did in a short period of time because it was very interesting and funny. I then prepared possible questions for the author and asked her after the meeting. The whole team was very interested in the book, which made me more confident in terms of asking questions and commenting on different aspects of the book.  I like writing and I often find myself reducing what I write to simplify what I want to say, but Stine Pilgaard does the exact opposite. She inspired me to not overthink too much when writing.

12 April 2016

The next visitor in my school was Bjørn Rasmussen, a Danish poet with his new poetry book, Ming. It was a pleasure to share ideas and ask further on the meaning of the poems. The author was very enthusiastic about the Opdigtet Onsdag team because he felt that not a lot of young people liked poetry.  Poetry is my favorite writing style and having an experienced poet visiting my school was an honor. I have always had problems reading a poem out loud, but I got very inspired by Bjørn Rasmussen’s way of reading. He was not afraid of overdramatizing the reading and he transmitted the feelings of the poems to us.

Again, I read Ming at home and did not use a lot of time on it. It was very interesting to create my own view on the poem and having the author himself giving his own version of it. The others in the team had different ideas as well, and it was very interesting listening to them.

Creativity 8 hours

[lysendesteiner]

Jeg siger at ligesom mennesker har forskellige navne, burde der også til disse navne kunne tilknyttes eksklusive kærlighedserklæringer med nye betydninger. Så kunne de tidligere stå og lyse i fred, siger jeg, og forblive sande inden for deres egen tidsramme. [...] På den måde kunne den nye kærlighedserklæring blive sin egen sandhed og ikke en genlyd der rungede fra fortiden, siger jeg, et ekko af ansigter der er knyttet til de samme ord.

Stine Pilgaard. Min mor siger