Ved Vejen

This is a short novel by the Danish writer Herman Bang published in 1886 as Ved Vejen.The translation is by W Glyn Jones and was published in 2015. A previous translation had titled the Book Katinka, but the amended title is more appropriate given the importance of the passing of trains in relation to the passing of the life of Katinka, but this is not a book about trains. It is a study of women's roles and their restricted lives. Katinka grows up in the town in which she was born and finds herself married to the Station master Mr Bai, she is a dutiful wife and lives quietly with Bai, she finds him a little rough at first, but she settles into a routine and tries to make the best of her lot. She is well liked but seems to fade into the background and when she starts to lose weight and become ill hardly anyone notices. Her life revolves around a small group who socialise with Mr Bai and she takes her pleasure in companionship, knowing the women around her, observing their characteristics and being a party to their needs and issues. She is a good listener. Mr Bai has an eye for the ladies and takes his sexual pleasures where he can find them, but he is not unkind to his wife. They are not blessed with children and so Katinka has more time than most women in her circle to enter into her own peaceful world and enjoy the countryside and her minute observations of the people that pass by the station house. A Mr Huus: a solid quiet man takes the job as a bailiff with one of the gentleman farmers who are in the Bai's circle of friends. Huus becomes good friends with the Bai's and spends time in their house and garden. He is a permanent member of their social circle and Katinka finds that she feels comfortable with him and then something more, as slowly she misses him, and thinks about him when he is not around. Huus increasingly seems to seek her out and Bai is quite happy to leave the two of them together, because as he says to one of is friends Huus hasn't a clue about chasing women. Herman Bang's writing lends a slightly dreamy quality to their friendship which could develop into a romance. He also writes about the quiet suffering of their other friends. Little Miss Jensen the elderly school teacher who craves companionship and lavishes all her affection on her little pug Bel-Ami. The widowed Mrs Abel who has two fractious daughters of marriageable age still at home and the elderly parson and his wife, who do their best to provide a centre for the small social group.These are people who live in the slow lane whose life is measured by the trains that pass by. Their meeting place is the station and the stopping trains either focus their attentions on the passengers or are an impetus for them to come and go from the station. A tranquil existence but for many of the women and some of the men it is a life of quiet suffering and Katinka is the one that Herman Bang has selected to express for us a life of understated desperation. The slow pace of life, measured by the changing seasons and observations of people in simple social gatherings give this book a rather special atmosphere. As a reader there is a feeling of people dreaming their lives away while suffering nightmares of worries and doubt underneath. The translation aids the gentle understatement that is a feature of the book, but the understatement can mean the reader is struggling to know who is speaking during conversations. I enjoyed this sad, contemplative novel and so 4 stars,