Isak Dinesen Knihy

Autorka pocházející z aristokratického prostředí se v roce 1914 vydala s manželem do tehdejší britské kolonie Keni. Namísto sladkého života mezi zdejší společenskou smetánkou a bohatých zisků z kávové plantáže ji čekala řada větších i menších katastrof. Kniha zachycující její vzpomínky na černý kontinent vyvolala zájem v literárním světě i mezi filmaři. Film s Meryl Streepovou a Robertem Redfordem v hlavních rolích byl po zásluze oceněn sedmi Oscary. Verše přeložili Tomáš Míka, E. A. Saudek a Ferdinand Stiebitz.

In the classic "Babette's Feast," a mysterious Frenchwoman prepares a sumptuous feast for a gathering of religious ascetics and, in doing so, introduces them to the true essence of grace. In "The Immortal Story," a miserly old tea-trader living in Canton wishes for power and finds redemption as he turns an oft-told sailors' tale into reality for a young man and woman. And in the magnificent novella Ehrengard, Dinesen tells of the powerful yet restrained rapport between a noble Wagnerian beauty and a rakish artist. Hauntingly evoked and sensuously realized, the five stories and novella collected here have the hold of "fairy stories read in childhood . . . of dreams . . . and of our life as dreams" (The New York Times).

'As for me I have one ambition only: to invent stories, very beautiful stories.' So said Karen Blixen who, in creating her spellbinding tales of fantasy and romance, also invented for herself the persona of Isak Dinesen. These three tales of love and loss are taken from Winter's Tales.

These five rich, witty and magical stories from the author of Out of Africa include one of her most well known tales, `Babette's Feast', which was made into the classic film. It tells the story of a French cook working in a puritanical Norwegian community, who treats her employers to the decadent feast of a lifetime. There is also a real-life Prospero and his Ariel in `Tempests', a mysterious pearl-fisher in `The Diver' and a brief, tragic encounter in `The Ring'. All the stories have a mystic, fairy-tale quality, linked by themes of angels, the sea, dreams and fate. They were among the last to be written by Isak Dinesen, and show her as a master of short fiction.