This is an unusual novel which I thought was kind of uplifting even though there are so many funerals in it.
The narrator is Jakop, a Norwegian man in his sixties who is writing to someone named Agnes, telling her (and therefore us) about the events in his life and the web of coincidences which brought the two of them together. At first, I found the story difficult to get into because there were quite a number of characters introduced, all from the same family. There is also a different sort of family, that of the Indo-European languages, which Jakop is passionate about to the extent that he explains the roots of various words to anyone he meets. I’ve not encountered this in a novel before and I have to admit I skimmed over Jakop’s philological outbursts, to avoid my eyes glazing over.
The main themes of the story are loneliness and how everything is connected. I liked Jakop, as he was a memorable character you can care about. There are a couple of twists halfway through the novel, at which point I realised that this is one of those rare books which improves as the pages turn. The settings were varied, being in different locations around Norway and Sweden. At times the content approached the elegiac tone of the old Scandinavian poetry. It’s a thoughtful book, which although not always riveting, is certainly worth reading.
First published in 2013. This edition translated from the Norwegian by Nichola Smalley, 2018.
I skimmed over Jokop’s lectures, too but most enjoyed watching him communicate through his puppet.
I’m glad you liked this book too 🙂
That cover screams a Christmassy read. The title, however, does NOT! 🤣 But you know, I am curious now about how it deals with the loneliness and its effects and all – really intriguing, N! Definitely one to look out for, it seems! ❤️ LOVED THE REVIEW!! 😡😘😇
I know the cover looks like a Christmas book, a bit misleading though! I hadn’t read a book like it before, would recommend if you want something quite different 🙂 Thanks for stopping by :)♥
I’ve only read Sophie’s world from this author, so nice to hear you say good things about this one! Although not a priority, I did want to read something else from him, this sounds like a sound choice
I remember reading Sophie’s World years ago. I didn’t realise he wrote many other books. I may consider reading more from him 🙂
Great review, I find it quite cool that the main character talks about word origins when he encounters someone else ☺