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A review by mikkareads
Ankomst by Gøhril Gabrielsen
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not much happens in this novel.
In the middle of the polar winter, a scientist moves into a barren hut in the Arctic to spend a few months observing the effects of climate change on migratory bird populations. Her lover is to come soon and spend this time with her.
A lot happens in this novel.
The author effectively describes how a woman finds herself in solitude and loses herself at the same time. Freedom becomes loneliness, air to breathe becomes claustrophobic madness. An intimate insight into an isolated living environment.
We watch the protagonist lose herself in her relationships. Marriage, motherhood, new love: she is looking for freedom, she is looking for fulfillment, but in the end she just trades one cage for the next. Where does she begin and end, what are her very own wishes and dreams, her self-sufficient personality?
In the Arctic, she is thrown back on herself. She waits and hopes, waits and doubts, waits and loses her footing. Reality is an increasingly unreal concept. She's a woman who finds it difficult to deal with loss of control - paranoia scratches at the doors, desperation and fear creep in.
Gøhril Gabrielsen writes in words as clear and cold as the arctic ice; one searches in vain for emotional exuberance or genuine warmth. But there is no lack of atmosphere, the style fits seamlessly into the setting - you can almost hear the ice cracking when the protagonist breaks apart piece by piece. It is impressive how the author uses the setting to depict contradictory themes and impressions: endless vastness and desperate loneliness, longed-for security and claustrophobic feelings of being locked in.
In the middle of the polar winter, a scientist moves into a barren hut in the Arctic to spend a few months observing the effects of climate change on migratory bird populations. Her lover is to come soon and spend this time with her.
A lot happens in this novel.
The author effectively describes how a woman finds herself in solitude and loses herself at the same time. Freedom becomes loneliness, air to breathe becomes claustrophobic madness. An intimate insight into an isolated living environment.
We watch the protagonist lose herself in her relationships. Marriage, motherhood, new love: she is looking for freedom, she is looking for fulfillment, but in the end she just trades one cage for the next. Where does she begin and end, what are her very own wishes and dreams, her self-sufficient personality?
In the Arctic, she is thrown back on herself. She waits and hopes, waits and doubts, waits and loses her footing. Reality is an increasingly unreal concept. She's a woman who finds it difficult to deal with loss of control - paranoia scratches at the doors, desperation and fear creep in.
Gøhril Gabrielsen writes in words as clear and cold as the arctic ice; one searches in vain for emotional exuberance or genuine warmth. But there is no lack of atmosphere, the style fits seamlessly into the setting - you can almost hear the ice cracking when the protagonist breaks apart piece by piece. It is impressive how the author uses the setting to depict contradictory themes and impressions: endless vastness and desperate loneliness, longed-for security and claustrophobic feelings of being locked in.