In The Wake is another semi-autobiographical novel from Norway writer Per Petterson. His writing is excellent and on it's own I might have enjoyed this more, but this is the fourth in a row I've read from him and it's not my favourite.
Petterson's reoccurring character Arvid is now 43, and wanders through life, cast adrift after the tragedy of losing his father, mother and sister in the fire of a commercial ferry accident. He spends his time walking the streets alone, or driving the Norwegian countryside with his brother, who has problems coping as well. They travel north to the family cottage, throw wreaths into the water near Copenhagen, and drink too much. When his brother tries to commit suicide through alcohol and pills, he spends days at the hospital and his nights drifting. Arvid has achieved his goal of becoming a published writer, and thinks back wistfully over time spent with his father, but mainly rambles the countryside from town to town.
"Actually, I like it like this; cleaned out, rock bottom."
The tone and quality of the writing reminded me of Raymond Carver or Alice Munro, two writers Petterson admires. The story deals with grief and resilience, as the plot meanders - not going too far - but the character and place are always strong in his writing. Like his character, Petterson himself lost his father, mother, younger brother, and sister on the Scandinavian Star ferry disaster in 1990. Instead of calling Arvid his alter-ego, he calls him his 'stunt double'. This novel won the Brage Prize in 2000, and his other titles have won the Nordic Council's Literature Prize, Norwegian Critic's Prize for Literature and the Bookseller's Best Book of the Year Award.
This is not the novel of his I'd recommend you to start with. Interesting, but mostly a character study. Out Stealing Horses is his best work I think, which won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and was one of the New York Times 10 best books of the year.
2002 / Tradeback / 202 pages
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