When I learned that Norwegian writer Per Petterson had written a new novel, I was so excited, for I just loved Out Stealing Horses, released in 2007. In fact, I liked it so much that I chose it for our book club to read and discuss for one of our meetings. It’s hard for me to believe that Petterson’s work always appears in translation since the language flows so beautifully that it seems to be written in our native tongue here in the United States. This, of course, speaks well for the ability of his translator, Charlotte Barslund who translates Scandinavian novels and plays. In fact, at the conclusion of this new title, information is included about the translation.
I Curse the River of Time, an unusual title for a novel, comes from the lyrics of a tune whose words are included within the novel’s pages, as are the lyrics of other songs throughout the novel. Written in a flashback structure, the novel should be read, in my opinion, in two or three readings, and not over a period of two or three weeks, as I did. It is short enough to be read in a few sittings. The problem with stretching it out over a longer period of time is that the reader can’t remember the flashback location, and with the locales being in Norway, the recognition of the cities is not as easy. (I tend to read four to five novels at the same time, and sometimes this can be the detriment of not being able to finish one in the period of time that would be advantageous.)
The main character, thirty-seven year old Arvid, experiences great anxiety due to many factors in his life: his impending divorce, his terminally ill mother, his inability to find a job which satisfies him, and his frustration with the current state of politics. (He has made a conscious decision to support Communism in the late 1980s.) That should be enough to stress out anyone, but add to this mix the fact that obviously there is a slight Oedipal complex at play which rears its head often in the limitless number of flashbacks involving his mother who seems to favor another of his many brothers. Suffice it to say that Arvid is discontented.
On page 186, Arvid’s self realization comes to the front as he admits:
“…..it suddenly dawned on me that what I had tried to do might not be possible: to leave behind the Arvid I had been up to this point in my life, to pull him up by his hair and then lower him into some other Arvid I still did not know, yes, with full conviction turn my back on the Arvid who was loved by those he loved the most, who greeted him and called him by pet names when he passed them in front of the house, the Arvid who got one hundred kroner notes from his mother when he was broke, but now had done what I had done and joined the “peuple” which really did not exist any more, but was an anachronism. I was a man out of time, or my character had a flaw, a crack in its foundation that would grow wider with each year.”
-Nan
Is that beautiful writing, or what? Take a look again at the length of that sentence and how smoothly it flows.
What I came away with after turning the last page, still stands for me today as I write: sad can be beautiful too. This is not a depressing book, but it is a sad one, but the way Petterson handles the character is with such beauty and craft that I was fulfilled as a reader to be a part of such a creative, well written novel. The reader has hope about Arvid and believes that he is not a lost soul forever, but is one slow to mature and deal with life’s challenges and problems.
It’s no wonder that Petterson won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the largest international prize for a work of fiction published in English for his previous novel Out Stealing Horses. The “New York Times” and “Time” also named this prior novel as a Best Book for 2007. Petterson is a master at his craft. He was born in Oslo to a working class family, and he still lives in Norway today. Readers who have not discovered Petterson yet are in for a treat.
P.S. In case any of you readers speak Norwegian, this book was published with the title: Jeg forbanner tidens elv by Oktober Forlag, Oslo, in 2008 and the English translation was first published in Great Britain by Harvill Secker, Random House Group, London, in 2010.
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