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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I would have preferred to hear Lili's real story.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
this was such a romantic book for me even though it wasn’t a conventional romance in the slightest. this story follows Einar Wegener and the discovery that is actually a transgender woman, Lili Elbe. through the help and encouragement of Einar’s wife, Greta, Lili undergoes a journey of self-discovery and gender identity to navigate love and life through 1920s Europe.
Lili and Greta had such a beautiful and raw relationship that i really admired and felt for even in its most vulnerable of times. it really brought to light the boundaries of love and sex, what love means, and how we express it.
i generally thought the book was really well done in its expressions of its themes and just generally written really well.
it was VERY slow paced though so it’s a book you have to be patient with so it may not be for everyone. i also just wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending for Lili, i just personally didn’t really get it.
since it’s loosely based on the real story of Lili and Gerda, i was really interested to know more and was inspired to do research on my own about them if it’s any indication at all how invested i was for them.
Lili and Greta had such a beautiful and raw relationship that i really admired and felt for even in its most vulnerable of times. it really brought to light the boundaries of love and sex, what love means, and how we express it.
i generally thought the book was really well done in its expressions of its themes and just generally written really well.
it was VERY slow paced though so it’s a book you have to be patient with so it may not be for everyone. i also just wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending for Lili, i just personally didn’t really get it.
since it’s loosely based on the real story of Lili and Gerda, i was really interested to know more and was inspired to do research on my own about them if it’s any indication at all how invested i was for them.
Was it good? Yes. It was a fantastic character study of a historical figure. The characters were great and thoughtful.
Was it bad? In some important places, yes. For one, the synopsis of this book raves about "one of the most powerful romances" or something like that, but Greda and Lili don't end in a romance. Heck, there's almost no romance between them for the whole book, even when they are married! This author decided to just write it as an important friendship, which is fine, but the editor or whoever needed to capture that better in the synopsis. On that note, the author took a lot of liberties, and I doubt talked with an actual transgender person. The historical inaccuracies and fictionalizations are notably odd and troubling. For one, a romance could have been shown and maintained between Greda and Lili as such is reported elsewhere, especially since Greda identified as a lesbian (which is another important discrepancy). The treatment of lesbians and such a possibility are basically ignored in this narrative, which seems silly and erasing. "Lesbian" is said once as a bad word and makes Lili feel uncomfortable. The book ends with them parting to seek different men, and it honestly was so predictable and boring and clearly meant to be approachable for non-LGBTQIA+ people that I wanted to yawn. Especially as it fully treats Lili being transgender and intersex like having multiple personalities, the whole "woman trapped in a man's body" taken to the literal, even describing the switch to Lili as having amnesia for what happened when she presented as Einar. To be fair, Lili Elbe in reality has a quote about no longer painting because that was part of Einar's identity, but that doesn't necessarily equate to two entirely separate people living in the same body, but just trading off. I have heard that this "trapped in the wrong body" is not appreciated by the trans community because it was simply a way for cisgender people to get it, the only way to describe it to those without that experience, not a nuanced way to describe the experience. You are always you, but your body and how people identify you might not match what you want. It's not that there were necessarily an Einar and a Lili, but rather, just Lili coming into herself. I also found that Lili has an autobiography, so I think that might be enlightening as to why the author wrote it all like this. However, I would not be remotely surprised if the author had never read Lili's autobiography because of the extent of the changes. As a side note to this all was a little annoying writing thing. When the author wanted to give a little symbolism, they would often completely take us out of the scene to describe the symbolic events happening outside of our characters. It would really take you out of the story because it was like "And now, our sponsor, symbolism!"
Despite being peeved by a lot of things, I still must rate this above average because of the excellent character studies, but, if you are trans and looking for historical rep in Lili, this is likely not the book you will want to read. Her autobiography may be a better choice.
3.5☆
Was it bad? In some important places, yes. For one, the synopsis of this book raves about "one of the most powerful romances" or something like that, but Greda and Lili don't end in a romance. Heck, there's almost no romance between them for the whole book, even when they are married! This author decided to just write it as an important friendship, which is fine, but the editor or whoever needed to capture that better in the synopsis. On that note, the author took a lot of liberties, and I doubt talked with an actual transgender person. The historical inaccuracies and fictionalizations are notably odd and troubling. For one, a romance could have been shown and maintained between Greda and Lili as such is reported elsewhere, especially since Greda identified as a lesbian (which is another important discrepancy). The treatment of lesbians and such a possibility are basically ignored in this narrative, which seems silly and erasing. "Lesbian" is said once as a bad word and makes Lili feel uncomfortable. The book ends with them parting to seek different men, and it honestly was so predictable and boring and clearly meant to be approachable for non-LGBTQIA+ people that I wanted to yawn. Especially as it fully treats Lili being transgender and intersex like having multiple personalities, the whole "woman trapped in a man's body" taken to the literal, even describing the switch to Lili as having amnesia for what happened when she presented as Einar. To be fair, Lili Elbe in reality has a quote about no longer painting because that was part of Einar's identity, but that doesn't necessarily equate to two entirely separate people living in the same body, but just trading off. I have heard that this "trapped in the wrong body" is not appreciated by the trans community because it was simply a way for cisgender people to get it, the only way to describe it to those without that experience, not a nuanced way to describe the experience. You are always you, but your body and how people identify you might not match what you want. It's not that there were necessarily an Einar and a Lili, but rather, just Lili coming into herself. I also found that Lili has an autobiography, so I think that might be enlightening as to why the author wrote it all like this. However, I would not be remotely surprised if the author had never read Lili's autobiography because of the extent of the changes. As a side note to this all was a little annoying writing thing. When the author wanted to give a little symbolism, they would often completely take us out of the scene to describe the symbolic events happening outside of our characters. It would really take you out of the story because it was like "And now, our sponsor, symbolism!"
Despite being peeved by a lot of things, I still must rate this above average because of the excellent character studies, but, if you are trans and looking for historical rep in Lili, this is likely not the book you will want to read. Her autobiography may be a better choice.
3.5☆
I read this for a book club, and didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did. The author writes about Lili's inner conflict and transition, as well as her wife's emotional journey, with real sensitivity. There is more to this story than just that -- a number of interesting things happen as the story progresses. Glad I read it!
This review originally appeared on Everyday eBook
Sex and Gender, Love and Marriage: The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
In 1930, Einar Wegener became one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Prior to the surgeries (there were a few), he had been living as Lili Elbe, dressing and functioning as a woman for more than a decade. This fascinating story serves as the real-life inspiration for [a: David Ebershoff|49229|David Ebershoff|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1235983630p2/49229.jpg]'s new novel, The Danish Girl.
What makes this novel so special is that, more than a story of a transgender individual, Ebershoff treats his telling as the story of a marriage. After all, Einar's wife, Greta, is the first to recognize her husband's true nature. After asking him to stand in as a female model for a portrait she is painting, Einar's Lili slowly comes to life. It begins in the comfort of their apartment. Then Lili ventures out of the house. Before long, she is present most of the time. And eventually, Einar/Lili and Greta move to Paris, where Lili can live more freely. Through this all, Greta is extremely supportive, providing emotional buttressing and protection as well as encouragement. She truly wants the person she married to be happy and true.
In Ebershoff's telling, Greta and Einar are both artists; they met at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where Greta was a seventeen-year-old student and Einar was a lecturer in his twenties. One of the most interesting plotlines in the novel is the evolution of their career success. When we first meet Einar and Greta, Einar is far more accomplished. He is a landscape painter, and most of his paintings depict the bog where he grew up. As Lili becomes more and more realized, Einar's painting begins to recede. Greta, however, turns her talents to painting portraits of Lili, becoming more and more successful as these paintings hit the public eye and begin to sell. This change is symbolic of the greater metamorphosis each of the characters and their marriage are going through.
As Greta begins searching for greater help for Lili from the medical community, the range of responses is fascinating - and borderline barbaric: pelvic radiation, drilling holes in Lili's head, psychiatric misdiagnoses (including schizophrenia). Eventually, a doctor in Dresden is found who believes he can medically change Einar to Lili; according to this doctor, not only will he be a she in gender, but he will also be a she sexually. This is radical surgery for the day and this doctor does not fully explain to Lili what steps he is taking during the procedure. Lili wakes up in extreme pain.
It is easy to read this and want to go down the Google/Wikipedia rabbit hole to find out more about this story. There is some information to be had; it is easy to learn that Greta is almost completely fictional. (Einar's wife in real life was older than him, also Danish, and named Gerda - thus having a completely different history than Greta.) Most of the other characters in the novel are also born from Ebershoff's imagination. However, this book is about so much more than history. It is about questioning the true meaning of love. It is about trying to find, and accept, your true self. It is about what it means to take another for who he or she truly is.
The Danish Girl has been made into a movie starring Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne. Releasing in late 2015, the initial photos from the production show Redmayne almost exactly as how I pictured Einar/Lili. You still have plenty of time to pick up this wonderful novel and experience it through Ebershoff's beautiful writing before seeing the film in theaters.
Sex and Gender, Love and Marriage: The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
In 1930, Einar Wegener became one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Prior to the surgeries (there were a few), he had been living as Lili Elbe, dressing and functioning as a woman for more than a decade. This fascinating story serves as the real-life inspiration for [a: David Ebershoff|49229|David Ebershoff|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1235983630p2/49229.jpg]'s new novel, The Danish Girl.
What makes this novel so special is that, more than a story of a transgender individual, Ebershoff treats his telling as the story of a marriage. After all, Einar's wife, Greta, is the first to recognize her husband's true nature. After asking him to stand in as a female model for a portrait she is painting, Einar's Lili slowly comes to life. It begins in the comfort of their apartment. Then Lili ventures out of the house. Before long, she is present most of the time. And eventually, Einar/Lili and Greta move to Paris, where Lili can live more freely. Through this all, Greta is extremely supportive, providing emotional buttressing and protection as well as encouragement. She truly wants the person she married to be happy and true.
In Ebershoff's telling, Greta and Einar are both artists; they met at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where Greta was a seventeen-year-old student and Einar was a lecturer in his twenties. One of the most interesting plotlines in the novel is the evolution of their career success. When we first meet Einar and Greta, Einar is far more accomplished. He is a landscape painter, and most of his paintings depict the bog where he grew up. As Lili becomes more and more realized, Einar's painting begins to recede. Greta, however, turns her talents to painting portraits of Lili, becoming more and more successful as these paintings hit the public eye and begin to sell. This change is symbolic of the greater metamorphosis each of the characters and their marriage are going through.
As Greta begins searching for greater help for Lili from the medical community, the range of responses is fascinating - and borderline barbaric: pelvic radiation, drilling holes in Lili's head, psychiatric misdiagnoses (including schizophrenia). Eventually, a doctor in Dresden is found who believes he can medically change Einar to Lili; according to this doctor, not only will he be a she in gender, but he will also be a she sexually. This is radical surgery for the day and this doctor does not fully explain to Lili what steps he is taking during the procedure. Lili wakes up in extreme pain.
It is easy to read this and want to go down the Google/Wikipedia rabbit hole to find out more about this story. There is some information to be had; it is easy to learn that Greta is almost completely fictional. (Einar's wife in real life was older than him, also Danish, and named Gerda - thus having a completely different history than Greta.) Most of the other characters in the novel are also born from Ebershoff's imagination. However, this book is about so much more than history. It is about questioning the true meaning of love. It is about trying to find, and accept, your true self. It is about what it means to take another for who he or she truly is.
The Danish Girl has been made into a movie starring Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne. Releasing in late 2015, the initial photos from the production show Redmayne almost exactly as how I pictured Einar/Lili. You still have plenty of time to pick up this wonderful novel and experience it through Ebershoff's beautiful writing before seeing the film in theaters.
While I know many people who are or have gone through similar journeys in their lives, nothing compares to this insightful view of what it might have been like for Lili Elbe and Greta Waud during the early part of this century, when they were the first to experience this transition.
I was deeply affected by Mr. Ebershoff's raw honesty and compassion for the situation these women found themselves facing and (while I am aware much of this is highly fictionalized) thank him for not painting either of them as the victim. Both Lili and Greta were shown to be strong women more than capable of making choices and taking actions to define their own fates, and Einar is let go of with a sense of love and loss, not with scorn or insensitivity.
A remarkable work created in an attempt to foster understanding and draw attention to stories such as these, which is sincerely welcome today.
I was deeply affected by Mr. Ebershoff's raw honesty and compassion for the situation these women found themselves facing and (while I am aware much of this is highly fictionalized) thank him for not painting either of them as the victim. Both Lili and Greta were shown to be strong women more than capable of making choices and taking actions to define their own fates, and Einar is let go of with a sense of love and loss, not with scorn or insensitivity.
A remarkable work created in an attempt to foster understanding and draw attention to stories such as these, which is sincerely welcome today.
The supporting characters acceptance of the main character was surprising. Their willingness to help, to be there for him was not what expected for the time period.
The atmosphere was gray, giving the story a gritty feeling, one of uncertainty. The ending was perfect. The fact that this story takes place between the two great wars in Europe, the uncertainty of the characters and the world a better ending could not have been written for this novel.
The atmosphere was gray, giving the story a gritty feeling, one of uncertainty. The ending was perfect. The fact that this story takes place between the two great wars in Europe, the uncertainty of the characters and the world a better ending could not have been written for this novel.