Jadekatten: En Slægtssaga

by Suzanne Brøgger

Århundredets intimhistorie spejlet i en dansk-jødisk families fatale erotiske valg. En europæisk tragedie skrevet som komedie om to verdenskrige. Om opløsningen fra slægt til kernefamilie og den incestagtige nærkamp for at redde hverdagen. Jadekatten er en autentisk baseret slægtssaga - om stolthed og skam - i fem generationer. Århundredets dæmoniserede historie fortalt gennem en families storhed og fald. Fra ''Danmarks store sønner'' - af kongen udråbt - til 1990'ernes isolerede eksistenser. Bogen følger indvandrerslægten Løvin fra Danmark til Chicago og Riga. Russernes invasion af Letland, tyskernes besættelse af Danmark og flugten til Sverige. I fjerde generation rejser familien, der ikke kan hjælpe sig selv, ud for at hjælpe de fattige i Det fjerne østen. Og det afsløres, at det der var private problemer i går bliver alarmerende samfundsanliggender i morgen.

Genres: Fiction, Family, Danish, Novels

498 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Kærlighedens og erotikkens frontkæmper kunne man kalde den danske forfatter Suzanne Brøgger, der siden sin debut ”Fri os fra kærligheden” i 1973, har udfordret de moderne samlivsformer igennem litteraturen og deltagelse i den offentlige debat. Forfatterskabet, der bl.a. søger at bane menneskenes vej ind i erotikkens væsen, afsluttes nu ved forfatterens 70-års fødselsdag, der markeres med både collageværket ”SZ” og en omfattende biografi om Suzanne Brøgger som ung kvinde, ”Krukke”.

Blå bog

Født: 18. november 1944 i København.

Uddannelse: Uafsluttede studier i russisk og fransk ved Københavns Universitet.

Debut: Fri os fra kærligheden. Gyldendal, 1973. Essays og noveller.

Litteraturpriser: PH-prisen, 1975. Weekend Avisens Litteraturpris, 1980. Prisen til de skiønne og nyttige Videnskabers forfremmelse, 1981. De Gyldne Laurbær, 1982. Rhodos Rose, 1984. Ingrid Jespersens pris, 1984. Gabor-prisen, 1987. Holberg Medaljen, 1992. Hammerichprisen, Louisiana, 1993. Dansk Kvindesamfunds Mathildepris, 1996. Søren Gyldendal Prisen, 1999. Rungstedlundprisen, 2005.

Seneste udgivelse: SZ - Et livs billede 1944-2014. Gyldendal, 2014.

Reviews

[Linda Tomase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noguru no šīs grāmatas. Kā no mazliet jukuša un nepārtraukti runājoša viesa vai blakussēdētāja transportā. Zvaigznes par rakstīšanas stilu un tulkojumu.

[Byurakn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a non-native Danish speaker, it was quite a challenge reading this book but also the language in the book was so special that a lot of it would have been lost, if translated. The storytelling style was compelling. The most tragic parts were written in a way that you can't help laughing but at the same time you know you shouldn't. The best character work of the book, in my opinion, was Katze with all her ideas, beliefs and philosophy.
Many reviewers mention that the book was confusing with all the characters and their stories but I completely disagree with those opinions. Since the story mainly focused on the female line in three generations (Katze, Li and Zeste), it was quite easy to follow.

It was quite a slow read but worth the time spent on it. The only part that was redundant was Orm's book that we could totally live without.

[J.D. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not agree with sskwire's review any more! As I was reading this book I kept coming here to check for reviews of folks who had read it to see if I was just dense for not being able to follow this book. I was relieved to see your review, which stated in plain terms my same response to the story. The only difference is that I can not give as high a rating as they did because I'm reviewing what I had in front of me.

If I knew Danish and had read the book in its original language than this would be a very different review, but I feel like I owe it to other's that may be interested in reading this book to give a fair assessment of what I actually read. I don't think I've felt an anxiety in finishing a book even remotely close to that which I felt MANY times while reading this. To be sure, there were portions of it that were interesting, but then out of nowhere you are thrust into another story which is always changing and does not allow for a cohesive way of following it all.

There is simply way too much going on in this book to truly care what happens to these characters, which is extremely frustrating. The point of reading is to immerse yourself in the world that the author creates and emote with the characters as they experience life's twists and turns. In the first 50 pages alone, you are inundated with so many characters and it's not extremely clear who you should really be keeping track of or not. To me, this is a huge failure on the part of the author, because as it begins you should really be getting a feel for what all is going on(especially if it's not a sequel or the characters were not familiar beforehand).

This book sounded incredible and had the makings to be something fantastic by telling of generations of family and wrapping them up in what should have been one cohesive book, but the disregard for structure and even an interesting story made this too frustrating to recommend to anyone.

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I learned from this book? Wow, my family does not begin to approach the dysfunctionality of the Lovins of Denmark.

The story spans three generations from about 1915 through the 1970's, and covers the globe, sexual abuse, drug abuse, mental illness, WWI and WWII, etc. Through time, the members of the family fragment from "Captains of Industry" to diplomats and cultural TV trail blazers to regular middle class folks and drug addicts/crazy bag lady.

[Lise Jean-Paul Platon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brøgger roder rundt i en skrivestil til det brede salg, mens de intertekstuelle referencer gives til de helt store verdenslitterater. Det gør bogen (og for mit vedkommende; alle hendes bøger) næsten umulige at finde rundt i. Jeg kan kun anbefale denne bog hvis du er en gribende fan af Brøgger og dermed vil igennem alle hendes værker. Ellers synes jeg du hellere skal læse de af de store forfattere som hun selv prøver at hamle op med; Molière, Voltaire ect.

[sd · Rating 5 out of 5]

There should be a book about the writer herself, she is a fascinating woman and has lived an interesting life,she is a jazz singer and composer as well. Her story takes place for the most part in Copenhagen and is about a very interesting family through two world wars. Fascinating book,a must read!

[Malin · Rating 1 out of 5]

the story was very interesting, but the language (structure of chapters) was hard to follow or get into. I didn't care for any of the characters really, because i couldn't understand them. I read the book in swedish (but considering the original language was dansish, I don'tfeel it was due to a translation issue).

[Lindsay Knies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once you get through the odd sentence structures it’s actually an interesting story with some captivating characters. Unfortunately, the weird jumps in the story make it really difficult to follow at times; something must have been lost in translation. As other readers have said, Orm’s Book could have been eliminated as it added nothing to the story.

[Robert Høgh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Minder om 100 års ensomhed

[Lina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Some people need to be told only once that they are loved. Others need to hear it a hundred times a day, and still they don't believe it"

I'm not going to lie and say that this was a good book, however it was entertaining.

The Jade Cat is a very problematic book, that is hard to understand and that most of the time doesn't make any sense. You need to really focus to understand what it's going on, and for the first 20 pages I had to re-read all the paragraphs. Mostly I might blame the translation, but there were many jumpings in time that confused me.

The same phenomenon that makes "the family"so intolerable when you are young is precisely what makes it so fascinating when you are old: that concentration of karma, of memory, and skeletons in the cupboard"

At the very beginning I refered to this book as a the story of family of jews, but then I realized that it wasn't. So then I said that it was like the gossip of the Løvin Family. However I thought for a while that it was the repercussions of World War II in this jew family that didn't really thought of themselves as jews... but it wasn't quite that.

"She felt ashamed, fearing that she had made the wrong choice. but, like so many women, she shunned second thoughts. She knew what she had, but not what she would have if she made a change"

One thing is for sure if this story left any lesson is that you can't depend on people for your happiness. You need to be your own person or you'd end up hating youself and everyone around you. It was sad how you saw women needing the approval of a man or of their peers. This story portrayed the worst traits that remain silently with you: jealousy, pride, regret and distrust.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hørt som lydbog, hvilket den er særdeles egnet til, da sproget er vidunderligt, men også meget "talende". Susanne Brøgger er en fortællerske af Guds nåde. Den alvidende fortæller giver romanen et lettere gammeldags præg (og den er jo også fra 1997), men lige hos Brøgger er den kaotiske sammenblanding af perspektiver og tanker og dialoger bare skøn. Det er en 500 sider lang slægtsaga, og den er grusom og frygtelig og helt vidunderlig. Slægten er jødisk, har tendens til sindsyge og stor fysisk skønhed. Det ene ægteskab er værre end det næste i slægtens historie, og lige hos Brøgger er det nok ikke overraskende. Suzanne Brøgger er en mester til at lade selv de voldsommeste hændelser ske med et sprogligt overskud og en konstant lurende humor, som gør hele den håbløse slægtshistorie til en stor komedie. Jeg var stærkt underholdt hele vejen igennem. Umulig at give referat af handlingen, for den er gigantisk og følger selvfølgelig også verdenshistorien, ligesom den foregår i mange forskellige lande. Det er farverigt og livligt og den slutter med konstateringen, "at også de frygtelige historier, er man nødt til at fortælle, hvis man har livet kært. Så kan usået sæd spire og bitterhed bedres."

[Sintija Dundure · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stāsts par kādas dzimtas sāgu, šīs ģimenes sapņiem, vēlmēm un piedzīvojumiem.

Man šķita pārāk garš ievads ar ļoti daudz personāžiem un pagātnes atstāstiem, lēna darbība. Dzīves atstāsts, bet garlaicīgs dzīves atstāsts, un lai arī notikumi ir, tie uzrakstītiti garlaicīgi.

Bet ir arī labās lietas. Lasot šo, ikviens atcerēsies par ģimenes vērtībām, kā arī ģimenes un draugu mīlestību, liks vēlēties baudīt romantiku.

Sirsnīgi un interesanti. Atgādina arī par to, kā daži vārdi vai izdarītās izvēles var ietekmēt visu dzīvi.

[Joke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik stop echt zelden middenin een boek, maar hier kwam ik toch echt niet doorheen... Dit komt voor een groot gedeelte denk ik ook omdat het gewoon ontzettend slecht vertaald is. Dat is jammer, want de schrijfstijl (sarcastisch, scherp) beviel me op zich wel. Het verhaal is alleen te onsamenhangend en met vreemde zinnen, waardoor het moeilijk te snappen is waar het verhaal nu eigenlijk heen gaat.
Mocht ik ooit eens Deens leren, dan zou ik erg benieuwd zijn naar de originele versie.

[Lisa Barkholt Nord · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drastisk gång på gång, jag tappade lite fokus

[Marjanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this novel is a bit too esoteric for me. The story is a bit disjointed and the 'books' seemed mislabeled or they really don't mean anything. I read the whole book, but I questioned why I was reading it every 75 pages or so. Overall this wasn't bad, but I just don't think it was that great either.

[Dos · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is okay but but rather long-winded...

[Sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik vond het een lastig te lezen boek, moeilijk te volgen. Desondanks wil ik het over een paar jaar weer proberen. Ben benieuwd of ik er dan anders tegenaan kijk.