About this title: Arvid has lost his parents and his two younger brothers in a ferry accident. Only he and his brother are left alive. The novel he is writing about his father is stalled, the grief and guilt he feels at having survived are too overwhelming. It is as though Arvid has become dislocated from the flow of life. His only human contact is with his Kurdish ...
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Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0312427042 **Softcover**--Exact ISBN Match--Cover has extremely minor shelf wear at tips of corners. No personalizations, writing or marks in the text. Clean, Tight and Neat. Absolutely no spine creasing. Ships Quickly-IN STOCK-Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Fine. Trade Paperback. Picador, 2007. Fine Book. Overall, a clean and tight, lightly read copy. Media mail packed in protective bubble lined shipping bags, Priority in a Flat Rate Envelope. Shipped quickly. Prompt response to questions. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, New York
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312343835ISBN:0312343833
Description: Fair in Fair jacket. 0312343833 This book has some shelf wear as well as marks on the cover and pages. The library stamps and stickers are still on this book. This book is 202 pages. read more
Description: Petterson, Per., St. Martin's Press 'Thomas Dunne Books', 2006, c2002, 1st U.S. Edition, cloth (hard cover), one very minor corner bump o/w very near fine with fine dj, 202 pp, 8vo, ISBN: 0312343833, 'A feat of a novel; a study of human catastrophe and psychology', translated from the Norwegian by Anne Born. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Picador USA
Date Published: 2007-04-17
ISBN-13:9780312427047ISBN:0312427042
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780312427047. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Picador
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780312427047ISBN:0312427042
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312343835ISBN:0312343833
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. The book and jacket look like new to me. I see no problems. Glued binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 202 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Acceptable. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books, London
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780099520740ISBN:0099520745
Description: Octavo Size. Very Good condition.202 pages Translated by Anne Born, winner of the 2007 IMPAC Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: St Martins Pr
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780312427047ISBN:0312427042
Description: New. Per Petterson's masterful American debut novel is the story of a man whose life stands still after a terrible accident. Spanning an intense period of only a few weeks, "In the Wake" features 43 year-old Arvid, a writer who lost his parents and younge... read more
"Arvid, the protagonist in In the Wake, scuttles somnambulistically through life years after the deaths of his parents and two youngest brothers in a ferry fire (based on a real event). Flashbacks inform us that he didn't have much gumption before the accident either. So the author has us follow him. When he goes for a walk we learn what he is wearing, how cold it is, whether he is happy or sad about the weather, which tune is going through his head. When he drives, we are assured of the route, the colors of the row terraces. He sees things in slow motion, or as the author says, 'a sleepwalker's dream'. We learn that Arvid never connected with his father and now he has to deal with that. That shouldn't be surprising because he didn't connect with his brothers, his ex-wife and daughters. There's barely a mention of his mother, perhaps because that is not part of his existential angst.
Petterson's To Siberia and Out Stealing Horses are quite good, especially the latter. I would only recommend In the Wake to those who like a tepid dose of ennui."
"Norwegian novelist Per Peterson uses Oslo and the Norwegian wilderness as the setting to tell the story of Arvid Jansen. Jansen's interior monologue opens the reader to his world, in which he seems to be stranger. Throughout the narrative, Jansen comes to terms with the losses that have left him with no family and, in effect, no identity. As he deals with the revelations that open his past to him, the memory of the final mystery that has defined his life frees him to start anew, not necessarily a happy man, but a man capable of dealing with a forever changed future.
Having spent a couple of weeks in Norway ten years ago, I enjoyed the setting of In the Wake. Jansen's take on the setting is grimmer than mine was, but I was there as a tourist and didn't have the sad connections to the country as homeland as Jansen had. The Norwegian woman who served as a host while I was there pointed out to the group I was with that the suicide rate in Norway was extremely high, especially among young men. I was there in August when everything was in bloom and the weather was beautiful, but having lived in Michigan, I can imagine the dark winter when snow covers everything and how much of a downer that atmosphere can be.
Peterson's style reminds me of James Joyce. The only problem I found with the book was with some of the translation choices, but I suppose that's to be expected.
This book is not for everyone, but I liked its darkness."
"One of those great northern novels that pulls you right in to its depression, morbidity, and desperation. I love the coffee ritual, and the gentle friendship that develops between two men who cannot speak each other's tngue."
"It cannot be a good sign that I brought this book on vacation, apparently forgetting that I read it six months ago. After reading "Out Stealing Horses", I was so enamored of Petterson that I immediately purchased this novel, which contained relatively few of the charms of "Horses" that I had to read a few pages to remember that I took this on my previous trip.
"In the Wake" follows Arvid in the aftermath of a number of person tragedies. He is struggling with the day to day tasks of surviving the grippling grief and guilt that have followed divorce and death, and does so in a disjointed and often unsuccessful way. Over the course of the novel, he remembers and explores his own awkward and painful interactions with the people he loves most. Especially complicated is his relationship with his father, who he seems to have admired, loved, and feared.
Arvid's battle to regain some semblance of a functional life rings true - the unexpected ways in which grief can derail one's life seem to make perfect sense despite being completely unpredictable. Unfortunately, Arvid - in spite of being a writer, and in possession of a fairly compelling story - lacks some of the poetic gift of his "Horses" counterpart. "In the Wake" is a fluid, emotional novel, but it suffers from being compared to Petterson's more prominent work."
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