''The Song of the Red Ruby'' (''Sangen om den røde rubin'', 1956) is a Norwegian novel written by

Agnar Mykle Agnar Mykle (8 August 1915 – 15 January 1994) was a Norwegian author. He became one of the most controversial figures in Norwegian literature in the 20th century. Early life Born in Norway's third largest city, Trondheim, Mykle was often ...

. It's a story of the young Ask Burlefot's personal ride through shame and letdowns that eventually leads to a closer and deeper understanding of himself. It was controversial in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and other countries at the time of publication and ended in court – as the so-called Mykle Case. This controversy was due to the explicit sexual descriptions in the adventures of the potent main character. In Norway, the publisher was acquitted, but for instance in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

the book was confiscated and burnt. ''The Song of the Red Ruby'' can also be viewed in connection with '' Lasso round the moon'' (novel, 1954), ''Tyven, tyven skal du hete'' (novel, 1951) and ''Rubicon'' (novel, 1965) as they all have a young man as the protagonist. The book was later adapted into the feature film ''Sangen om den røde rubin'' (1970), directed by

Annelise Meineche Anneliese (, ) is a female given name of either German, Dutch or Nordic origin. It is a compound form of "Anna" and "Liese", a short form of " Elisabeth". It may refer to: * Anneliese Bauer, East German slalom canoer who competed in the late 195 ...

and starring

Ole Søltoft Ole Søltoft (8 January 1941 – 9 May 1999 in Kolding) was a Danish actor who became an icon of the 1970s wave of Danish erotic feature film comedies. For over a decade he starred or co-starred in nearly all notable films in this genre and became ...

and

Ghita Nørby Ghita Nørby (born 11 January 1935) is a Danish actress with 117 film credits to her name from 1956 to 2005, making her one of the most active Danish actresses ever. Early life Nørby was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the daughter of opera singer ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song of the Red Ruby, The 1956 novels Norwegian novels adapted into films Obscenity controversies in literature Censorship in Norway

See also

Further reading

References