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* Susan C. Brandy. Undertanding Isak Dinesen. Columbia, sc: u South Carolina P, 2002. Pp. xv + 235.
The University of South Carolina Press's Understanding Modern European and Latin American Literature series sets out to provide "guides for undergraduate and graduate students and nonacademic readers" that "are conceived as introductions to the authors covered, not as comprehensive analyses" (vii) according to the editor's preface in the current volume. This target audience and focus is important to keep in mind in assessing Susan Brandy's most recent contribution to Dinesen scholarship. The text consists of a chronology, a general introduction to Dinesen's work and five analysis chapters focusing on Seven Gothic Tales, Out of Africa, Winter's Tales, Last Tales, and Anecdotes of Destiny together with Ehrengard, respectively. Brandy presents an argument for leaving out The Angelic Avengers (Dinesen "did not like to have it considered as part of her serious work" [143]) but does not explain why she does not discuss Shadows on the Grass in conjunction with Out of Africa. The book also contains both a selected bibliography of secondary literature in English as well as reliable endnotes that give references for scholarly works cited but not included in the bibliography.
Because of the sheer complexity of Dinesen's fictional universe, Brandy narrows her scope to a few key aspects in her introduction. After briefly touching upon reception and the perennial...