Imprint: Arcadia
Format: C Format
ISBN: 978-1-900850-74-2
Price: £ 12.99
Pages: 784 pp
Date: January 2003
"At Frankfurt, Arcadia trounced rivals with a preemptive bid for World English rights to The Half-Brother" - Bookseller
‘The book of the year so far as the pleasure principle is concerned…majestic’ – Chris Power, The Times
‘Bruising and brilliant…like Paul Auster’s The Book of Illusions meeting Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections’ – Anna Paterson, Independent
‘The Half Brother is no mere interesting example of contemporary Scandinavian writing; it’s a deeply felt, intricately worked and intellectually searching work of absolutely international importance’ – Paul Binding, Guardian
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The Half Brother
Lars-Saabye Christensen (About this author)
Winner of the Nordic Prize 2002, The Half Brother has already sold more than 150,000 copies in Norway alone. This literary marvel tells the story of an ordinary Norwegian family in the 1960s, set apart by extraordinary family members, and of two half-brothers leading very different and separate lives, until they are brought together again at their mother's deathbed...
Barnum and Fred are half-brothers, growing up in sixties Oslo. Barnum seems to have stopped growing, while his half-brother, frustrated by learning difficulties, is sent away to a special school. Theirs is an ordinary Norwegian family of the time, set apart by extraordinary family members. Their father is no better than a con man, giving the appearance of a traveling salesman; while the three woman in the family (mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, the 'Old One') are all unwed mothers. Then the Old One is killed by a hit and run driver - and Fred becomes mute as a result. The two half-brothers embark on their separate courses, Fred becoming a boxer and Barnum a scriptwriter, hoping to create a new genre in film, 'the northern' (as opposed to 'western'). The brothers won't meet again until at their mother's deathbed, many years later..
More Books by this Author:
Beatles
Herman
The Model
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