Ida Brandt

by Herman Bang

W. Glyn Jones' masterful translation allows us to read in English for the first time one of the neglected classics of Scandinavian Literature.
Ida Brandt is the classic outsider. Not acceptable to the Danish aristocratic circle she was brought up around and too moneyed for her nursing colleagues at the hospital. She is good looking and gentle, generous and kind and her trusting nature is betrayed by the people around her. Herman Bang takes us into Ida's world, he does not comment, let alone criticise and leaves the reader to judge. It is a novel ahead of its time in its impressionistic, almost cinematic style.

Genres: Book Club

284 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Herman Bang wrote his very first book back in 1880, it was called "Haabløse Slægter".

Herman Joachim Bang (20. april 1857 – 29. januar 1912) var en dansk kritiker, forfatter og journalist. Han blev født i Asserballe på Als i hertugdømmet Slesvig som søn af sognepræst Frederik Ludvig Bang (1816-1875) og hustru Thora Elisabeth Salomine Blach (1829-1871) og blev student i 1875 fra Sorø Akademi. Herman Bang er kendt for sin impressionistiske skrivestil. Herman Bang døde i Ogden i Utah i USA under en oplæsningsturné og er begravet på Vestre Kirkegård i København.

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find stories of self-sacrificing females rather hard to take, and I very much hope that such extreme examples as Ida Brandt are more common in fiction than in real life. Ida is a kind and pretty girl whose carefree childhood on a large Jutland estate comes to a brutal end when her father, the overseer of the property, dies of a stroke. Her teenage years are spent looking after her dour and miserly mother, but when the old lady dies, Ida is left with a small fortune. Instead of leading the genteel life she could easily afford, Ida chooses to work as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, a commendable choice poorly understood by the society of the time. After squandering his expensive education, Karl von Eichbaum, the worthless son of Brandt's former employer, has reluctantly taken a desk job at the same hospital. Although better men are attracted to her, Ida chooses to become Karl's mistress, thereby insuring he will never marry her. Indeed, Karl lets himself be bought off by Kate Mourier, whom he despises because her father's money comes from a butter factory. However, Kate is a fine rider and speaks French. Kate's father buys Karl's childhood home and has it levelled and lavishly rebuilt to suit Kate's nouveau riche tastes. Karl is too spineless to tell Ida of his engagement, and even lets his mother invite her to the dinner party where the deal is tacitly finalised. I nearly gave up on this book because it starts with one of these implausibly long letters where the sender reminds the addressee in minute detail of childhood memories which are supposed to be equally familiar to both. Thankfully the rest of the novel is less clumsy, and Bang has the good sense of going for a muted and not melodramatic ending. Maybe our jilted heroine will recover after all and marry Dr Quam, or do something else with her money and her empathy. In parallel to Ida's destiny, the novel follows that of Aline Feddersen, a childhood friend of Karl's mother, who creates a scandal by leaving her husband and children to follow a surveyor abroad. Like Anna Karenina, Aline comes to regret her decision, but unlike the famous Russian character, she gets a second chance and grabs it. Mrs von Eichbaum goes to her rescue in Switzerland and brings her back to Copenhagen, where she smoothes over Aline's reentry into society. Bang uses this subplot to highlight how differently Mrs von Eichbaum and her circle treat their own and people who are just one rung below them on the social ladder. In fact in Danish the title of the novel is "Ludvigsbakke", which is the name of the von Eichbaum estate, pointing to the fact that Bang's focus really is the landed gentry and what they will do to hold on to power.

[Stephalivres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saut dans le Danemark de la fin du XIXéme, époque et lieu qui nous est assez inconnu. C’est d’ailleurs le problème principal que j’ai trouvé dans ce livre : je n’ai pas réussi à adhérer à cet univers. Je n’ai pas compris les lieux, j’ai eu du mal à comprendre les liens entre les gens, j’ai eu l’impression d’être totalement stupide. Je n’ai pas adhéré à cet univers, ce qui a, malheureusement, eu un très fort impact sur ma lecture. J’ai bien tenté d’en faire abstraction, mais ça me rendait imperméable à bien des chapitres. Parce qu’il faut le dire, c’est un livre où l’action n’est pas tant importante que les liens, les commérages, les ressentis, les sentiments, les coups en douce etc. Tout ce que j’ai toujours du mal à comprendre – vous ai-je déjà dit que c’était mon point faible de lectrice et d’humain? Je comprends mal les intentions cachées -. J’en déduis donc que malgré l’intérêt de ce livre, il ne m’était absolument pas destiné. J’en suis un peu déçue, et je ne voudrais pas que vous pensiez que je suis réellement stupide, c’est juste que ce sont des choses qui ne m’atteignent pas, alors que c’est exactement le fond du livre.

Pour autant, il a de grandes qualités. Littéraires tout d’abord, parce qu’il m’a fait pensé à ces livres que l’on lisait, ces classiques, Flaubert, Stendhal et autres. Probablement parce que l’époque le voulait, mais cette façon d’écrire est vraiment intéressante. Je lui reproche tout de même l’inverse de ce que je pourrais reprocher à d’autres Balzac par exemple : trop peu de description, comme je le disais en préambule. En outre, et même si c’est ce qui m’a posé problème, cette maîtrise des sentiments, ce croquis de la société des beaux-parleurs, donne une dimension émouvante à tout ça, alors même que Ida ne se plaint pas, et laisse passer les événements, du plus triste au plus amer. Enfin, l’auteur réussit tellement bien à décrire ce que pouvait être les « lois des femmes » de l’époque. Ont-elles vraiment changées? Sur certains points, bien sûr, mais croyez-moi, il reste encore bien de la marge pour sortir de tout ça…

Pour conclure, le fait de me sentir perdue au milieu de cette micro-société (encore que, il y a bien des personnages!) m’a empéché de rentrer totalement dans l’histoire. Mais si les auteurs classiques vous manquent, si les héroïnes empêtrées dans les règles et le carcan de cette société pas si lointaine vous intrigue, si vous voulez faire un saut dans le temps et être touchée par cette pauvre Ida, vous vous réjouirez dans cette lecture.

[Marie-Christine Wattiez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ida Brandt est une jeune fille discrète , humble qui ne pense jamais à elle.
Elle a eu une enfance heureuse mais à la mort de son père régisseur dû domaine Ludvisbakke , elle doit déménager ce que sa mère n’acceptera jamais vraiment .
Ida devient infirmière et se dévoue entièrement à ses patients .
Elle va rencontrer son ancien voisin d’enfance Karl , un homme qui va profiter d’elle sans vergogne .
Ida va accepter la situation sans jamais se plaindre alors qu’on a envie de la secouer et de lui dire de se sauver tant Karl est égoïste , paresseux , il lui tourne d’ailleurs le dos quand il fait la connaissance d’une riche héritière.
Ida restera toujours digne et continuera à se consacrer aux autres , ne montrera jamais son chagrin .
Un roman intimiste, une fine observation d’une époque au charme suranné .

[lisa_emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am unfamiliar with Danish literature, except for a contemporary novel I had read a few years ago. A novel that was recommended to me by a Danish librarian and I had purchased it while in Copenhagen visiting the Royal Library, the magnificent Black Diamond overlooking the channel between the isles. But this book has nothing to do with that.

I think I came to this book by an entry in a blog about forgotten books, and, indeed, I had never heard of this novel or writer. I became intrigued since it was re-published by Dedalus Books. Many descriptions of this novel call it cinematic; the story told through dialogue and visual description of action rather than internal analysis. Considering that this was originally published in 1896 when the first movies were being shown, I do wonder if the cinema had any influence on Herman Bang’s method of telling this story.

For the story is told in a removed, non-interior fashion. We read about what happens to a character and how the character responds, but we do not get any insight into what the character thinks, hence why it is more akin to watching the story take place as though it were a movie. We can only guess at the character’s thoughts by judging the reactions and the dialogue. This is the method that makes this particular novel interesting, because the reader is so removed from the internal life of the character. I cannot name another novel written around this time frame that uses this technique.

Also since I am not aware of the social world of 1890s Copenhagen, it was difficult to place the main character’s (Ida Brandt) behavior into context. I could not tell if her romance with von Eichbaum was unacceptable- I could only guess so since in the rest of European society it would be so. I also did not understand socially where each character stood in relation to each other.

Overall, this novel is a glimpse into a life of a very passive being at a certain place in time. Ida Brandt, who appears to have much going for her: money, character, attractiveness; she cannot become the director of her own fate- why, I could never understand why. Perhaps it was a lack of inner drive, the belief on oneself to be assertive; it is hard to determine it. The uncovering of this character quality is what makes the book worth reading. But I think between the cultural distance and the slower pace of the novel; it would be hard to convince most people to pick this up.

[lotte langs · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should read this if you're interested in Denmark, Danish literature or Impressionism, naturalism, etc. If you've been to Denmark or even just Copenhagen it's quite entertaining to follow where the story goes as there are a lot of place markers. It was fun to go "oh I've been there" so you can get a really picture in your imagination. I bought the book before I went to Copenhagen but randomly came across a bust of Herman Bang without intending to! This probably wasn't the best book of his to start with, and should have chosen Ved Vejen.
.
You shouldn't read this if you're a lazy reader. It's quite hard work because Bang doesn't pass judgement on Ida or other characters so you have to put your mind to it. I had to stop and flick back a few pages because I'd forgotten who certain characters were - and with this writing style you just can't do this or you will get lost.
.
Favourite quote: "I am looking at the stars that are so high in the heavens. When I was younger I looked at them because I wanted to pull them down. Now I watch them to learn patience."

[Marie-Christine Wattiez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ida Brandt est une jeune fille discrète , humble qui ne pense jamais à elle.
Elle a eu une enfance heureuse mais à la mort de son père régisseur dû domaine Ludvisbakke , elle doit déménager ce que sa mère n’acceptera jamais vraiment .
Ida devient infirmière et se dévoue entièrement à ses patients .
Elle va rencontrer son ancien voisin d’enfance Karl , un homme qui va profiter d’elle sans vergogne .
Ida va accepter la situation sans jamais se plaindre alors qu’on a envie de la secouer et de lui dire de se sauver tant Karl est égoïste , paresseux , il lui tourne d’ailleurs le dos quand il fait la connaissance d’une riche héritière.
Ida restera toujours digne et continuera à se consacrer aux autres , ne montrera jamais son chagrin .
Un roman intimiste, une fine observation d’une époque au charme suranné .