Place of the month: Taschen in Copenhagen

Copenhagen finally got a really high class art bookshop. For a while I've been ashamed of the selection of bookshops in Copenhagen. I think in general the city has about maybe 4 bookshops that have more than just best-sellers in Danish or photo books with the royal family and so on. Some of the more serious bookstores here have turned their space into book cafés to attract more people, but I'm not sure it has motivated more buyeres – Maybe?

So I'm happy for any new type of shop that actually takes books serious as a medium and celebrate them in a concept store.

I do realise that Taschen is an arty and 'coffee table book' type of bookshop that obviously does not specialise in serious or heavy reading material. But it is such a cool bookshop – I mean a shop dedicated to visually cool books – no more, no less. I've also made it place of the month because I'm a huge fan of Taschen's books. It's such a visually exciting universe. So I really look forward to dropping in now and again to browse into a funnier and more glamours world.

Bloody Valentine

I’m really not a fan of the whole Valentine's Days-thing. Usually, I’m a total romance-fan - heck, give me Jane Austen, red roses and sunsets any (other!) day and a I would indulge and love it. But on Valentine's Day it just seems so artificial and not romantic at all. I want romance to be heartfelt, breathtaking, and – unexpected – and not because the local florist and supermarkets advertises.

Valentine’s Day is pretty new here in Denmark – yet this year it has totally exploded. Its everywhere in shops, on tv and in every magazine or newspaper. And maybe that’s the reason I not buying into it – it seems fake and just another excuse to spend money. So I’m going anti-valentine tonight. And here’s my idea of an anti-romance night:

Music:
My Bloody Valentine : ‘Loveless’

Food:
Chili con carne and Corona Beer for one

Film:
Darren Aronofsky: 'Requiem for a Dream'

Reading:
Brett Easton Ellis: American Psycho

Surviving November and the Danish winter

November is not really my kind of month. It’s the time here in Copenhagen when it’s starts to get dark when you leave work and the darkness is just clearing when you wake up in the morning. Your energy level just drops to a point where you feel like sleeping all the time. In no other month (no, maybe January as well) does my pillow and my bed have such a strong hold on me. I’ve always loved sleeping and I love my bed, no doubt about it. But when this time of year comes I often wonder if I should have been born a bear and go underground sleep until the sun comes back.
So what do you do to survive this darkness for the next 5 months? Here is my survival kit:

Good books
A long and exciting book can pull you out of this dark winter world. Nerd Girl recommends these books for winter reading:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Cloud Atlas
Harry Potter (can always do with a second reading, especially after the film versions have screwed up your memory of the real plot.)

The Shadow of the Wind

Movies:
Winter movies should also offer an escape into happier, prettier and shinier lifestyles with totally superficial problems and always (!) happy endings. So forget Scandinavian social realism with handheld cameras and only depressing shades of grey.
Nerd Girl tends to go for old Danish films – set in the 1950s with lots of romance and cute dresses. But here are some good international films I turn to:

Amelie of Montmartre :

Les Demoisellers de Rocheforte

My Fair Lady Chocolat

And then the food...

When its dark outside and the rain or snow pouring down you need something really sweet. Something like appelcake - Danish appelcake. The world's easiest and best winter dessert: Appel mash, almond macaroons crushed and whiped creme - in layers.

Nerd Girl reads: 'The Sorrows Of An American'

This is the first novel by Siri Hustvedt that I’ve every read – and from what I’ve seen now, I’m definitely hitting the library to take out more of her works.

‘The Sorrows Of An American’ tells the story of psychiatrist Erik Davidsen who finds a mysterious letter from an unknown woman in his recently deceased father’s papers. Here starts Erik and his sister’s journey into their father’s past life, through his diaries and interviews with old family members – all immigrants from Norway. But the story develops and it combines the story of Norwegian immigrants in America with contemporary American sufferings.

Siri Hustvedt is an interesting writer and it especially shows when she ties the stories together in a psychological perspective. The issues are heavy – 9.11, psychotic harassment, childhood traumas and more, but Hustvedt delivers it all in a light and simple language keeping the focus on the characters – thus a personal perspective.

The characters are vivid and described beautifully, to such a degree that you feel know them. And you easily imagine what they look like.

What I appreciated the most about the book is its delicate balance between the deep and complex sorrows of death, heartbreak and terrorism and the descriptions of ordinary life. Siri Hustvedt’s writing is intense – the novel has no chapters - but for some reason she maters the art of making the reading experience fresh and crisp.

Copenhagen under attack

I’ve decided to start something new on this blog. From this month I will give you a monthly feature of some of my favourite places around Copenhagen. The ‘Place of the month’-series will both include old and new venues around town and I also plan to write about more random places. The first place Nerd Girl attacks and thus also The Place of the Month in March is :

Rayuela

This is a relatively new Spanish bookstore and café. Unfortunately I don’t speak Spanish yet (but I actually plan to take a Spanish class in the fall) so I couldn’t enjoy the many different books; novels, cookbooks, biographies of Spanish icons. But you don’t have to be Spanish or know the language to feel at home there. I’ve always liked the concept of book cafes and even though they are becoming popular in Copenhagen there are still too few. I like book cafes where the books are more than decorative porps and where the environment at the same time is cosiere than the library.

At Rayuela the atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. People come by to read books and enjoy the delicious food. There is a soothing calm about the place which together with the Spanish music makes you lean back and forget yourself.
Originally named after the book ‘Rayuela’ by the Argentinean author Julio Cortázar the café offers all types of Spanish delicacies and a very good coffee.

Shake me up, Judy

Sunday night in my flat is devoted to one thing and one thing only: BBC’s Bleak House. As a student of British literature I have crossed paths with old Charles D. quiet a few times. As a young nerd I of course loved ‘A Christmas Carol’ and the aura of British Victorian life that lingers around everything that has to do with him. In general, I can’t say that I am a BIG fan of his, as I think I’ve read only two of his novels in their entirety.

But Bleak House is a great example of my initial fascination with British, Victorian culture. Before I started university, I lived in Paris for a while and on one visit to Shakespeare & co’s I found a copy of Bleak House. I thought, ‘hey this must be the greatest example of British literature – I have to get copy’. Also of course in order to get Shakespeare & Co’s fine stamp in my book.

Anyway my Penguin’s edition of Bleak House then went on my bookshelf; looking cool and sort of intellectual (and dusty) and I didn’t open it at all before I started my studies a few years later. Now I think I’ve begun reading it 3 times and returning a couple more, until now, when I’ve honestly given up. Sorry, Charles, I enjoyed Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, but…pyh.

Well, to compensate for my lack of reading the books, I’ve seen many TV, film and stage adaptations of his works. It’s the first time I have seen Bleak House, though, but I think this one really gets it all right. Since I’ve only read about half of the novel maybe 3 times, it is so wonderful finally to have a TV version that you trust to bring all the details of the story and characters. The complicated story of the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce and the fate and consequences for all the people involved is actually made exciting.
The actors have been chosen really well and fit into their parts with ease and calm. No big celebrity actors star in this and if they do, they are well disguised - Except of course for the former X-files actress Gillian Anderson. She gives a (surprisingly?) good performance with an accurate English accent, as the mysterious and fragilely beautiful Lady Deadlock.

But what really makes my Sunday night so completely devoted to this series is apart from the intrigues and good acting the beautiful set design. The colours and the lighting in this production set the mood of Victorian London so well that you can almost feel the damp and dirty air. Also the costumes and make up creates the characters, seen especially in the contrast between the disgusting Mr. Smallweed and the pure and natural Esther.Therefore the best way to wallow great drama and English Victorian atmosphere is really Bleak House