Akademik

Panduro, Leif
(1923-1977)
   A Danish novelist, short story writer, and radio and television dramatist, Panduro was a dentist as well as a resistance fighter who took a bullet on the last day of the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. With an insane mother and a father who was on the opposite side during the war, it is perhaps no wonder that Panduro underwent formal psychotherapy and wrote in order to maintain his sanity.
   Panduro s literary debut, the novel Av, min guldtand (1957; Ouch, My Gold Tooth), and its successor, Rend mig i traditionerne (1958; tr. Kick Me in the Traditions, 1961), are light and humorous narratives. Most of Panduro s novels, however, deal with characters who have lost their way in the world. This is the case with a young person in De uanstændige (1960; The Indecent Ones), but the later novels feature older protagonists who are becoming set in their confusion and lack of a sense of belonging. Fejltagelsen (1964; The Mistake), Den gale mand (1965; The Crazy Man), Fern fra Danmark (1963; Fern from Denmark), Daniels anden verden (1970; Daniel s Other World), and Vinduerne, 1971; The Windows) are all in this vein. Two characters from De uanstændige return as a middle-aged couple in Amatørerne (1972; The Amateurs), and it is no surprise that their problems have not diminished. Den ubetænksomme elsker (1973; The Thoughtless Lover) is, quite literally, full of insanity, while Høfeber (1975; Hay Fever) is a novel about love and jealousy that questions the boundaries of what is considered normal.
   Panduro wrote radio plays as well as 12 television dramas, in which characters are portrayed realistically in the context of stories that emphasize social issues. Farvel Thomas (1968; Goodbye, Thomas) shows how getting divorced causes a middle-aged man to fall apart psychologically. Et godt liv (1971; A Good Life) tells about a man who learns that he has heart trouble just as he is about to embark on the kind of life that he has always dreamt of. There are no easy answers and no easy way to get through life in Panduro s world.

Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater. . 2006.