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A very mixed collection. I loved "The Immortal Story", a sinuous, self-reflexive exploration of the power of narrative, the role of stories in constructing identity, that Borges would have given his eye-teeth to concoct. Like Borges, Blixen writes in that detached, fabulistic, once-upon-a-time style where the characters are more or less just concepts, certainly not real people. So how much you enjoy it depends on how deeply the themes resonate with you. I can see why the title story is so popular: it's about all kinds of stuff, devotion rewarded, the power of art, the goodness of plain folk, and much more. But it's too sweet for my taste. I marginally preferred "Tempests", hated "The Diver", a glurgy religious allegory that ought to go down well with the Paulo Coelho crowd. And the last piece, "The Ring", is just an unobjectionable bagatelle. ( )

Orig. publ. as Anecdotes of destiny ( )

To the title story, "Babette's Feast," I give four stars. For the record. ( )

I'm currently in a production of a play adaptation of Babette's Feast so thought I would check out the short story. I enjoyed it, along with the other stories in this collection. ( )