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Bettie's Books
A Stuga On the Cusp of the Orust Riviera, tucked away next to a hobbit hole in the woods.
The Land of Dreams by Vidar Sundstol, Tiina Nunnally (Translation)
bookshelves: autumn-2013, mystery-thriller, norway, net-galley, published-2008, translation
Read from October 30 to 31, 2013
Uncorrected proof from University of Minnesota Press
From the description: The grandson of Norwegian immigrants, Lance Hansen is a U.S. Forest Service officer and has a nearly all-consuming passion for local genealogy and history. But his quiet routines are shattered one morning when he comes upon a Norwegian tourist brutally murdered near a stone cross on the shore of Lake Superior. Another Norwegian man is nearby; covered in blood and staring out across the lake, he can only utter the word kjærlighet. Love.
**phonetically that would be 'shareligt'.**
Opening: The lake glittered in the sunlight. Seemingly endless, far in the distance it merged with the sky.
From the description: The grandson of Norwegian immigrants, Lance Hansen is a U.S. Forest Service officer and has a nearly all-consuming passion for local genealogy and history. But his quiet routines are shattered one morning when he comes upon a Norwegian tourist brutally murdered near a stone cross on the shore of Lake Superior. Another Norwegian man is nearby; covered in blood and staring out across the lake, he can only utter the word kjærlighet. Love.
**phonetically that would be 'shareligt'.**
Opening: The lake glittered in the sunlight. Seemingly endless, far in the distance it merged with the sky.
This story is set just right for Norwegian migrant descendents based in Minnesota today. Ladies and Gentlemen, a recipe:
- Lake Superior scenery
- a feeling of the history of this land in north America, their settlement
- add in some ever popular Nordic crime
- and top it off with a dose of sentimental Old Country reflections
Should be good to go...
...except that is not quite the case here, it will read a little flopped-soufflé to connoisseurs; somewhat undercooked, even pasty in comparison to how this oeuvre has evolved - readers have been spoilt recently with some top-drawer material.
However, whilst Vidar Sundstøl does not possess the verve of Lars Saabye Christensen, Jan Kjærstad or Jo Nesbø this is a good enough story to curl up with in front of a crackling fire on a late autumn evening, especially if there is a glow from the moon sifting through the swirling fogs above the waters of a lake, and an inexplicable Swamper Caribou-esque flicker of the tea-light inside the carved pumkin.
Best line: How do you tell an extroverted Finn - he is looking at your shoes instead of his own. Boom Boom.
2.5*
- Lake Superior scenery
- a feeling of the history of this land in north America, their settlement
- add in some ever popular Nordic crime
- and top it off with a dose of sentimental Old Country reflections
Should be good to go...
...except that is not quite the case here, it will read a little flopped-soufflé to connoisseurs; somewhat undercooked, even pasty in comparison to how this oeuvre has evolved - readers have been spoilt recently with some top-drawer material.
However, whilst Vidar Sundstøl does not possess the verve of Lars Saabye Christensen, Jan Kjærstad or Jo Nesbø this is a good enough story to curl up with in front of a crackling fire on a late autumn evening, especially if there is a glow from the moon sifting through the swirling fogs above the waters of a lake, and an inexplicable Swamper Caribou-esque flicker of the tea-light inside the carved pumkin.
Best line: How do you tell an extroverted Finn - he is looking at your shoes instead of his own. Boom Boom.
2.5*
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