Witness to the Future
Encyclopedia
Witness to the Future is a novel written by Danish author Klaus Rifbjerg
in 1981.
It is about two young boys who are playing in the woods outside Copenhagen
in occupied Denmark
in the Second World War. They discover a cave with a tunnel that leads them from 1941 to 1981. When they crawl out near a motorway, they run up against angry farmers, biker gangs, heroin addicts, and rabid dogs in a world that is close to nuclear war. They become involved in car theft, police chases, and the massive helicopter explosion.
It is Rifbjerg's only work of science fiction. A review in Publishers' Weekly called the book an “allegory of the chaos and emptiness of modern times that conveys admiration for a simpler past.”
The book was translated into English from the Danish original De hellige aber by Steve Murray in 1987.
Klaus Rifbjerg
Klaus Rifbjerg is a Danish writer. He has written more than 170 novels, books and essays.- Biography :Rifbjerg was born in Copenhagen and grew up on the island of Amager, a part of the city, the child of two teachers...
in 1981.
It is about two young boys who are playing in the woods outside Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in occupied Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in the Second World War. They discover a cave with a tunnel that leads them from 1941 to 1981. When they crawl out near a motorway, they run up against angry farmers, biker gangs, heroin addicts, and rabid dogs in a world that is close to nuclear war. They become involved in car theft, police chases, and the massive helicopter explosion.
It is Rifbjerg's only work of science fiction. A review in Publishers' Weekly called the book an “allegory of the chaos and emptiness of modern times that conveys admiration for a simpler past.”
The book was translated into English from the Danish original De hellige aber by Steve Murray in 1987.