A new and lively voice in young Danish fiction
By May Schack
There is a devil-may-care narrative joy in Dy Plambeck’s novel which is populated by colourful characters who don't really fit in anywhere, but live their lives very far from generally accepted ideas of normality. The main character, Uffe, has grown up with a clingy father, who nevertheless throws him out when Uffe chooses to become a bricklayer rather than a butcher. The young Uffe joins a motorcycle gang – an environment captured vividly and with humour.
Uffe’s mother, Tenna, abandoned him when he was a baby. She has found it difficult to reintegrate since serving three years in prison after the Second World War when she was convicted of treason. Her crime: serving Germans in a canteen. Once out of prison she becomes the mistress of a successful cyclist who later dumps her in favour of his wife and career. Tenna tries to make it work with the gloomy Poul, but this half-hearted relationship lasts only until Uffe is born.
Uffe’s epiphany occurs at a motorcycle meet and he applies his newfound faith in a unique way; likewise he runs his small brick laying business in a rather unorthodox fashion. As a middle-aged man he tracks down his mother, moves in with her and becomes a dedicated godfather to his neighbour's daughter who accompanies him everywhere in his van emblazoned with the name Guldmureren (the Golden Brickie). Gudmureren (God’s Brickie) is excessive, he reasons.
The wild action - only hinted at here - is written in a fluid language that displays a vitality of imagination and the courage to write to the very edges of credibility. And yet we recognise so much, such as the depiction of a sparsely populated area at the fringes of society, which all rich countries have today. It is an attractive feature that the author never pities her characters, but offers them up as an alternative to middle-class ideals. It is as if many people today have succumbed to narrow ideas and restricted parameters for how life should be lived. Dy Plambeck challenges this in her second novel, which puts her on the map as a lively, new voice in young Danish fiction.
Translated by Charlotte Barslund
