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A review by saareman
The Dolls by Ursula Scavenius
4.0
Surreal Bleak Worlds
Review of the Lolli Editions paperback (October 2021) translated by Jennifer Russell* from the Danish language original [b:Dukkerne|50706733|Dukkerne|Ursula Scavenius|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580242619l/50706733._SX50_.jpg|75735259] (January 2020)
This book might be a bit of a tough nut, unless you are in a certain frame of mind to tackle these bleak and apocalyptic stories which seem like candidates for future screenplays for film director Béla Tarr. That is if he hadn't retired from directing and [a:László Krasznahorkai|69287|László Krasznahorkai|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615567994p2/69287.jpg] didn't already have the job (e.g. [b:Satantango|11455485|Satantango|László Krasznahorkai|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487574780l/11455485._SX50_.jpg|115067], [b:A torinói ló|24816306|A torinói ló|László Krasznahorkai|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422969515l/24816306._SX50_.jpg|44456877], etc.).
The title story The Dolls is particularly effective in this regard. A family with two daughters is living near a forest where the sound of violins torments them and a slowly encroaching 'Machine' is gradually expanding its size and boundaries to envelope all before it. One of the daughters escapes to the cellar where communication and food from the family is passed through a pipe in the floor. It is like something out of Beckett's [b:Endgame|12287|Endgame|Samuel Beckett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1452534163l/12287._SY75_.jpg|1164113], but multiplied tenfold and with not much Beckettian humour to provide some comedy. The following three stories are almost light relief after that opener.
Author Ursula Scavenius (great name!) seems to have only two books published to date, but has already made quite a name for herself. The translation by Jennifer Russell is excellent. I wouldn't have minded an introductory or afterword essay, but it seems so few English translations provide that these days. I have to hope for a future Estonian translation from Loomingu Raamatukogu for that.
I read The Dolls as the November 2021 selection from the Republic of Consciousness Book of the Month (BotM) club. Subscriptions to the BotM support the annual Republic of Consciousness Prize for small independent publishers.
Trivia and Links
* I'm linking to Lolli Editions translators page for the Jennifer Russell biography, as the Goodreads link combines at least one other author credits with those of the translator.
You can read one of the book's four short stories, Compartment, at the online edition of Granta October 2021.
Perhaps it is only me, but the amorphous shape on the cover looks like a screaming skull doesn't it? Rather appropriate, even if it is only a chance coincidence.
Review of the Lolli Editions paperback (October 2021) translated by Jennifer Russell* from the Danish language original [b:Dukkerne|50706733|Dukkerne|Ursula Scavenius|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580242619l/50706733._SX50_.jpg|75735259] (January 2020)
This book might be a bit of a tough nut, unless you are in a certain frame of mind to tackle these bleak and apocalyptic stories which seem like candidates for future screenplays for film director Béla Tarr. That is if he hadn't retired from directing and [a:László Krasznahorkai|69287|László Krasznahorkai|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615567994p2/69287.jpg] didn't already have the job (e.g. [b:Satantango|11455485|Satantango|László Krasznahorkai|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487574780l/11455485._SX50_.jpg|115067], [b:A torinói ló|24816306|A torinói ló|László Krasznahorkai|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422969515l/24816306._SX50_.jpg|44456877], etc.).
The title story The Dolls is particularly effective in this regard. A family with two daughters is living near a forest where the sound of violins torments them and a slowly encroaching 'Machine' is gradually expanding its size and boundaries to envelope all before it. One of the daughters escapes to the cellar where communication and food from the family is passed through a pipe in the floor. It is like something out of Beckett's [b:Endgame|12287|Endgame|Samuel Beckett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1452534163l/12287._SY75_.jpg|1164113], but multiplied tenfold and with not much Beckettian humour to provide some comedy. The following three stories are almost light relief after that opener.
Author Ursula Scavenius (great name!) seems to have only two books published to date, but has already made quite a name for herself. The translation by Jennifer Russell is excellent. I wouldn't have minded an introductory or afterword essay, but it seems so few English translations provide that these days. I have to hope for a future Estonian translation from Loomingu Raamatukogu for that.
I read The Dolls as the November 2021 selection from the Republic of Consciousness Book of the Month (BotM) club. Subscriptions to the BotM support the annual Republic of Consciousness Prize for small independent publishers.
Trivia and Links
* I'm linking to Lolli Editions translators page for the Jennifer Russell biography, as the Goodreads link combines at least one other author credits with those of the translator.
You can read one of the book's four short stories, Compartment, at the online edition of Granta October 2021.
Perhaps it is only me, but the amorphous shape on the cover looks like a screaming skull doesn't it? Rather appropriate, even if it is only a chance coincidence.