Before I Burn
Gaute Heivoll author Don Bartlett translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Atlantic Books
Published:1st Apr '13
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From Norway's pre-eminent young writer comes a startling novel about a pyromaniac raging through a close-knit community. This gripping and luminous novel explores madness, memory and the dark heart of the human psyche.
In the late 1970s, a pyromaniac runs amok in a close-knit community in rural Norway. Homes are burnt to a cinder, and panic spreads, as neighbours wonder who amongst them could be wreaking such fear and anguish. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, a mother comes to realise that her son is lighting the fires.
Born into this time of chaos, Gaute Heivoll is indelibly linked to the arsonist intent on such destruction. By juxtaposing the pyromaniac's story with his own, Heivoll explores memory, loss and the agonising separation of child from parent that it is a rite of passage for us all. Written in fluid, luminous prose, Before I Burn is a literary sensation, by the foremost Norwegian writer of his generation.
Luminously written... [Before I Burn is] an unsparing examination of the darker recesses of the human psyche... Heivoll's unhurried prose satisfyingly addresses the mysteries of memory and the precariousness of human existence * The Times *
One of the best books I have ever read... [Gaute Heivoll] manages to describe the rush of setting fire to a house so well. We understand the pyromaniac's fascination for the fire and the heat ... A pyromaniac seen from the inside, and is marvellously written. -- Karin Fossum
Gaute Heivoll is one of the finest voices of his generation. Before I Burn is a glowing depiction of the darkness in an isolated human being's mind. -- Karl Ove Knausgård
Thanks to Heivoll's adroit and sensitive handling of his themes, this semi-autobiographical account of old crimes is elevated and transformed into a great novel. * Glasgow Herald *
Gaute Heivoll's new book is great storytelling of the highest order, an existential horror story from the foremost of the young writers. -- Edvard Hoem
It has been an eerie pleasure to read Gaute Heivoll's thrilling novel about the pyromaniac who shook his home district in 1978. Før jeg brenner ned shows once again that Heivoll is a key name among his generation of writers and one of the most significant in contemporary Norwegian literature. The novel has all the requisites to captivate readers and become Heivoll's definitive breakthrough. -- Hans Herbjørnsrud
ISBN: 9780857892164
Dimensions: 210mm x 149mm x 23mm
Weight: 372g
320 pages
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