The Tsar's Dwarf

Fogtdal has given us a study in what it means to be human and the treatment of those deemed to be "non-human. These are explored through the story of a dwarf, Sorine Bentsdatter, who is deformed inside as well as out by her experiences - mother dies at birth, father is a womanizing preacher who hides her, a mentor who is persecuted as a witch, a drunken husband, a dead son, making a living as a curiosity ... while the list goes on and on, the misfortune reads as plausable, as true for a dwarf in the time of Tsar Peter the Great. Historical events set the scene for Sorine's increasing confidence in her humanity. The historical background seems well researched and natural - my way of saying as a "historical" novel, it bears it's history lightly. The language does not make for a quick read but it includes occasional gems of description: "Nyriobing is a dried-up provincial town in Denmark with a couple of ugly churches that God wouldn't dream of frequenting." - not poetic but details that delight. Sorine's issues with God, alienation, humanity, depravity are enough to send one off to Kierkegaard, her fellow Dane (a century and a half later). One may finish the book but the force of the novel doesn't allow setting the book aside to mean you can set aside the issues Sorine raises.

The Tsar's Dwarf is a beautifully crafted novel. It is as unique a story as its main character, Soerine, a dwarf given to Peter the Great by Denmark. What I loved about this novel is that it seamlessly weaves history into the plot so I never had to wade through any dreadful ten-page chunks of historical background. It is seamless. And the history is there to illuminate the characters. You feel when reading the novel that Soerine is every bit as real to the author as a modern-day character would be. There's no off-putting distance. The prose is clean and rhythmic -- it's set at a pace that will have you absorbed and gobbling it up. I felt so... human after reading this. So okay. There's something wonderful about the way we know that Soerine is worthy in spite of her ugliness or deformities. She is a truly appealing character, a small, bright spitfire. We don't have to be perfect. We don't have to be granted dignity -- we earn it simply by existing. These were the messages, to me, from this terrific book. I enjoyed every second of reading this. It's a novel that will leave you heartbroken in spots, but thoroughly refreshed. It will wake you up. Highly recommended. Read this book!

We would all like to believe that we live in a more "enlightened" age than the 17th century Danish dwarf Sorine Bentsdatter, who provides us with a voyeuristic tour of her world, and more importantly, her interpretation of it. This novel may convince us otherwise. Told in the first person, the reader is quickly drawn into the exquisite pain that results from the combination of a deftly analytic mind housed in a diminutive and deformed female body. Peter H. Fogtdal recreates a lush history and landscape for Sorine to move about in, but it is Sorine's attempts to make peace with herself, her world, and God, that define this novel as a great read. Hopefully, readers will ask themselves whether the world has really changed at all. The political scenes Fogtdal describes highlights the fact that the actions of the powerful are very often based on personal agendas and whims that take little account of the masses whose lives they will affect. And, while our social etiquette has improved, how many of us truly understand (or even want to understand) what it feels like to be "other" in a world that continues to worship at the feet of beauty, fame, power and money? Sorine desperately tries to create a calloused exterior that will repel her tormentors and protect her from pain. She uses her intelligence and strong character to retain whatever shred of dignity remains in the situations she is thrown into. She turns her back on "opportunities" that would be embraced by others because she refuses to give up one of the few possessions she retains: choice. Sorine is a flawed character, one that openly shows us both her dark and brilliant sides. Readers may be put off by Sorine's candid comments and moral lassitude, or they can allow themselves to become Sorine, feeling her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pain and the eventual measure of peace she finds. Choose the latter; you will be the better for it. Lee & Steven Hager are the authors of Quantum Prodigal Son: Revisiting Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Perspective of Quantum Mechanics

I read a lot from all across the genres and it's rare for me to encounter a book that is thought provoking, entertaining, and sobering all at once. When I started reading this book, I was a little concerned that the writing style wasn't going to grab me. But then I started reading the book from the viewpoint of Sorine rather than reading it as if I were watching the story. WOW! I'm moved by her life and emotion; I stayed up all night. She has a bad attitude, but she's so lovable. I felt like yelling, "You go Sorine!" And I was appalled by her hardships and entertained by her stubbornness. I'm happy to read other reviewers enjoyed the book as much as me. I vaguely knew that dwarfs weren't considered human beings and how awful they were treated, but it's wonderful how the author created a nuanced dynamic character to give a voice to her life. In the end, I think the author did Sorine's character a lot of justice by choosing to write the story using the words and style that she would have known and chosen. This book deserves another, WOW!

As it was for me, Peter Fogtdal's "The Tsar's Dwarf" may be the first novel you've ever read translated from Danish. I hope that the book sells well and that some of Fogtdal's novels get the same treatment. In a first-person narrative that reads a bit like John Irving channeling Charles Dickens on a trip through 18th century Russia, Danish dwarf Sorine Bendsdatter takes us on the journey of her life--a journey of survival in a world that treats dwarves as animalistic freaks of nature rather than as human beings. Sorine battles with her owners, her so-called protectors, her lovers, demons from her past deeds, and her God, first living in her native Denmark and then in Russia after being given by King Frederick of Denmark to Russian Tsar Peter the Great. Along with being Sorine's personal tale of her fight for survival, identity and a small measure of happiness in mostly cold, gloomy and vermin-infested surroundings, "The Tsar's Dwarf" tells us a good bit of Peter's story. Some of the story could be interpreted as historical fiction. Other parts are presented through "dwarf eyes", imaginations built from cruel experience. "The Tsar's Dwarf" isn't a thriller, but Fogtdal's fast paced writing style and short chapters, some just snippets, make it read like one. As a tale of personal courage and a look at history in long-ago and faraway places, "The Tsar's Dwarf" is hard to beat. Five enthusiastic stars for adult readers and for well-read teenagers.