Scandinavian writers seem to be popping up everywhere these days.  When I was reading the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson, somebody -- the receptionist in the doctor’s office, the stranger in the elevator, the patient in the dentist’s waiting room -- commented on the book every time I had one with me .  Everyone seems to have read, or to be reading, the trilogy.  Also plunging the reader into the contemporary society of Sweden is Henning Mankell’s brooding policeman, Kurt Wallander, brought to life in a current PBS Masterpiece Mystery starring Kenneth Branagh.  Indeed, This may be what Maureen Corrigan calls the  new “Ice Age of nordic mystery.”  However the most compelling nordic novel I have read in the last few years is Out Stealing Horses by Norwegian author Per Petterson.  While Larrson plunges one into contemporary Swedish society, Petterson leads the reader into the Norwegian landscapes, both natural and interior.  The novel focuses on sixty-seven year old Trond Sander who moves to a remote cabin and tells his story, meshing his past and his present in a way that reflects both the harshness and the beauty of his surroundings.   The novel is beautifully written with vivid descriptions of the people and the surroundings, but, unlike Larrson, it is not plot driven.  It is a quiet book, taking the reader gently along to a place of heightened awareness.  

 

Claudia said...

I read Out Stealing Horses last year and had forgotten that it was also written by a Scandinavian. I enjoyed it very much, agreeing with Betty that the description of the landscape was quite good; I "felt" the coldness and "saw" the beauty" of the area. I find that now that I am a sixtish senior citizen, I am appreciating these types of books more and more! 

Claudia Fowler said...

I just read ROOM by Emma Donoghue. WOW. A compelling book, to say the least. I would be very interested to hear additional comments on the book. The first chapter was "slow" and if it had not been the November selection for my book club I may have put it aside. I was hooked from the second chapter on, however. I also heard the author on NPR last week. The author's writing skills truly facilitated my constructing the "Room" in my mind and I felt that I would recognize it if I walked into that place. The book deals with a young woman who was abducted and held captive by a man for over 7 years. She has a son by him (the son is telling the story) and constructs the son's world to be that room. The "outside" world is non-existent, except what he fantasizes from TV. It really raised many questions that I had not thought about relative to those individuals who are "found" and released from some sort of bizarre captivity, whether or not the "Stockholm" effect is real, and are they better off not being released, etc. I thought it was a very good book. 

5 Oct 10 @ 8: