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Herman Bang (1857-1912) was a sharp-witted observer of the society and manners of his age; with an eye for telling details, he could at one moment mercilessly puncture hypocrisy and arrogance, at the next invoke indignant sympathy for the outcasts and failures of a ruthlessly competitive world. In his novels and especially in his short stories he often takes as his protagonist an unremarkable character who might be dismissed by a casual observer as uninteresting: a failed ballet dancer who scrapes a living as a peripatetic dance teacher in outlying villages ('Irene Holm'), or a lodging-house-keeper's daughter who toils from dawn to dusk to make ends meet ('Frøken Caja'). He can also make wicked fun of pretensions and plots, as in 'The Ravens', where the family of the aging Frøken Sejer are scheming to have her declared incapable, whilst she is selling off her valuables behind their backs to cheat them of their inheritance. His wide-ranging journalism has many targets, alerting readers to the wretched poverty hidden just a few steps from the thriving city shops or the ineptitude of Europe's ruling houses - as well as celebrating the innovations of the modern age, such as the automobile or the department store.
About the author
Herman Bang (1857-1912) was a prolific author and journalist. He is best known for his short stories and novels, many of which focus on 'lives of quiet desperation', including Tina (1889) about an unregarded working-class girl whose fate is intertwined with the events of the Dano-Prussian war of 1864, and Katinka (1886), which describes the existence of a station-master's wife, watching from behind the windows as the trains - and the excitements of life - pass her by. His multi-faceted journalism appeared in newspapers and journals around Europe, and was at times so outspoken that he was banned from several European countries. He was a popular reader and performer of his own works, and died on a train in America while on a world tour to promote his writing.
Summary
Herman Bang was well known in his lifetime, but in the English-speaking world he has had little impact. Even now, only a couple of his novels have been translated. This volume is an attempt to remedy this lack by introducing a broad selection of his short stories and journalism to a new public.
