What do you think?
Rate this book
Den lange Rejse #1
Bræen: Myter om Istiden og det Første Menneske
Udgivet af Dansklærerforeningen ved Martin Larsen
5. oplag, Gyldendal 1963.
5. oplag, Gyldendal 1963.
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Johannes V. Jensen
246 books50 followersAwarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 "for the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style."
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (almindeligt kendt som Johannes V. Jensen) (20. januar 1873 i Farsø - 25. november 1950 på Østerbro, København) var en dansk forfatter der modtog Nobelprisen i litteratur i 1944.
Han var opvokset i Farsø i Himmerland i et dyrlægehjem med antireligiøse forældre. Han blev lægestuderende på Københavns universitet og arbejdede som journalist ved siden af for at finansiere sine studier. Efter 3 års studier valgte han at skifte karriere og gav sig selv til litteraturen. På det tidspunkt havde han allerede udgivet 12 romaner.[1] Johannes V. Jensen er kendt for digte, artikler, noveller og romaner. Hans mest kendte er novellesamlingen Himmerlandshistorier, romanerne Kongens Fald og Den lange Rejse. Han har også skrevet skuespillet Trods med baggrund i hans egen novelle Cecil fra Himmerlandshistorier. Det blev opført i USA af danske indvandrere.
Johannes V. Jensen rejste en del - Paris, London, Berlin, Norge, Sverige, Chicago & New York.
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (almindeligt kendt som Johannes V. Jensen) (20. januar 1873 i Farsø - 25. november 1950 på Østerbro, København) var en dansk forfatter der modtog Nobelprisen i litteratur i 1944.
Han var opvokset i Farsø i Himmerland i et dyrlægehjem med antireligiøse forældre. Han blev lægestuderende på Københavns universitet og arbejdede som journalist ved siden af for at finansiere sine studier. Efter 3 års studier valgte han at skifte karriere og gav sig selv til litteraturen. På det tidspunkt havde han allerede udgivet 12 romaner.[1] Johannes V. Jensen er kendt for digte, artikler, noveller og romaner. Hans mest kendte er novellesamlingen Himmerlandshistorier, romanerne Kongens Fald og Den lange Rejse. Han har også skrevet skuespillet Trods med baggrund i hans egen novelle Cecil fra Himmerlandshistorier. Det blev opført i USA af danske indvandrere.
Johannes V. Jensen rejste en del - Paris, London, Berlin, Norge, Sverige, Chicago & New York.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 21, 2023
En strålende velskrevet hyldest til menneskelig udholdenhed og opfindsomhed.
February 1, 2026
I feel highly conflicted about this book. On the one hand, the language is absolutely beautiful, especially during Jensen's landscape descriptions. The narrative never loses momentum, with the inspiration from the style and structure of the Icelandic Sagas evident throughout. As an afficionado of Saga literature, and as an archaeologist with a great interest in Ice Age Europe, the subject and style of the book was right up my alley. A third of the way through, I was convinced that this would be a five star read, and I was deeply immersed in what I then considered to be the main theme of the book: an existentialist philosophical exploration of the central building blocks of what makes a human, touching on the duality of human nature, with aspects of both good and bad, with the power to change some things and the painful inability to recognise when other powers are greater than itself. I was with the book as it explored the central role played by adversity in shaping a powerful yet powerhungry, defiant yet arrogant human nature, and I was even sort of willing to accept its traditional views on gender roles as a product of its time. At least Jensen does not devalue the role of female labour, but merely argues that gender-segregated work is the natural state of things.
However... I am not willing to accept or look away from the deeply harmful, deeply problematic, and deeply upsetting messaging of white supremacy in this book. In the first half, I was under the impression that the proto-humans who opted to retreat south during the ice advance were implied to be essentially the ancestors of the Neanderthals. That would imply that all of modern-day humanity was descended from Dreng because, as it says, he became the first "true" or modern human with a modern human mind. By the end of the book, I was more aware than I wished to be that this was not what the author believed. The proto-humans who opted to retreat south are the ancestors of all non-white, non-European peoples, which implies exactly what you think it does, namely that non-white, non-European peoples are less than fully human. If you think that this is all legendary and not really meant to correspond one-to-one with any real-world history or peoples, Jensen directly states at one point that some of the descendants of those proto-humans were the peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus in the Americas.
Quite frankly, I find it extremely disconcerting that I have not been able to find any real discussion of this. A Nobel prize winner of literature should have his authorship subjected to deeper scrutiny, even if his novels were written a century ago. To me, this book feels as though it belongs to a very disturbing genre specific to the early twentieth century in which the racialised pseudo-science of the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries got mythologised and romanticised and thereby translated into emotionally-charged narratives to be consumed by the masses. Many people who did not read or otherwise engage with scientific narratives became familiar with these ideas through literature such as this. It was exactly this process of emotional manipulation offering a sense of belonging grounded in white supremacy that led to the rise of nationalist fascism over the decades following the publication of this book. This book made me feel very uncomfortable and, needless to say, I cannot recommend it.
However... I am not willing to accept or look away from the deeply harmful, deeply problematic, and deeply upsetting messaging of white supremacy in this book. In the first half, I was under the impression that the proto-humans who opted to retreat south during the ice advance were implied to be essentially the ancestors of the Neanderthals. That would imply that all of modern-day humanity was descended from Dreng because, as it says, he became the first "true" or modern human with a modern human mind. By the end of the book, I was more aware than I wished to be that this was not what the author believed. The proto-humans who opted to retreat south are the ancestors of all non-white, non-European peoples, which implies exactly what you think it does, namely that non-white, non-European peoples are less than fully human. If you think that this is all legendary and not really meant to correspond one-to-one with any real-world history or peoples, Jensen directly states at one point that some of the descendants of those proto-humans were the peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus in the Americas.
Quite frankly, I find it extremely disconcerting that I have not been able to find any real discussion of this. A Nobel prize winner of literature should have his authorship subjected to deeper scrutiny, even if his novels were written a century ago. To me, this book feels as though it belongs to a very disturbing genre specific to the early twentieth century in which the racialised pseudo-science of the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries got mythologised and romanticised and thereby translated into emotionally-charged narratives to be consumed by the masses. Many people who did not read or otherwise engage with scientific narratives became familiar with these ideas through literature such as this. It was exactly this process of emotional manipulation offering a sense of belonging grounded in white supremacy that led to the rise of nationalist fascism over the decades following the publication of this book. This book made me feel very uncomfortable and, needless to say, I cannot recommend it.
August 17, 2012
Eerste en voor zover ik weet het enige in het Nederlands vertaalde deel van Jensens zesdelige romancyclus 'De lange reis' (Den lange Rejse: Første Bind).
Dit deel beschrijft hoe de steentijdmens tijdens de oudheid al zijn vaardigheden ontdekt. Deze worden ontdekt door twee 'Noorderlingen': de stamvader, Dreng (als eenogige een soort proto-Wodan) en zijn verre nakomeling Hvidbjörn (een soort proto-Thor). Met zijn tweetjes ontdekken zowat alles, van de lach en de missionarisstand tot de scheepvaart en het wiel.
Hoewel Jensen zich baseert op toenmalige wetenschappelijke inzichten is zijn roman pure ongeloofwaardige onzin, met bovendien vervelende rastheorie-achtige trekjes: de blanke, Noorderlijke übermenschen Dreng en Hvidbjörn worden telkens vergeleken met dom, gedegenereerd, zuidelijk 'oervolk' (wellicht geen wonder dat Jensen juist in 1944 de nobelprijs kreeg?).
Oké, het boek presenteert zichzelf duidelijk als mythe, maar mythische taal en stijlelementen zijn ver te zoeken. Jensen vertelt alles nogal uitleggerig en de poëtische passages zijn van een achterhaalde en voor de fin-de-siècle typische dweperigheid en sentimentaliteit. Spannend, interessant of verrassend wordt het maar één keer (het visioen van Dreng in 'De Vuursteen').
Dit boek is enorm verouderd en het is dus geen wonder dat het slechts in 1913 vertaald is. Bovendien ongelooflijk dat dit van dezelfde auteur is als het moderne en nog altijd frisse gedicht 'Op het station in Memphis'.
Dit deel beschrijft hoe de steentijdmens tijdens de oudheid al zijn vaardigheden ontdekt. Deze worden ontdekt door twee 'Noorderlingen': de stamvader, Dreng (als eenogige een soort proto-Wodan) en zijn verre nakomeling Hvidbjörn (een soort proto-Thor). Met zijn tweetjes ontdekken zowat alles, van de lach en de missionarisstand tot de scheepvaart en het wiel.
Hoewel Jensen zich baseert op toenmalige wetenschappelijke inzichten is zijn roman pure ongeloofwaardige onzin, met bovendien vervelende rastheorie-achtige trekjes: de blanke, Noorderlijke übermenschen Dreng en Hvidbjörn worden telkens vergeleken met dom, gedegenereerd, zuidelijk 'oervolk' (wellicht geen wonder dat Jensen juist in 1944 de nobelprijs kreeg?).
Oké, het boek presenteert zichzelf duidelijk als mythe, maar mythische taal en stijlelementen zijn ver te zoeken. Jensen vertelt alles nogal uitleggerig en de poëtische passages zijn van een achterhaalde en voor de fin-de-siècle typische dweperigheid en sentimentaliteit. Spannend, interessant of verrassend wordt het maar één keer (het visioen van Dreng in 'De Vuursteen').
Dit boek is enorm verouderd en het is dus geen wonder dat het slechts in 1913 vertaald is. Bovendien ongelooflijk dat dit van dezelfde auteur is als het moderne en nog altijd frisse gedicht 'Op het station in Memphis'.
March 29, 2021
Jeg læste den i 1.g og fandt den langsommelig. Det har sådan set ikke ændret sig. Det er en bog af sin tid og var aldrig gået i dag. Sproget er godt, men beskrivelserne langsommelige omend bogen er på ganske få sider. Et noget gammeldags menneskesyn og lidt naivt fremstillet.
April 6, 2023
Her er der noget at fundere over. Hvornår er et menneske, et menneske fx? Men mest af alt er det en fejring af menneskelivet. Vi skal ikke være så bange. Hvis der kommer istid tager vi et skind på og løber i dagevis efter en ren som vi spiser rå. Det skal nok gå det hele.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews