A review by karadavis1990
The Lake of the Dead by André Bjerke

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Initially, I thought this novel was taking a jab at intellectual elitism and bourgeois society while it set up i was giving too much credit for future horror festivities. Then I realised (or I didn't and the whole thing went over my head). The cast of characters in this is not satirical genius, they are simply a crew of pretentious beta males with interesting commentary on their subservient female family members (and no, it cannot be blamed on the 1940s, its unnatural when set against the rest of the novel and frankly just weird and cringey). There is some five star, atmospheric gold in the setting descriptions and a few doses of eerie excellence. Unfortunately, the shitty character writing  drowns it out. Also, I picked this up as my "horror in translation" read for January (I realise it is February now but this book was a slog). This isn't really horror, it is a thriller and not a riveting one.