This study guide consists of approximately 42 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the danish girl. The danish girl is the highly anticipated film which depicts the first sex reassignment surgery. The danish girl was also adapted into a film in 2015 starring eddie redmayne. The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of lili elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. It was one of the first such operations to be documented, in a german clinic, under the care of a doctor played in the film by sebastian koch, of bridge of spies and homeland. So grab a danish or a croissant, or a donut, or a piece of fruit. Im starting work now on a new film called the danish girl, and its another extraordinary story about extraordinary people.
This theme is outright stated by greta during the first chapter, when einar is. Is eddie redmayne playing a transgender woman a problem. The danish girl 2015 is a fictitious story adapted from david ebershoffs book of the same name, which is loosely inspired by reallife danish artists and couple einar wegenerlili elbe eddie redmayne and gerda gottlieb alicia vikander. The danish girl is not a novelization of an amazing historical anecdoteit is a beautifully written, senstivelyhandled, and deeplyengaging novel that it absolutely one of the best i have read in recent years.
The film fashions itself as a love story between einarlili and gerda, who together must confront and evolve as einar undergoes. It described liliusing einars nameas the first successful recipient of sex reassignment. Sign me up to get more news about literary fiction books. Lili elbe wrote a great deal of the content for a book entitled man into woman, a semiautobiographical compiled from her diaries and published after her death. The danish girl by david ebershoff, read by jeff woodman. The danish girl s lush prose and generous emotional insight make it, after the last page is turned, a deeply moving first novel about one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of. The original book was called man into woman, the first sex change, and was first published in 1933. Chief among these is his californian wife, greta, also a painter.
As beautiful as the danish girl is, their life is even more interesting. The danish girl is a delicate, elegant novel about the search for ones true self when ones body, as an external encasement, doesnt mirror what is on the inside. In 2000, david ebershoff wrote the danish girl, a fictionalised account of elbes life. The author changed so many elements of einar wegeners story that the characters in the book are entirely fictional, no other character in the novel has any relation to an actual person, living or. Second, please also post your thoughts on your favorite social media platforms andor etailer sites.
Written with lush prose and emotional insight, this book is sure to create a buzz in the literary world. The danish girl is a 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by tom hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by david ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives of danish painters lili elbe and gerda wegener. The book, man into woman, was first published in 1933 in danish and german and english editions quickly followed including reissues of the english version in 1953 and 2004. The danish girl, which tells the story of lili elbe, among the first people in the world to undergo gender reassignment surgery, was made into an oscarnominated film starring eddie redmayne and alicia vikander. A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of danish artists lili elbe and gerda wegener. History has a tendency to hardbake in its own prejudices video interview there are several such touches in lucinda coxons script that flirt. Lili ilse elvenes 28 december 1882 september 1931, better known as lili elbe, was a danish transgender woman and among the early recipients of sex reassignment surgery elbe was born einar magnus andreas wegener, and was a successful painter under that name after successfully transitioning in 1930, she changed her legal name to lili ilse elvenes and stopped painting altogether. Her gender reassignment surgeries were, for the most part, the first of their kind. It won the lambda literary award for transgender fiction in 2000 and has been adapted into a major motion. A few good words from you will help me reach other readers. The first script was done in 2004 and ultimately the production spent 15 years in development before filming began. Here is a book that truly makes the reader stop and question one of our most rigidly held fundaments of identity, gender.
I love to hear from readers, book groups, and students and i will do my best to respond to everyone. The danish girl vs the true story of lili elbe, gerda wegener. Greta asks her husband einar to wear silk stockings and feminine shoes to pose for her, so that she can continue painting a portrait in the absence of the female model. It is also about what makes a marriage and how far a woman will go to let her husband find his true self, knowing that she will likely lose him in the process. During our investigation into the danish girl true story, we discovered that einars older sister accepted him as lili, but not without struggle. David ebershoff the danish girl first edition new signed book is signed to the title page and not via a book plate paypal accepted will be sent boxed and. Tom hooper explains why he cast eddie redmayne as the danish girl. If you have nice things to say about one of my books, first, thank you. For lili elbe, that young danish woman whom greta waud first brought into daylight, had a history. The danish girls lush prose and generous emotional insight make it, after the last page is turned, a deeply moving first novel about one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of.
Lili ilse elvenes 28 december 1882 september 1931, better known as lili elbe, was a danish transgender woman and among the early recipients of sex reassignment surgery elbe was born einar magnus andreas wegener, and was a successful painter under that name after successfully transitioning in 1930, she changed her legal name to lili ilse elvenes and stopped. Ebershoff, the publishing director of the modern library, has written a fascinating first novel. I was reading a book of gender theory that somebody passed me. Uniting fact and fiction into an original romantic vision. The danish girl by david ebershoff the danish girl, by david ebershoff opens in copenhagen in 1925 with a wonderful enigmatic four word sentence his wife knew first. The danish girl has been adapted as a major motion picture starring academy awardwinner eddie redmayne and directed by academy awardwinning director of the kings speech, tom hooper. The danish girl true story the real lili and gerda. Back when director tom hooper first read and fell for lucinda coxon s script for the danish girl, it was considered a hard film to finance. Her life would later become the inspiration for the danish girl. Find out more about danish painter lili elbe, who was among one of the first ever documented sex reassignment surgery recipients and whose life was the subject of the 2015 film the danish girl. In 2015, it was made into a film, also called the danish girl, produced by gail mutrux and neil labute and starring eddie redmayne as elbe. Dec 07, 2018 lili elbe was born einar wegener and spent her entire life trying to choose between the man she was born as and the woman she wanted to become.
It is based on the actual journey of lili elbe as one of the first people to undergo a surgical. Supported by his painter wife greta, for whom in his alterego of lili elbe he was a frequent model, this is a. Tom hooper interview about the danish girl popsugar. David ebershoff on writing his debut novel, the danish girl, which has been adapted into a major motion picture starring eddie redmayne. Now a major motion picture starring eddie redmayne and directed. Gerda goes to meet hans axgil matthias schoenaerts, a childhood friend of einars. The danish girl book by david ebershoff thriftbooks.
The danish girl 2015 a fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of danish artists lili elbe and gerda wegener. On the telephone, anna larssen suggested to gerda that the thinframed einar stand in for her. But it made me very curious and interested to read the book on which the movie was based. David ebershoffs first novel, the danish girl, is inspired by the life of lili elbe. The danish girl author david ebershoff on discovering. The danish girls lush prose and generous emotional insight make it, after the last page is turned, a deeply moving first novel about one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the 20th century.
In the danish girl david ebershoff uses the bare facts of wegenerelbes story to summon a rich imagined universe in which the main event is less the sexual transformation itself than the way that transformation affected other people. Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our pro connect email alert. Fictionalized account of the life of danish artist einar wegener who was one of the first to undergo genderreassignment surgery in 1930 germany. Get cozy and expand your home library with a large online selection of books at. Lili and gerdas marriage and work evolve as they navigate lilis groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Upon their first meeting, his sister warned him not to be angry if she was unable to call him lili, since she longed for. The danish girl by david ebershoff overdrive rakuten. The danish girl depicts the first sex reassignment surgery. The first doctor suggests a lobotomy, telling einar he will make two holes on each side of his head. David ebershoffs debut novel, the danish girl, won the 2000 lambda literary award for transgender fiction and has been adapted into a major motion picture starring academy awardwinner eddie redmayne. Lili elbe was born einar wegener and spent her entire life trying to choose between the man she was born as and the woman she wanted to become. The danish girl succeeds at being a wellmade bio pic with a heart, but its hard to shake the feeling that lili is more a vessel used to display the first transgender rather than a fully fleshed. Before we get into this book, wed like to pause to make sure were all on the same page. It won the lambda literary award for transgender fiction in 2000 and. It was an international bestseller and was translated into a dozen languages. In 2000, neil labute and gail mutrux optioned david ebershoffs book the danish girl, with plans for labute to write and direct. The danish girl follows einarturnedlilis quest to live as a woman, first in copenhagen, then paris, and ultimately pursue a medical procedure for sexual reassignment.
Loosely based on the life of danish painter einar wegener who, in 1931, became the first man to undergo a sexchange operation, the danish girl borrows the bare bones of his story as a jumpingoff point for an exploration of how wegeners decisions affected the people around him. The second one tells einar that his diagnosis is bad that he believes einar is a homosexual. David ebershoff the danish girl first edition new signed book is signed to the title page and not via a book plate paypal accepted will be sent boxed and via a signed for method of postage. His book is based on the reallife story of einar wegener, a danish artist who 70 years ago became the first man to be medically transformed into a womanlong before the much betterknown case of. He has not only imagined most of what he wrote about elbes inner life, but he has also fabricated all of the other characters in the book, most important among. National bestseller a new york times notable book winner of the lambda literary. As a rule, the respectful way to discuss transgender people is by using the name and pronoun they specifically identify with. History has a tendency to hardbake in its own prejudices video interview there are several. Upon their first meeting, his sister warned him not to be angry if she was unable to call him lili, since she longed for the familiarity of her brother einar. Find out more about danish painter lili elbe, who was among one of the firstever documented sex reassignment surgery recipients and whose life was the subject of. Similar to the successful novels memoirs of a geisha and hitlers niece, the danish girl is a wondrous book. Nov 04, 2014 in a perfect world, the casting of a film adaptation of david ebershoffs book the danish girl the semifictionalized story of the first recorded transgender woman to have sex reassignment. With eddie redmayne, alicia vikander, amber heard, ben whishaw. The danish girl movie tiein by david ebershoff, paperback.