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Through the Night

Stig Sæterbakken author Seán Kinsella translator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Dalkey Archive Press

Published:1st Aug '13

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Through the Night cover

Drawing on fantasy and nightmare, Through the Night is a philosophical horror story charting the madness of a father whose son has committed suicide.

Dentist Karl Meyer’s worst nightmare comes true when his son, Ole-Jakob, takes his own life. A dark and harrowing story, drawing on elements from dreams, fairy tales, and horror stories, the better to explore the mysterious depths of sorrow and love, Through the Night is Stig Sæterbakken at his best.

Dentist Karl Meyer’s worst nightmare comes true when his son, Ole-Jakob, takes his own life. This tragedy is the springboard for a complex novel posing essential questions about human experience: What does sorrow do to a person? How can one live with the pain of unbearable loss? How far can a man be driven by the grief and despair surrounding the death of his child? A dark and harrowing story, drawing on elements from dreams, fairy tales, and horror stories, the better to explore the mysterious depths of sorrow and love, Through the Night is Stig Sæterbakken at his best.

"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."


"Saeterbakken entices the reader along some dark paths from which, in the end, there is no easy escape."

-- Alison McCulloch * New York Times Book Revi

ISBN: 9781564788740

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

259 pages