The Birds

Description

New to Penguin Modern Classics, a moving portrayal of the fragility of the human mind and an acclaimed Norwegian masterpiece This is the story of Mattis, a mentally handicapped man who lives with and is cared for by his older sister, Hege. Within their isolated, lakeside existence, Mattis cannot make sense of his tangled thoughts, frightening apparitions, surges of emotion and clever insights. When a travelling lumberjack attracts Hege's affections, the disruption is too much for Mattis to bear. This Norwegian masterpiece sensitively captures a mystic command of the natural world, the prison of unfulfilled time and the fragility of the human mind. The narrative is sparse, poetic and contemplative, with an ending that crescendos into heartbreak.

Tarjei Vesaas (Author) Tarjei Vesaas died at the age of 72 in the same small village where he was born- Vinje in Telemark, an isolated mountainous district of southern Norway. He wrote more than 25 novels and was nominated 30 times for the Nobel Prize.

The Birds has a freshness that can only be due to its timeless subject matter... From the first page, this novel grips us with an acutely sensitive rendition of a mentally handicapped man's inner world * Kirkus Review * A masterpiece * Literary Review * A spare, icily humane story... The character of Mattis, absurd and boastful, but also sweet, pathetic and even funny, is shown with great insight. The translation conveys successfully a concentration of style and feeling that seems to be Vesaas' characteristic mark as a novelist * Sunday Times *