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Babette’s Feast

Isak Dinesen,

Karen Blixen

Start date: May 1, 2021

Finish date: May 31, 2021

Discussion: Short Story/Novella Collection

Why we're reading this: May 2021 short Story/Novella Read
[close] May 2021 short Story/Novella Read

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Short Story/Novella Collection

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What Members Thought

Jul 22, 2021 Candi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-book-i-own, classics-shelf, short-stories

I loved the beautiful prose in Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa, so when I had the opportunity to read this short story, I jumped at it. It’s nearly impossible to compare a lengthier work with something of this brevity, however. This was a sweet story, if a little bit sentimental. It reminded me of the days when I read fables to my children. Certainly, there are lessons to be learned here. Lessons about acceptance, sacrifice, and gratitude. Oh, and as you may have guessed from the title, there’s a b ...more

96 likes · Like · see review

May 25, 2011 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: novellas, read-2014, book-and-movie, short-stories, scandinavian-literature, e-books, fiction-20th-century, norway, food

You may read online here.

From IMDb:
In 19th century Denmark, two adult sisters live in an isolated village with their father, who is the honored pastor of a small Protestant church that is almost a sect unto itself. Although they each are presented with a real opportunity to leave the village, the sisters choose to stay with their father, to serve to him and their church. After some years, a French woman refugee, Babette, arrives at their door, begs them to take her in, and commits herself to wor You may read online here.

From IMDb:
In 19th century Denmark, two adult sisters live in an isolated village with their father, who is the honored pastor of a small Protestant church that is almost a sect unto itself. Although they each are presented with a real opportunity to leave the village, the sisters choose to stay with their father, to serve to him and their church. After some years, a French woman refugee, Babette, arrives at their door, begs them to take her in, and commits herself to work for them as maid/housekeeper/cook. Sometime after their father dies, the sisters decide to hold a dinner to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth. Babette experiences unexpected good fortune and implores the sisters to allow her to take charge of the preparation of the meal. Although they are secretly concerned about what Babette, a Catholic and a foreigner, might do, the sisters allow her to go ahead. Babette then prepares the feast of a lifetime for the members of the tiny church and an important gentleman related to one of them.

Opening lines:
In Norway there is a fjord–a long narrow arm of the sea between tall mountains–named Berlevaag Fjord. At the foot of the mountains the small town of Berlevaag looks like a child's toy-town of little wooden pieces painted gray, yellow, pink and many other colors.

Quotations

Page 2:
In the Loewenhielm family there existed a legend to the effect that long ago a gentleman of the name had married a Huldre, a female mountain spirit of Norway, who is so fair that the air round her shines and quivers. Since then, from time to trine, members of the family had been second-sighted.

Page 17:
Of what happened later in the evening nothing definite can here be stated. None of the guests later on had any clear remembrance of it. They only knew that the rooms had been filled with a heavenly light as if a number of small halos had blended into one glorious radiance. Taciturn old people received the gift of tongues; ears that for years had been almost deaf were opened to it. Time itself had merged into eternity. Long after midnight the windows of the house shone like gold, and golden song flowed out into the winter air.

A movie Babette's Feast (1987) was made based on this novella, with Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel.