Book Review: What Kingdom by Fine Gråbøl
Mental Illness / Poetry / Pathetic Fallacy
Note: *I received a DRC from NetGalley / Archipelago. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley.*
What Kingdom by Fine Gråbøl
Rating: 5
12/02/24 - 13/02/24
Release Date: 16/04/24
Translated from Danish by Martin Aitken, What Kindgom is a stream-of-consciousness look into life in a mental institution. Gråbøl offers a searing ritique on the way the government treats the mentally ill, specifically the young.
Our nameless narrator sees life in a unique way. Inanimate objects come to life with phrases such as, “The evening’s bursting, a near-aggressive insistence on light.” This use of personification pulls the reader into the story. Our narrator describes the rain as “applauding, ecstatic,” and such a pathetic fallacy paints a clear picture of how it might feel to be in a psych ward.
Our narrator is pre-occupied with the furniture. She sees them as living lives we can observe, which is something I believe makes sense for someone in that predicament. For her, chairs “address the night,” and this is a vital observation. Our protagonist notices everything. While we never get her name, the reader understands her survival is dependent on discovering herself through these inanimate objects.
Gråbøl creates an atmosphere in a similar vein to Virginia Woolf. While we don’t get to spend much time with the characters, we know just enough about them to form an opinion. Such a cast of characters will naturally blend into each other given the context of setting. A mental institution can be a claustrophobic place.
Additionally, the author uses colour to express the mood of the character. We are shown descriptions such as, “medication-blue” and “egg-yolk yellow”. I felt as though I was spinning on a colour wheel.
Fine Gråbøl takes the senses and brings them the forefront. Just as the characters are suffocated by way of sectioning, the reader is suffocating due to the depth of description the finer details amplify. In Denmark, ONE OF US (an anti-stigma program) has recently emerged, and I believe Fine taking the time to call attention to parts of the text like “to the rest of us” is intentional.
All in all, What Kingdom is a wonderful debut. I understand that Gråbøl is a poet, and I can’t say I am surprised. The beautiful language has not been lost in translation. This book is a modern day classic; one I will return to time and time again.