First off, I read a Norwegian translation of the original Swedish. I don’t know if the English translation is any good but I expect it probably should be. I don’t intend to discuss the events in the book or spoil it beyond the very basic description of the setting.
This is not my standard fare in terms of reading. It’s… I guess a period drama? I prefer places that never were, while this has a strong verisimilitude of something that could have taken place in and off the shore of Sweden during the first world war, which is what the setting is.
The craftsmanship of the story is very solid. A lot of information is given and it fits together neatly. It seems well researched to me, and brings its setting into clear, vivid detail.
I was expecting something crime-drama-ish. What I got was a psychological drama, a portrait of a man trying to find out who he is after he discovers he isn’t as sure about that as he thought. I had a fairly good idea about what the end of the story would entail, but not because it was predictable, rather because the foreshadowing was well executed. We spend almost every moment alongside of the main character in his head, sharing his thoughts and observations, and little if anything from other perspectives (could also just say “third person limited” but that’s a bit clinical for my tastes).
I think this book is very well written. I don’t at all regret reading it. I find it interesting. I do not, however, truly LIKE it. In my opinion, it spends maybe a little too long sculpting details on the portrait of a man whose outline is very distinct from an early point in the book, whereas very little actually HAPPENS.
So yes. It’s good. But it’s not for me.
by withervoice