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A review by ian_hilgendorf
I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson
3.0
In this Petterson novel, a different iteration of Arvid Jansen struggles through every aspect of his life; his mother has become ill, his Communist affiliation is worthless, his marriage is ending. The story launches from here, with Arvid exiling himself to the summer home where his mother has gone to be alone. Much of the narrative resides in the past, with Arvid trying to make sense of his life, its failures, the difficulties of his complex relationships. He wants to know why he cannot change, why he must suffer loss, and why he seems to be blamed for these hardships.
As always, the quality of Petterson's writing holds the story together. He has an uncanny eye for detailing the physical world and the minutia of human suffering. Arvid is a despondent soul, but in this case, also a little too self absorbed and never capable of overcoming his shortsightedness. This, of course, is true to real life, people do not often change, but Arvid's tendency to see things from only his perspective gets a little old at times, and I found myself wishing to know more of the story from his mother's perspective, a central character to the novel, but one who remains shrouded in mystery for much of the story.
One does not read a Petterson novel for the sake of its plot, much of the story is a musing on the difficulties of modern life, and for this accurate rendering I'm sure I will return to this book again. I just didn't feel it was as strong as some of his other work, particularly Out Stealing Horses and In the Wake.
As always, the quality of Petterson's writing holds the story together. He has an uncanny eye for detailing the physical world and the minutia of human suffering. Arvid is a despondent soul, but in this case, also a little too self absorbed and never capable of overcoming his shortsightedness. This, of course, is true to real life, people do not often change, but Arvid's tendency to see things from only his perspective gets a little old at times, and I found myself wishing to know more of the story from his mother's perspective, a central character to the novel, but one who remains shrouded in mystery for much of the story.
One does not read a Petterson novel for the sake of its plot, much of the story is a musing on the difficulties of modern life, and for this accurate rendering I'm sure I will return to this book again. I just didn't feel it was as strong as some of his other work, particularly Out Stealing Horses and In the Wake.