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A review by psr
Echoland by Don Bartlett, Per Petterson
4.0
This short early piece by Petterson has only recently been made available to the Anglophone world. It reveals that the novelist's style and themes were already firmly established some three decades ago.
'Echoland' is rugged and poetic in the estimable Don Bartlett's translation. It's a coming-of-age piece about a twelve year-old boy and his experiences while holidaying with his grandparents in coastal Denmark. The relationships are all highly believable and touching. At its core is the changed dynamic between the protagonist and his friend when the friend begins to date the protagonist's sister. Surrounding this are his changing perceptions of the members of his family. The entire novella has the ring of truth about it and transports the older reader back to his own youth.
I read this novel while on holiday myself, and I suppose, you'd have to describe it as an ideal, none too taxing holiday read. And it lays the ground for weightier novels Petterson would come to write, later in his career.
'Echoland' is rugged and poetic in the estimable Don Bartlett's translation. It's a coming-of-age piece about a twelve year-old boy and his experiences while holidaying with his grandparents in coastal Denmark. The relationships are all highly believable and touching. At its core is the changed dynamic between the protagonist and his friend when the friend begins to date the protagonist's sister. Surrounding this are his changing perceptions of the members of his family. The entire novella has the ring of truth about it and transports the older reader back to his own youth.
I read this novel while on holiday myself, and I suppose, you'd have to describe it as an ideal, none too taxing holiday read. And it lays the ground for weightier novels Petterson would come to write, later in his career.