RaveThe Boston GlobeTrond Sander, the 67-year-old Norwegian narrator of Per Petterson's intimate and lyrical novel, is a combination of Henry David Thoreau and Samuel Beckett … The rugged beauty of Norway is every bit as alive and expressive in Petterson's story as Sander himself. Sander obsessively remembers a single summer, 50 years in the past, spent with his father and filled with events that have haunted him ever since … Petterson's narrative takes its time, and much of the prose, especially describing the Norwegian landscape and the hard labor of living in it, is hypnotic and grimly detailed.
