Prince: A Novel of Icebergs and Amber
by Ib Michael, translated by Barbara Haveland
Danish fiction, Chatto and Windus
245 pp, approx. U.S. $14.00
Rating: 4 stars
It's been four generations since we were Danish – or since Greenland was the northernmost Virgin Island, if you will. But no Mobius strip of time or space can be put between the reader and this shivery ghost story of the wintry north with a snowfield finale. Author Ib Michael engulfs one in a wintry mirage. From the pen of a master Danish storyteller, it will chill the reader enough to save on air-conditioning for a good three shivery nights.
From Iceland, one can occasionally see Greenland in an optical illusion by which the larger land mass is reflected in the sky upside down. This is how Icelanders first knew that Greenland (which rises to 18,000 snowy feet) was there. Michael's "Novel of Icebergs and Amber" provides a literary image through a series of similarly illusionary planes.
Malte, born in 1900, is a 12-year-old "odd sock" who discovers a coffin washed up on the beach. Inside is the corpse of a young Caucasian man, a photograph of an Innuit beauty and a captain's cap. The spirit possession takes hold. When Malte learns to read, he identifies the ghost who follows him as a victim of a mutiny, captain of the abandoned Narwhal – unleashed from an iceberg struck by H.M.S. Titanic.
Slowly the corpse emerges: He is the estranged son of the legendary Amber King. The photograph is of the Amber King's prisoner, the prince's beloved – who then comes to haunt the boy as a relentless crone. Reuniting the lovers becomes Malte's life-and-death struggle, which, à la roman à clef, he heroically fulfills.
How difficult it is to write ghost stories for post-spiritual modernists like ourselves! But Michael spiritedly sweeps up the most jaded reader, so stark a reality does he create. A bit scary for children, the prince (no relation to Machiavelli's) is elegantly woven, superbly crafted and enthusiastically translated by Haveland, a master herself. For those who need to chill out for a few sultry nights, this prince is better than a bucket of icewater. No limin', you'll need a few hot buttered rums for this one.
* Richard Dey rates the books he reviews for the Source on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. He defines the ratings thus:
5 stars – Beyond serious criticism
4 stars – A fine read
3 stars – Good, fascinating, with caveats
2 stars – Interesting or shows promise
1 star – Cautionary tale
