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A review by rachel_o_reads
The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.75
The first of the trilogy, Childhood, really drew me in. I found the prose to be beautiful and haunting.
A few of my favorite quotes:
“Childhood is long and narrow like a coffin, and you can’t get out of it on your own. It’s there all the time and everyone can see it just as clearly as you can see Pretty Ludvig’s harelip.”
"Wherever you turn, you run up against your childhood and hurt yourself because it’s sharp-edged and hard, and stops only when it has torn you completely apart. It seems that everyone has their own and each is totally different."
“Childhood is dark and it’s always moaning like a little animal that’s locked in a cellar and forgotten. It comes out of your throat like your breath in the cold, and sometimes it’s too little, other times too big. It never fits exactly. It’s only when it has been cast off that you can look at it calmly and talk about it like an illness you’ve survived. Most grownups say that they’ve had a happy childhood and maybe they really believe it themselves, but I don’t think so. I think they’ve just managed to forget it.”
The trilogy lulled with the middle book, Youth, but an otherwise worthwhile read. I think my love of the writing in Childhood is pulling down my judgement for the rest of the trilogy, although the story progressed and was fleshed out well, showing her flaws and all, I just felt there was something lacking in the writing as the trilogy went on...only in comparison to the first book.
A few of my favorite quotes:
“Childhood is long and narrow like a coffin, and you can’t get out of it on your own. It’s there all the time and everyone can see it just as clearly as you can see Pretty Ludvig’s harelip.”
"Wherever you turn, you run up against your childhood and hurt yourself because it’s sharp-edged and hard, and stops only when it has torn you completely apart. It seems that everyone has their own and each is totally different."
“Childhood is dark and it’s always moaning like a little animal that’s locked in a cellar and forgotten. It comes out of your throat like your breath in the cold, and sometimes it’s too little, other times too big. It never fits exactly. It’s only when it has been cast off that you can look at it calmly and talk about it like an illness you’ve survived. Most grownups say that they’ve had a happy childhood and maybe they really believe it themselves, but I don’t think so. I think they’ve just managed to forget it.”
The trilogy lulled with the middle book, Youth, but an otherwise worthwhile read. I think my love of the writing in Childhood is pulling down my judgement for the rest of the trilogy, although the story progressed and was fleshed out well, showing her flaws and all, I just felt there was something lacking in the writing as the trilogy went on...only in comparison to the first book.