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Colleen Dewhurst reads stories by Isak Dinesen: Babette's Feast & Sorrow-Acre
"Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: give me leave to do my utmost." This line from "Babette's Feast" lends itself to both of the stories in this audio collection, which tell of unbreakable human spirit and total commitment to life choices. "Babette's Feast," now an award-winning film, takes a humorous look at a pure-spirited community in which love, lost youth, self-denial, and creative urges contribute to making the right choices. And "Sorrow-Acre," the most anthologized of Isak Dinesen's stories, challenges the most profound choice of all. Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Colleen Dewhurst's warm, sensitive interpretation reveals the subtle beauty of Dinesen's prose.
3 pages, Audiobook
First published December 16, 1999
6 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Isak Dinesen
157 books582 followersPseudonym used by the Danish author Karen Blixen.
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (Danish: [kʰɑːɑn ˈb̥leɡ̊sn̩]), born Karen Christentze Dinesen, was a Danish author, also known by the pen name Isak Dinesen, who wrote works in Danish, French and English. She also at times used the pen names Tania Blixen, Osceola, and Pierre Andrézel.
Blixen is best known for Out of Africa, an account of her life while living in Kenya, and for one of her stories, "Babette's Feast," both of which have been adapted into Academy Award-winning motion pictures. She is also noted for her Seven Gothic Tales, particularly in Denmark.
(wikipedia)
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (Danish: [kʰɑːɑn ˈb̥leɡ̊sn̩]), born Karen Christentze Dinesen, was a Danish author, also known by the pen name Isak Dinesen, who wrote works in Danish, French and English. She also at times used the pen names Tania Blixen, Osceola, and Pierre Andrézel.
Blixen is best known for Out of Africa, an account of her life while living in Kenya, and for one of her stories, "Babette's Feast," both of which have been adapted into Academy Award-winning motion pictures. She is also noted for her Seven Gothic Tales, particularly in Denmark.
(wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
February 2, 2023
Review for Sorrow-Acre only: The Danish writer also known as Karen Blixen is better known for her memoir Out of Africa. However, she also wrote a number of short story and this is among her most famous. Unfortunately i did not resist until the end as I was falling asleep while reading. Too descriptive. I believe that the reader needs to be grabbed from the start when it comes to stories. There isn't much time to convince the reader of one's quality as a writer. By plot or prose, attention has to be won which did not happen in this case.
February 25, 2020
My second attempt at audio and can definitely say, audio is just not for me. Even though I enjoyed Colleen Dewhurst's reading (have always loved her acting and her distinctive voice), I found it both difficult to focus and frustrating that it seemed to continually get interrupted and not able to "start over" as I would have with a book.
So, that is a review of listening to audio. Now, for the stories. I loved Babette's Feast. Beautifully written, totally captivating, completely Dinesen at her best--I'd have given it alone 5-stars. Sorrow-Acre not as much. Less clear to me what the story was really trying to say, but the same lovely command of language that characterizes Dinesen's writing in general. 3.5-stars. Thus, the 4-star rating.
No more audio for me. Back to pages that can be read. My mind seems to work better that way.
So, that is a review of listening to audio. Now, for the stories. I loved Babette's Feast. Beautifully written, totally captivating, completely Dinesen at her best--I'd have given it alone 5-stars. Sorrow-Acre not as much. Less clear to me what the story was really trying to say, but the same lovely command of language that characterizes Dinesen's writing in general. 3.5-stars. Thus, the 4-star rating.
No more audio for me. Back to pages that can be read. My mind seems to work better that way.
February 7, 2022
I enjoyed this reading and yet suspect it would be better read than listened to. Colleen Dewhurst is very good, but Dinesen is dense with ideas and following in text would have helped me follow the ideas.
Babette's Feast was more familiar to me than Sorrow-Acre. I want to re-listen to S-A, I think. I know I missed some of what Dinesen was trying to say.
I noted similarities in style with the small amounts of Kristin Lavransdattar I've read ... I suspect this would be a good first read.
Babette's Feast was more familiar to me than Sorrow-Acre. I want to re-listen to S-A, I think. I know I missed some of what Dinesen was trying to say.
I noted similarities in style with the small amounts of Kristin Lavransdattar I've read ... I suspect this would be a good first read.
September 3, 2024
September 2024 — I read the two stories in the opposite order than they appear in the book. Last time, "Sorrow Acre" felt like a fairy tale; this time, it felt like a parable. God's ways are not our ways in His ordaining of hard providences, but He has trustworthy purposes. And what else can I say about "Babette's Feast"? It would enchant the angels.
*****
February 2022 — I've seen the wonderful film version of Babette's Feast, a few times, so I was happy to see how faithful is was to the original story. I can't even say "The book was better," because the movie is so good, but the was the book, and worthy of such a fine adaptation.
Sorrow Acre was almost fairy-taleish, which is the only thing that made it bearable.
Dinesen wrote beautifully and her stories are powerful. I wish there'd been more than just the two in this edition.
It was very fun to have them read by Marilla Cuthbert, but I'm not sure she was quite the right choice for the job.
*****
February 2022 — I've seen the wonderful film version of Babette's Feast, a few times, so I was happy to see how faithful is was to the original story. I can't even say "The book was better," because the movie is so good, but the was the book, and worthy of such a fine adaptation.
Sorrow Acre was almost fairy-taleish, which is the only thing that made it bearable.
Dinesen wrote beautifully and her stories are powerful. I wish there'd been more than just the two in this edition.
It was very fun to have them read by Marilla Cuthbert, but I'm not sure she was quite the right choice for the job.
May 19, 2018
Babette's Feast is one of those stories I come back to again and again. A masterpiece of storytelling, so simply done it has been largely overlooked. I wasn't sure about Colleen Dewhurst's gravelly voice at first, but forgot about it almost immediately and was swallowed up in the story. I call that a success.
September 11, 2021
Babette's Feast is one of those stories that sneaks up on you, and once you are quiet and still and waiting, that when you realize greatness is unfolding. This story, and all the little stories within a story begin to charm you, like the reader you are, and soon you are sinking into a good reading position, and you read on.
Babette shows us how to carry on in the face of the worst, how to be humble and patient and still win the race by realizing the truth that the negative space carries as much weight as does all that conspicuous clutter. Restraint, wonder, patience, planning her art, expecting nothing but her own joy in the doing of it and watching the ripples that flow therefrom.
A wonder of a story, and the storyteller wraps you up so well, so tightly, that the moment the story is done, you gasp. . . just a little. . . at the abandonment of it. With your next breath, you want more.
Babette shows us how to carry on in the face of the worst, how to be humble and patient and still win the race by realizing the truth that the negative space carries as much weight as does all that conspicuous clutter. Restraint, wonder, patience, planning her art, expecting nothing but her own joy in the doing of it and watching the ripples that flow therefrom.
A wonder of a story, and the storyteller wraps you up so well, so tightly, that the moment the story is done, you gasp. . . just a little. . . at the abandonment of it. With your next breath, you want more.
August 10, 2023
Babette's Feast took me completely by surprise. I expected a more straightforward take on the ways that the ideals of piety and virtue shape small Protestant communities, but instead got something that would have taken Dostoevsky around 1000 pages to say, and he would have been much too cowardly to write. Dinesen pinpoints the complexity of the relationship between an artist and their audience in a single page, and how that meaning in the artist's life often trumps other ideals.
Sorrow-Acre was less impactful, which is ironic, considering the events in the story are exponentially more dramatic. It was not told from the point of view of the only character I would have wanted to hear from, and the story suffered for it.
Sorrow-Acre was less impactful, which is ironic, considering the events in the story are exponentially more dramatic. It was not told from the point of view of the only character I would have wanted to hear from, and the story suffered for it.
October 2, 2013
This begins with a fine description of "the low, undulating Danish landscape," a rumination of the lives of men, the poor peasants and the rich landlords, slowly turning its focus on a big house where a young man named Adam returns to from England, the house of his boyhood now belonging to his rich uncle whose own son, his only child, had died a young man before he (son) could marry the 17-year-old girl who is now his (father's) wife.
I thought Adam and this young wife would hook up and create trouble in paradise, what with the old, stern and powerful uncle (on TV this would have been inevitable). But it didn't. So one reviewer her said "this was the most boring fucking story i've read in a long time."
Great expectations kill the excitement sometimes. but we have the unusual ordeal of Ann-Marie, the mother which Adam's uncle gave a seemingly impossible task to save her son: to mow a field of rye in a day, something which ordinarily would take three men to do in a day, or a single man in three days. Adam attempts to help her, to no avail, as his uncle refused. Anne-Marie completes the task, however, and saves her son yet she dies of exhaustion (probably) as the sun sets. Then Adam understood why these things must be.
"In the place where the woman had died the old lord later on had a stone set up, with a sickle engraved on it. The peasants on the land then named the rye field 'Sorrow-Acre.' By this name it was known a long time after the story of the woman and her son had itself been forgotten."
By Isak Dinesen (1885-1962).
I thought Adam and this young wife would hook up and create trouble in paradise, what with the old, stern and powerful uncle (on TV this would have been inevitable). But it didn't. So one reviewer her said "this was the most boring fucking story i've read in a long time."
Great expectations kill the excitement sometimes. but we have the unusual ordeal of Ann-Marie, the mother which Adam's uncle gave a seemingly impossible task to save her son: to mow a field of rye in a day, something which ordinarily would take three men to do in a day, or a single man in three days. Adam attempts to help her, to no avail, as his uncle refused. Anne-Marie completes the task, however, and saves her son yet she dies of exhaustion (probably) as the sun sets. Then Adam understood why these things must be.
"In the place where the woman had died the old lord later on had a stone set up, with a sickle engraved on it. The peasants on the land then named the rye field 'Sorrow-Acre.' By this name it was known a long time after the story of the woman and her son had itself been forgotten."
By Isak Dinesen (1885-1962).
January 24, 2018
These are both short stories/vignettes, by Danish writer Isak Dineson, the pseudonym of Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa and her writing is superb.
"Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost." So writes Dinesen in Babette's Feast as she spins a tale of friendship's ultimate sacrifice and the deepest values of life.
Sorrow-Acre is a lyrical story of heartbreaking beauty about an old woman who gives her life for her son's life. These two complete stories echo Babette's plea with haunting poignancy. I listened to the audio book.
"Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost." So writes Dinesen in Babette's Feast as she spins a tale of friendship's ultimate sacrifice and the deepest values of life.
Sorrow-Acre is a lyrical story of heartbreaking beauty about an old woman who gives her life for her son's life. These two complete stories echo Babette's plea with haunting poignancy. I listened to the audio book.
September 3, 2013
Babette was not as good as the movie. Sorrow-Acre was too depressing for me. But both are thought provoking.
Two short stories - just over an hour each.
BABETTE’S FEAST
I saw the movie many years ago and liked it. It stayed in my mind. I hoped the book would be better, but it was not.
CAUTION SPOILER:
Two pious religious sisters have lived their lives helping others, eating simple food, denying themselves love and enjoyments in life. Babette’s husband and boys were killed. She flees to Norway where she cooks and works for the sisters for no money, for many years. When Babette wins the lottery, she uses all that money to create one meal for the sisters and their friends - expensive wines, a live turtle for soup, etc. The sisters do not want to show that they enjoy food, but the meal is so great that it brings out things in people. The sisters did not know until after the meal that Babette was one of the great chefs of France. This was about the artist’s need to create. She spent her entire lottery winnings on one creation.
I did not see as many reactions and changes in people in the book as I did in the movie.
--------------------------------------
SORROW-ACRE:
It was too depressing, but it was thought provoking.
CAUTION SPOILER:
Set in the 1800s or earlier when peasants worked the fields for a lord (local ruler or land owner) in Denmark. A boy is accused of burning a building and will be sent to jail or something. His mother begs for mercy. The lord says if the mother can cut all the rye in a field in one day, then the boy will be set free. This is the work for three men. The mother does it but dies within minutes of cutting the last stalk. The boy cries as he hugs his mother. The lord sets the boy free. The idea is that the lord gave the mother tremendous power to save a life. It is rare for people to be given that much power. I hated the lord for doing it. He had that much power, and he used it to kill.
--------------------------------------
The narrator Colleen Dewhurst was good.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook length: 2 hrs and 35 mins. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: none. Setting: Babette: 1800s Norway; Sorrow: 1800s or earlier Denmark. Book copyright: Babette: 1958; Sorrow: 1940. Genre: fiction.
Two short stories - just over an hour each.
BABETTE’S FEAST
I saw the movie many years ago and liked it. It stayed in my mind. I hoped the book would be better, but it was not.
CAUTION SPOILER:
Two pious religious sisters have lived their lives helping others, eating simple food, denying themselves love and enjoyments in life. Babette’s husband and boys were killed. She flees to Norway where she cooks and works for the sisters for no money, for many years. When Babette wins the lottery, she uses all that money to create one meal for the sisters and their friends - expensive wines, a live turtle for soup, etc. The sisters do not want to show that they enjoy food, but the meal is so great that it brings out things in people. The sisters did not know until after the meal that Babette was one of the great chefs of France. This was about the artist’s need to create. She spent her entire lottery winnings on one creation.
I did not see as many reactions and changes in people in the book as I did in the movie.
--------------------------------------
SORROW-ACRE:
It was too depressing, but it was thought provoking.
CAUTION SPOILER:
Set in the 1800s or earlier when peasants worked the fields for a lord (local ruler or land owner) in Denmark. A boy is accused of burning a building and will be sent to jail or something. His mother begs for mercy. The lord says if the mother can cut all the rye in a field in one day, then the boy will be set free. This is the work for three men. The mother does it but dies within minutes of cutting the last stalk. The boy cries as he hugs his mother. The lord sets the boy free. The idea is that the lord gave the mother tremendous power to save a life. It is rare for people to be given that much power. I hated the lord for doing it. He had that much power, and he used it to kill.
--------------------------------------
The narrator Colleen Dewhurst was good.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook length: 2 hrs and 35 mins. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: none. Setting: Babette: 1800s Norway; Sorrow: 1800s or earlier Denmark. Book copyright: Babette: 1958; Sorrow: 1940. Genre: fiction.
August 25, 2022
There is some common quality among these Nordic and Russian authors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which surpasses most any other literary tradition for it’s depth of plumbing the human experience without overstatement. Like Chekhov, Ibsen, and Tolstoy, Karen Blixen (aka Isak Dinesen) captures very deep and complex human experiences without shying away from religious and social complexities. In her work, the folk and fae traditions also shine through.
Babette’s Feast is set up with familiar elements that take on a sort of fairy tale liveliness. When two aging religious sisters take in a French refugee as a charity, she surprises them with her devotion and ability to bring cleanliness, cheer, and greater order into their lives and the lives of the people in their religious order. When, after years of devout services, she has a windfall and comes into 10,000 francs, her one desire is to throw a glorious French feast for these bland and puritanical ascetics. The people fear her lavish and supposedly disgusting French cuisine, but in charity they decide to partake of it. In her charity toward them and their charity toward her, a once in a lifetime convergence of physical feasting pleasures and social bon amis are conjured up. In the end, one is left reflecting on what can be hoped for in the life to come.
Sorrow’s Acres feels exactly like so many story told by Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, and Ibsen. Young Adam comes home after a pleasant life abroad when he finds out he is the heir apparent to his uncle’s estate. In returning home, he is brought into the midst of an odd bit of local justice his uncle is imparting among the local peasants and must discern if he will attempt to cope with his social position or seek his fortunes outside of the construct he has been born to perpetuate and which will defined him.
These are short and sometimes details are left without a resolve, but they’re thought provoking and moving and I want to read more by Dinesen/Blixen.
Babette’s Feast is set up with familiar elements that take on a sort of fairy tale liveliness. When two aging religious sisters take in a French refugee as a charity, she surprises them with her devotion and ability to bring cleanliness, cheer, and greater order into their lives and the lives of the people in their religious order. When, after years of devout services, she has a windfall and comes into 10,000 francs, her one desire is to throw a glorious French feast for these bland and puritanical ascetics. The people fear her lavish and supposedly disgusting French cuisine, but in charity they decide to partake of it. In her charity toward them and their charity toward her, a once in a lifetime convergence of physical feasting pleasures and social bon amis are conjured up. In the end, one is left reflecting on what can be hoped for in the life to come.
Sorrow’s Acres feels exactly like so many story told by Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, and Ibsen. Young Adam comes home after a pleasant life abroad when he finds out he is the heir apparent to his uncle’s estate. In returning home, he is brought into the midst of an odd bit of local justice his uncle is imparting among the local peasants and must discern if he will attempt to cope with his social position or seek his fortunes outside of the construct he has been born to perpetuate and which will defined him.
These are short and sometimes details are left without a resolve, but they’re thought provoking and moving and I want to read more by Dinesen/Blixen.
March 25, 2021
Wow.
I'm not one for short stories usually, but these were the shining exception!
Two beautifully crafted tales, one in Norway one in Denmark. Both with endearing characters and descriptions so well crafted, you could see it all so clearly.
Having heard of "Babette's Feast" for many years as a movie (which I have yet to see...) I was thrilled to find that it was a story! A tale of charity, goodwill, and the selfless sacrifices of a well prepared meal. For those that enjoy being in the kitchen, you will delight in all the little mentions of dishes, ingredients, and wine (is that a turtle in the kitchen?!)
"Sorrow Acre" was a sad tale of justice, maternal love, and the nostalgia that we all blissfully enjoy yet grieve.
The best part: Colleen Dewhurst narrates. Where are my Anne of Green Gables people? You know you love that deep gravely voice Marilla has :)
I'm not one for short stories usually, but these were the shining exception!
Two beautifully crafted tales, one in Norway one in Denmark. Both with endearing characters and descriptions so well crafted, you could see it all so clearly.
Having heard of "Babette's Feast" for many years as a movie (which I have yet to see...) I was thrilled to find that it was a story! A tale of charity, goodwill, and the selfless sacrifices of a well prepared meal. For those that enjoy being in the kitchen, you will delight in all the little mentions of dishes, ingredients, and wine (is that a turtle in the kitchen?!)
"Sorrow Acre" was a sad tale of justice, maternal love, and the nostalgia that we all blissfully enjoy yet grieve.
The best part: Colleen Dewhurst narrates. Where are my Anne of Green Gables people? You know you love that deep gravely voice Marilla has :)
April 2, 2018
Lovely. This was my first time reading (or hearing) Babette's Feast, though I loved the foreign film adaptation of it from 30 or more years ago). It was a lovely and gently humorous expose of human foibles, and a heart-warming story. I will need to re-read Sorrow-Acre at some point since I somehow got distracted in the middle, so I don;t think it made a proper impact on me. It is a much more sorrowful tale. But the author's prose are beautiful, and she is a keen observer of the human condition. I enjoyed these.
March 26, 2023
I picked up the book for Babette‘s feast because of its Eucharistic meaning, and it was a good read much better than a movie, because so much of what happens is internal, but I also read the second short story sorrow acre this author is very skilled at short story, and can say in a few words, things have such profound meaning that between that and my ignorance of Denmark, it’s harder to grasp the essence of what was going on Still I appreciated her capacity for writing so beautifully, and I was able to ponder some of what she was trying to convey through the second work
May 10, 2025
I came to these stories with more maturity than when I saw the movie “Babette’s Feast,” and I had never read “Sorrow Acre.” Both stories effectively create a strong mood. The first beautifully builds a plot populated by people with missed opportunities and fortunate opportunities and is in part about the meaning of food in our lives. Both have strong character sketches, but the second one creates struggling and introspective characters who raise the question does aging build character and wisdom. Both stories question what is redemption.
January 29, 2020
This is not a review. It is just a note to commemorate a Gold Star Reading/Listening Day.
I have been intimidated by Isak Dinesen since 1998 when I took a class from a brilliant professor who had read so many books that I felt like a girl lately crawled out of a cave to encounter Lady Prometheus, handing out flaming manna to replace the dirt I had been eating. Though the professor did not teach Dinesen that semester, she suggested her stories for future reading. I found Out of Africa and Seven Gothic Tales, but I tarried with reading the rest of Dinesen’s fiction. I know it seems silly to have already read an author and stop because you love the work. I think, for me, Dinesen’s tales so much represented my child self’s idea of Literature (the capital “L” intended) that I was afraid that when I read the whole oeuvre, I would no longer have a book to approach with that little girl’s wonder. I know this is an issue for all readers; everyone has their unicorn. Dinesen has been mine.
Yesterday, I chanced upon an audiobook of Colleen Dewhurst reading “Babette’s Feast” and “Sorrow-Acre”—a delightful coincidence since the professor who introduced me to Dinesen looked so much like Dewhurst with her hair in a French twist and her finger holding her place in a book. So, I sat on the floor, leaning against my bed, and experienced an enchanted afternoon. And I finally felt ready, though still not worthy, to remove my copy of Winter’s Tales from the shelf.
I have been intimidated by Isak Dinesen since 1998 when I took a class from a brilliant professor who had read so many books that I felt like a girl lately crawled out of a cave to encounter Lady Prometheus, handing out flaming manna to replace the dirt I had been eating. Though the professor did not teach Dinesen that semester, she suggested her stories for future reading. I found Out of Africa and Seven Gothic Tales, but I tarried with reading the rest of Dinesen’s fiction. I know it seems silly to have already read an author and stop because you love the work. I think, for me, Dinesen’s tales so much represented my child self’s idea of Literature (the capital “L” intended) that I was afraid that when I read the whole oeuvre, I would no longer have a book to approach with that little girl’s wonder. I know this is an issue for all readers; everyone has their unicorn. Dinesen has been mine.
Yesterday, I chanced upon an audiobook of Colleen Dewhurst reading “Babette’s Feast” and “Sorrow-Acre”—a delightful coincidence since the professor who introduced me to Dinesen looked so much like Dewhurst with her hair in a French twist and her finger holding her place in a book. So, I sat on the floor, leaning against my bed, and experienced an enchanted afternoon. And I finally felt ready, though still not worthy, to remove my copy of Winter’s Tales from the shelf.
June 17, 2015
"Babette's Feast" is an almost perfect short story. The matter and tone of the conclusion differ slightly from the film, which is the superior version. Both have integrity. The second story ("Sorrow-Acre") is set in the author's home country. Just as sensuous and delicate as "Babette," it has two lose strands, both pregnant with feeling and drama. I'm not sure what to make of them. I know "Babette" so well that I can see how all the pieces fit together; I can't say the same of "Sorrow-Acre." I won't be reading more of her work soon.
February 18, 2013
One of my most favorite books of all time. I have read this book so many times and own the movie rendention. To give a book 5 stars is a serious matter that I do not take lightly. So, I can say that I rarely give 5 stars to any book. Need I say more?
November 2, 2022
This Audible offering is available as part of a Prime subscription at no extra charge. The narrator is Colleen Dewhurst and she is perfect for these two short stories.
1. Babette’s Feast is a soft, hopeful story that presents a story of two pious sisters, their maid/cook (Babette) and the community that the draw around them as a comforting shrug. I had never read Babette but was sort of knowledgeable of the basic premise. Other than actually getting to know the characters, the best part of the story were the side story lines that surrounded the main story of Babette. An excellent story.
2. Sorrow-Acre was a story that I had never heard of so I went in with no expectations. This story focuses on a mother’s courage, dedication and determination to secure a better life for her son than the peasant existence he has had. I was mesmerized by this one. It was a slow, gentle story of a remarkable woman and her love and dedication to her son. I am not going to say anything else to avoid spoilers. But I have not been able to stop thinking about it since the last word. I expect that I will go back and listen to this one more than once. It has taken up a place in my heart.
1. Babette’s Feast is a soft, hopeful story that presents a story of two pious sisters, their maid/cook (Babette) and the community that the draw around them as a comforting shrug. I had never read Babette but was sort of knowledgeable of the basic premise. Other than actually getting to know the characters, the best part of the story were the side story lines that surrounded the main story of Babette. An excellent story.
2. Sorrow-Acre was a story that I had never heard of so I went in with no expectations. This story focuses on a mother’s courage, dedication and determination to secure a better life for her son than the peasant existence he has had. I was mesmerized by this one. It was a slow, gentle story of a remarkable woman and her love and dedication to her son. I am not going to say anything else to avoid spoilers. But I have not been able to stop thinking about it since the last word. I expect that I will go back and listen to this one more than once. It has taken up a place in my heart.
March 21, 2018
Five stars because Babette's Feast was incredible. I'd never seen the film, so it was all a surprise... A lot of descriptions call it a story about an artist's need to create; it was that, but even more it was a story about the limitless generosity of God's grace. I kept thinking it was like Flannery O'Connor but more cheerful.
The second story kept putting me to sleep.
The second story kept putting me to sleep.
July 5, 2021
I previously reviewed Babette's feast, so this review is specifically for the short story Sorrow-Acre. I am sure that literary types will expound upon the metaphors about love, and sacrifice, duty, honor, and justice. And I can see all of those things in this story, but I seemingly did not connect with on any great level.
May 3, 2024
I love Babette’s Feast (partly because of the movie) from beginning to end. Sorrow-Acre is short, asks many questions without providing answers. It leaves some characters in the shadows while insinuating they will play a larger role later on (long after this story has ended). Lovely descriptions of the landscape, poignant ones of the society it portrays.
October 27, 2020
The blurb states that "Babette's Feast" is now an award-winning film. Where? Why? What changes were made? I have a feeling it's NOT an American film.
I understood the stories. They narration was beautiful...but yeah...I'm thankful they were short.
I understood the stories. They narration was beautiful...but yeah...I'm thankful they were short.
December 29, 2021
Babettes Feast is faithfully adapted into a beautiful film. And it was from watching the film that o decided to listen to these two stories narrated by Colleen Dewhurst.
They are full of beautiful metaphors and descriptions and were thoroughly enjoyable and moving.
They are full of beautiful metaphors and descriptions and were thoroughly enjoyable and moving.
July 17, 2022
I watched the movie in college, but didn't realize it was from a short story- with how short the story is, you could read it in the time to watch the movie! It's a lovely well-written short story.
Sorrow-Acre was new to me, but also very lovely.
Listened via hoopla
Sorrow-Acre was new to me, but also very lovely.
Listened via hoopla
December 7, 2022
These two short stories were a perfect advent read, showing a self-sacrifice that is a reminder of the even greater incarnational sacrifice of our Lord. Will probably listen to them again before I return them to Hoopla.
December 16, 2022
This is a strong 3.5. I loved Babbette's Feast and enjoyed Sorrow-Acre less. The narration is excellent, but I think this would be a more enjoyable read than listen. I want to revisit this when I can read more slowly.
February 16, 2018
The stories were pretty good but the reader was uninteresting and difficult to listen to.
November 13, 2018
Babette’s Feast is an extraordinary story, while Sorrow’s Acre was hard for me to follow.
April 23, 2020
Dinesen is such a gifted storyteller.
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