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Do you know Danish? I could be wrong, but those novels are probably not translated as they a quite obscure, even in Denmark.

Its been so many years since i saw the American remake of Solaris that i can't really comment on that, but in the book both the planet and the space station plays a central role

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Unfortunately not — incidentally it was very frustrating as a Wallander fan that the book An Event in Autumn took years to be translated into English (it was first published in the Netherlands, weirdly ). It's also such a shame that many DVDs in Scandinavia don't provide English subtitles; I watched all of Rolf Lassgĺrd's early Wallanders on Swedish DVDs, without them .

I've seen bits of the original film but found it quite difficult to stay with.

Himlenes Bog (Le Livre des ciels) by Leslie Kaplan (1983) and Excess - The Factory by Leslie Kaplan (1982)

A newly translated selection of poems by Leslie Kaplan which is closely related Excess—The Factory by the same author. In a positive sense a very contrived selections of poems which a subtetly related to the youth revolt of 68, but more overly the daylie life of working in a factory.

Both books:

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (1912)

I got interested in this novel after seeing the adaptation to screen by Visconti. Its a very peculiar novel and i was flabbergasted by Manns prose. To some extent i guess that Nabokov was inspired by this. Both the film and the book are some of my favorites from recent years.





Skygger paa Jorden (Shadows on Earth) by Tove Meyer (1943)

A rather uninspiring selection of poems from Denmark during The Second World War. I dont have much to say about this, since i do not like to berate stuff, but this was definitely not worth my time.





Ansigterne (Faces) by Tove Ditlevsen (1968)

Tove Ditlevsen is an extremely interesting Danish author who suffered from bipolar disorder (manic-depression) such as myself. Ansigterne (Faces) is a well told novel of paranoid psychosis and hospitalisation in sixties psychiatry in Denmark. A very horrid account of madness and family struggle. Highly recommendable.

Not sure why you describe the book as “peculiar”, but I love both the book & the movie.

If you want something difficult, but very worthwhile, to read, I suggest Mann’s The Magic Mountain. One of my favorite books though I don’t understand at least a quarter of it.

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Hi Stirchley. I am not that good at English (I am from Denmark), but i used the word peculiar in terms of distinctive (or special). I hope that makes sense.

Right now i am reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and next up is The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon, but i have put The Magic Mountain on my to read list

Your use of peculiar in that sense was perfectly correct. There are a multitude of meanings for peculiar. However, in everyday English peculiar is used more in the sense of strange, odd, weird, which was not your meaning.

Watching Scandinavian tv shows (with subtitles) I am amazed how well the characters speak English when they have to. And Scandinavians seem to be able to speak English without a trace of a foreign accent. Alexander Skarsgĺrd, for example. Most impressive especially in view of the fact that the average Brit or American does not speak a 2nd language.

The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi (1986)

An interesting essay from a first account witness of the holocaust and closely related to Zygmunt Bauman's Modernity and the Holocaust from 1989. Primo Levi was an Italian Jew who spend eleven months in Auschwitz, later liberated by the red army, who later committed suicide.

Not for the faint of heart and a really important reflection on one of the biggest tragedies of the twentieth century.





Third-Millennium Heart by Ursula Andkjćr Olsen (2012)

Ursula Andkjćr Olsen is my favorite Danish poet writing today and Third-Millennium Heart is essentially a feminist work, encompassing the writers fury in the war between nature and culture.

Highly recommended.





Autoportrait by Édouard Levé (2005)

Suicide by Édouard Levé (2008)

Autoportrait is an interesting way of writing memoirs and as such closely related to Levé's later novel; Suicide, from 2005, but it lacks the latters depth of reflection. I was later told that Autoportrait is used in writing schools when writing memoirs, because it is a good way to start writing by using simple sentences and facts.

All in all both books are interesting, though i find Suicide a lot more impressive in terms of reflection and subject matter.



Occurrence In The Immediate Unreality by Max Blecher (1936)

A very sensitive and lyrical coming of age novel by Romanian novelist Max Blecher. A very interesting but difficult read which i am still digesting. I am really looking forward to reading his sanatorium novel Scarred Hearts from 1937.





Efter solen (After the Sun) by Jonas Eika Rasmussen (2018)

A really cool but odd selection of Danish Sci-fi short stories from one of my favorite publishers. Closely related and inspired by one of my favorite writers; William S. Burroughs. Both writers, writes incredible well and as such they are both similar to a lucid dream.

Highly recommended if you are in to feverish dreams and odd hallucinations.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (2010)

I loved The Corrections when it came out back in 2002, when i was an avid reader going to high school, being a teenager, so i was quite intrigued when i picked Freedom up in a thrift shop in my local neighborhood. Freedom describes a dysfunctional American family with in-depth characterizations over 700 pages. While as a sometimes misanthropic person i would normally love a book filled with antiheroes, Freedom most of all comes out as boring and without any real new insights to late modernity. Though i might have changed as a reader and normally i would not read something like a great American novel, this still ended as quite a disappointment.





Pisdrřm (****dream) by Zven Balslev (2019)

Zven Balslev is an artist who i have worked on and off with in 10 years. I have released several of his musical projects such as Cop Lord, Mok Nok and Heksehyl. Pisdrřm is an art book containing a huge amount of Zvens drawings and illustrations, among those 2 tattoo designs he made for me.

Recommended if you are into DIY punk aesthetics.





Forgribelser (Misappropriations) af Preben Major Sřrensen (2017)

A selections of novels from the Copenhagen based underground publisher Escho, which i got for free from the editor. Forgribelser is a sometimes heavy handed attack on the language and the text itself, but certainly interesting and really odd as well. I already bought another selection of novels from Preben Major Sřrensen; De dřdes vej (The Road of the Dead).





Forfatterens dřd og andre essays (The Death of the Author and Other Essays) by Roland Barthes (2002)

A really interesting selections of essays by Roland Barthes, which was my first venture into semiotics. A lot of it was way above my level of text understanding and criticism, though it was really thought provoking and original, though the textual communication could be a lot better.

Just bought it at a sale at my local antique store for 15 $. Hopefully i will have some time for it later this year.

Just out of interest, what Danish word would you have used to describe it ?

This is true. We used to say "Oooh, how queer!" but that got replaced .

I would have used distinkt, maybe speciel and rarely mćrkvćrdig.

Going by your description I'd probably say individual. Uncommon and atypical would also work .

And gosh forbid we say something is gay now. I had a girlfriend in London whose name was Gaye. Wonder how she likes her name now?

So you actually could have used the English word “distinct”.

I remember seeing an interview with Gabriel Byrne where he said that it used to be common in Ireland to shorten the name Gabriel to "Gay" (as in Gay Byrne of The Late Late Show). If memory serves he was working on reception at a gay club and someone asked "Are you gay?" to which he replied "Yes", assuming the other meaning.

America, the Farewell Tour— (2018) — Chris Hedges

Hedges revisits and updates some of his perennial topics: in the “Hate” chapter, he points out a decent life is only possible from a well-paying job that pays all the bills; widespread economic distress is the pathogen for social unrest. This chapter also contains some absolutely terrifying examples of confirmation bias when he touches base the Alt-Right community. Say for example, you are walking alongside a road and decide to make a game of spotting red cars, after a while you’ll be astonished at the number of red cars on the road. Play this little game religiously and after a while, red cars will be the only thing you will see. In Trump’s heartland, a cellphone capture of a vicious assault against a visible minority—because the Pinocchio press deliberately hides at a ratio of a hundred to one—this becomes the exact opposite in their minds, absolute proof of another attack against the losing home team, the American white skins.

In the “Heroin” chapter he points out heroin addiction is just the run-off from the opioid crisis. Hooked with free samples from the pill pushers from opioids so powerful they can rewire the brain for addiction with a single hit; after a pill junkie wears out their welcome at the local pharmacy, heroin can be purchased for a fraction of the price on any street corner; both are basically both pain-numbers.

I liked this because I thought there was a slight uptick in the writer’s style. In past books, you could hear at certain times, Hedges thumping away at the pulpit; he was headed into the priesthood as a young man but ended up going into journalism instead but he can still craft a great sermon in his sleep. Is the book depressing? Well, only if the actual world around you seems depressing.

America, the Farewell Tour—★★★

Pulp magma: tegninger, grafik, etc. 2006-2016 (Pulp Magma: Drawings, Graphics etc. 2006-2016) by Zven Balslev (2017)


Pulp Magma is an art book with drawings and posters by Danish artist Zven Balslev. I have worked together with Zven for 10 years, so this is a personal and subjective recommendation. I have released several musical cassettes with Zvens projects; Mok Nok, Cop Lord and Heksehyl and he has designed two of my tattoos. Pulp Magma is showcasing a lot of what has happened in the underground music and art scene here in Copenhagen and i would highly recommend it, or at least follow Zvens instagram





Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates by Slavoj Žižek (2001)

As a marxist inspired by Antonio Gramsci i should probably be in the cult following of Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, but that is definitely not the case in my reading of the first book of his. While Žižek has some interesting points and comparisons, the book is too rambling, and could in my opinion be better communicated or mediated. I am not sure i could recommend the book, but i was an interesting read.





In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays by Bertrand Russel (1935)

Another personal recommendation. In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays was translated into Danish by my girlfriend in 2016 (En hyldest til leddiggang) and as an eternity student i can personally relate to Betrand Russels endeavours in his essay. As a counterweight to recent neoliberal politics, "goalless" activities seems more and more like a fitting contester to the competitive state.

Something Will Happen, You’ll See by Christos Ikonomou (2010)

I am going to Athens on my only holiday this year, so my girlfriend borrowed me this collection of short stories by Christos Ikonomou, which is set during the financial crisis of Greece som years ago. It is a heartfelt description of tough times, but for me personally, it goes down the socialrealist road way to much and the book could definitely have edited a few stories or maybe a more slim version of the book could be feasible.





Ideale begivenheder (Ideal Events) by Signe Gjessing (2016)

A few months ago i did a reception for 5 of our new music releases in Funeral Tapes. At that reception there was a concert by Enids, a reading by Lars Emil-Woetmann and a reading by Signe Gjessing. Signe did a reading which encompassed the whole of her latest book; Ideale begivenheder or Ideal Events. The reading was very special, comprising of the authors fragility and the text cosmic surrealism. Its a very special book and Signe Gjessing is a very special author.

Recommended if you are into cosmic poetry

Force Majeure by Zven Balslev, Jonas Okholm Jensen, T. R. Kirstein (2018)

A small selection of drawings and poems. To small a selection to be really impressed, but i like all of the authors and Jonas Okholm Jensen did a reading at my birthday. I would be interested in seeing a bigger collaboration by these artists.





Péché Mignon by Anne Van Der Linden (2019)

A really interesting art book by local publisher Cult Pump, run by Zven Balslev. 35 silkscreened illustration by French artist Anne Van Der Linden. Recommended if you are into Art Brut.





Gadens parlament (The Street Parliament) by Malene Meisner (2012)

A really interesting collection of posters ranging from a period of 30 years covering the radical left wing in Copenhagen. Mostly interesting if you have been a part of it or if you are into poster art.

Christopher Moore is an author that I wish would get a shot at the movies. he has several movie options purchased for his books, but has yet to have a film actually made of his work. He is sort of a dark comedy writer, a lot of druggy humor. I often find him laugh out loud funny. He has written many books and many of them have recurring characters from both fictional (Pine Cove, Ca.) to actual locations (San Francisco). He has his Pine Cove Books (The Practical Art of Demon Keeping, The Stupidest Angel, and The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove). He has his vampire series set in San Fransisco (Blood Sucking Fiends, You Suck, and Bite Me). He also has a two book series set in San Francisco: Dirty Job and Second Hand Souls) You need to read his books in order because the stories overlap. In You Suck and Dirty job he has one character from each story line talking to the other. He also has several one shot stories and a couple of two shot stories.

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Dem...ateway&sr=8-13
A Link to his Novels.