Through the Night (novel)

Through the Night (Norwegian: Gjennom natten) is a 2011 novel by the Norwegian writer Stig Sæterbakken. It tells the story of a father who goes through the mourning process after his 18-year-old son commits suicide. It was Sæterbakken's last book.

Through the Night
First edition
AuthorStig Sæterbakken
Original titleGjennom natten
TranslatorSeán Kinsella
CountryNorway
LanguageNorwegian
PublisherCappelen Damm
Publication date
2011
Published in English
1 June 2013
Pages272
ISBN9788202357993

The book was awarded P2-lytternes romanpris and Ungdommens kritikerpris in Norway.[1][2] The English translation by Seán Kinsella was longlisted for the 2014 Best Translated Book Award.[3]

Reception

Ole Øyvind Sand Holth of Dagbladet reviewed the novel:

It is painful, but also rewarding to read, primarily because Sæterbakken writes enormously well. The language never becomes a shield or filter, quite the opposite, it drills into the darkness, with a precision and ingenuity in the use of images that paradoxically feels liberating[.] ... None of the simple constituents is particularly original, it is rather about playing with familiar motifs, but Sæterbakken shows that he masters classic, fear-inducing storytelling.[4]

Publishers Weekly wrote about the English translation:

Saeterbakken's confident articulation of the myriad emotions and symptoms that make up Meyer's grief is a grand example of drawing universality from extreme specificity; the prose is evocative in a way that forces the reader to feel deeply the entire gamut of his particular sorrow and guilt while also being an observer of his wife divergent experience. ... Readers may lose the plot's thread in a surreal sequence towards the end, but it is not wholly disorienting. Though hardly uplifting, Saeterbakken last is notable for the beauty and heartbreak of its narration.[5]

References
  1. Bjørnskau, Hilde (2012-02-10). "Sæterbakken vant Romanprisen". nrk.no (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  2. Sorknes, Mailen; Kleve, Marie L. (2012-03-01). "Stig Sæterbakken ble ungdommens favorittforfatter". Dagbladet. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  3. Post, Chad W. (2014-11-03). "BTBA 2014 Fiction Longlist: It's Here!". Three Percent. University of Rochester. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  4. Sand Holth, Ole Øyvind (2011-09-12). "Natt uten ende". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2015-10-14. Det er vondt, men også givende å lese, først og fremst fordi Sæterbakken skriver enormt godt. Språket blir aldri noe skjold eller filter, tvert imot, det borer seg inn i mørket, med en presisjon og oppfinnsomhet i billedbruken som paradoksalt nok føles befriende[.] ... Ingen av de enkelte bestanddelene er spesielt originale, det dreier seg snarere om en lek med kjente motiver, men Sæterbakken viser at han mestrer klassisk, fryktinngytende fortellerteknikk.
  5. "Fiction Book Review: Through the Night by Stig Saeterbakken". Publishers Weekly. 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
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