The Birds

Tarjei Vesaas has written the best Norwegian novel ever, "The Birds" - it is absolutely wonderful, the prose is so simple and so subtle, and the story is so moving that it would have been counted amongst the great classics from the last century if it had been written in one of the major languages - Karl Ove Knausgaard.

'The best Norwegian novel ever' Karl Ove Knausgaard

Mattis doesn't understand much about the world. He doesn't understand why others call him simple. Or why his sister Hege, who has cared for him in their peaceful lakeside cottage since they were young, gets so frustrated. But he knows that the woodcock which starts to fly over their house every day is a sign something is about to change. And when Hege falls in love, disrupting their familiar existence and unbalancing his thoughts, he decides he must face his fate.

Translated by Torbjørn Støverud and Michael Barnes

'A masterpiece' Literary Review

'Mattis, absurd and boastful, but also sweet, pathetic and even funny, is shown with great insight' Sunday Times