Scan barcode
A review by embean
Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
2.0
I could not get into this book. I'm assuming it must pick up, due to all the excellent reviews?
I could not make it past Chapter 6. The story focuses on an elderly American man in Norway who witnesses a crime and must flee with the victim's son. However, the man, a veteran, is paranoid and distrustful of authority. I couldn't get past the idea that this was going to be a novel about an old man in hiding, which is not exciting at all, peppered with unrelated flashbacks by various characters, which I found did not contribute to the plot or character development. I found his interactions with the boy annoying (who does not speak English, so we're constantly presented with the man's one-sided rants) and it seemed like the author was trying to frame this relationship in some kind of ironic, heartwarming manner (bumbling old man, clueless to the needs of small children).
I thought the novel would focus more on the culture shock of the man (hence the title?), and this may have been an interesting angle. However, it seemed that any difficulties he faced were not cultural but due to his being a grumpy old man. The novel could have taken place in any Western setting.
Does he subsequently try to solve the crime in order to disprove the stereotype of the crazy old man? It felt like the author was very much setting this up. I would not be interested in this either, as this seems highly unrealistic. Let me guess, he eventually bonds with the boy? The storyline seems predictable - which, maybe it's not, but currently, I'm not at all interested in continuing to read.
I could not make it past Chapter 6. The story focuses on an elderly American man in Norway who witnesses a crime and must flee with the victim's son. However, the man, a veteran, is paranoid and distrustful of authority. I couldn't get past the idea that this was going to be a novel about an old man in hiding, which is not exciting at all, peppered with unrelated flashbacks by various characters, which I found did not contribute to the plot or character development. I found his interactions with the boy annoying (who does not speak English, so we're constantly presented with the man's one-sided rants) and it seemed like the author was trying to frame this relationship in some kind of ironic, heartwarming manner (bumbling old man, clueless to the needs of small children).
I thought the novel would focus more on the culture shock of the man (hence the title?), and this may have been an interesting angle. However, it seemed that any difficulties he faced were not cultural but due to his being a grumpy old man. The novel could have taken place in any Western setting.
Does he subsequently try to solve the crime in order to disprove the stereotype of the crazy old man? It felt like the author was very much setting this up. I would not be interested in this either, as this seems highly unrealistic. Let me guess, he eventually bonds with the boy? The storyline seems predictable - which, maybe it's not, but currently, I'm not at all interested in continuing to read.