Tove Ditlevsen

The second volume in The Copenhagen Trilogy, the searing portrait of a woman's journey through love, friendship, ambition and addiction, from one of Denmark's most celebrated twentieth-century writers Forced to leave school early, Tove embarks on a chequered career in a string of low-paid, menial jobs. But she is hungry: for poetry, for love, for real life to begin. As Europe slides into war, she must navigate exploitative bosses, a Nazi landlady and unwelcome sexual encounters on the road to hard-won independence. Yet she remains ruthlessly determined in the pursuit of her poetic vocation - until at last the miracle she has always dreamed of appears to be within reach. Youth, the second volume in The Copenhagen Trilogy, is a strikingly honest and immersive portrait of adolescence, filled with biting humour, vulnerability and poeticism.

Youth

Tove beschreibt in schönen Worten das Gefühl des allein Seins und den Wunsch sich zu verlieben. Sie stammt aus einer Arbeiter Familie und beschreibt schmerzlich wie es ist sich in der eigenen Familie fremd und anders zu fühlen. 

Finia

The acclaimed Danish poet Tove Ditlevsen’s autobiographical Copenhagen Trilogy ("A masterpiece" —The Guardian) continues with Youth. Following Childhood, this second volume finds the young author consumed in trials by fire that only fuel her relentless passion for artistic freedom—placing her on a devastating and destructive path recounted in the final volume, Dependency. Forced to leave school early, Tove embarks on a checkered career in a string of low-paid, menial jobs. But she is hungry: for poetry, for love, for real life to begin. As Europe slides into war, she must navigate exploitative bosses, a Nazi landlady, and unwelcome sexual encounters on the road to hard-won independence. Yet she remains ruthlessly determined in the pursuit of her poetic vocation—until at last the miracle she has always dreamed of appears to be within reach. Youth, the second volume in the Copenhagen Trilogy, is a strikingly honest and immersive portrait of adolescence, filled with biting humor, vulnerability, and poeticism.

The Copenhagen Trilogy: Book 2

Maria

“Being young is itself temporary, fragile, and ephemeral. You have to get through it–it has no other meaning.”  
a solid 3.5, although i didn’t find this second installment in the Copenhagen Trilogy as gripping as the first. as tove grows up, and her desire for emancipation and becoming a published poet becomes more acute, the book itself becomes more like a chronicle of events, and is less focused on her musings of the world around her, which i had deeply enjoyed in the first novel. still, this was an easy, short read, and i’m curious to see how the last installment shapes up to be.

Youth

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