Down to the Dogs

Down to the Dogs

Helle Helle

Original title: Ned til hundene
Publisher: Samleren, Denmark, 2008
Genre: Novel
Pages: 197 pages

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A woman with a trolley gets off the bus somewhere in Zealand. She has left her husband and is looking
for a place to cry.
She is picked up by John and Putte, two kind strangers, who let her sleep on their sofa. Over the course
of a week, she is absorbed in a world of pixies and lotto coupons, coffee and sponge cake and bike rides
in jumpsuits. And dogs to take care of. And then there is Putte’s brother, Ibber, with strong arms and the
smooth torso.
Life with John and Putte is both comfortable and strange and holds a story which, little by little, is
revealed to the woman with the trolley.

Foreign rights

Bulgarian: Roboread EOOD
Czech: Paseka
French: Le Serpent á Plumes
German: Dörlemann
Italian: Atmosphere Libri
Japanese: Chikuma – shobo
Dutch: Contact
Norwegian: Forlaget Oktober
Polish: Slovo/Obrz Terytoria
Swedish: Lindelöws Bokförlag

Awards

Nominated for The Nordic Coucil Literature Prize 2009.
Awarded the P.O. Enquist Award 2009.

It is not very often that I encounter a book which reminds me of what drew me to literature in the first place. Down to the Dogs is
such a novel.

Information, Denmark

The prose of Helle Helle is cut with a diamond’s precision. It oozes casual language of everyday life, she listens with the ear of a master
like the Danish impressionist Herman Bang, full of unspoken meaning which during the novel slowly is put together. Very well done.

Politiken, Denmark

Helle Helle

Photo by Mikkel Carl

Helle Helle (b. 1965) is a graduate of the Danish Academy of Creative Writing and the author of a number of novels as well as two collections of short fiction. She is one of Scandinavia’s most original writers, with a career spanning three decades, from her debut Example of Life (1993) to her most recent novel, Hafni Says, published to rave reviews in 2023. Her books have been translated into 22 languages.

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Other titles by Helle Helle

Hey Hafni

Helle Helle

2025
they

Helle Helle

2018
Hafni Says

Helle Helle

2023
Rødby -Puttgarden

Helle Helle

2005
Cars and Animals

Helle Helle

2000
House and Home

Helle Helle

1999
Remains

Helle Helle

1996
Example of Life

Helle Helle

1993
If You Want

Helle Helle

2014
BOB

Helle Helle

BOB
2021