Durante los últimos días de un otoño de extraña intensidad, Arvid, a sus treinta y siete años, lucha por encontrar un nuevo anclaje en su vida, cuando todo lo que hasta entonces había considerado seguro se desmorona a una velocidad vertiginosa. Es el final de la guerra fría y, mientras el comunismo llega a su fin, Arvid se enfrenta a su primer divorcio y al diagnóstico de que su madre padece cáncer.

Net als zijn moeder gehoord heeft dat ze kanker heeft, meldt Arvid haar dat hij gaat scheiden. Zijn moeder wil voordat de behandelingen starten, naar haar geboorteland Denemarken. Arvid vindt dat hij met haar mee moet. Eigenlijk blijkt uit het hele boek dat Arvid nooit echt volwassen is geworden, al doet hij nog zo zijn best om zijn eigen weg te gaan.

Arvid Jansen er 37 år og kommer i midliovskrise, da hans mor har fået konstateret kræft og hans kone forlanger skilsmisse....kriserne udspiller sig uafklarede og moren er ikke talende men klog. ( )

My usual qualms with a less than perfect translation. The story is engaging, the characters are very well-written. Would have gladly seen more of the mother's back story unravel, but the very fact that we can only learn about her through the reminiscences and observances of her son is intriguing. ( )

(6.5)This book is bleak in setting and context. Set in November in Denmark and Norway, 37 year old Arvid Jansen, is not only confronting his impending divorce, but also his mother's diagnosis with stomach cancer. When his mother receives the news she decides to take a break from her family and return to their summer house in Denmark, the land of her birth. Arvid immediately pursues her. The story moves back and forth between different time zones (which is not well done in my opinion, as I struggled to orientate myself each time.) I thought many events in the story were left without clarity, the cause of his brother's death, the reason behind his marriage breakdown... I read this over 24 hours but felt no emotional reaction to it. I wondered whether there was an autobiographical element to it and whether the author himself was in a very negative head space when he wrote it. ( )