
By Kjartan Fløgstad
Spain during the civil war. Democracy is losing its foothold. At the last minute two boys from the losing side are evacuated. One of them winds up in the Soviet Republic, the other in Mexico. Although they share the same starting point, their lives follow totally different paths. One leads through Russia to Siberia and down the Yenisei River to Norilsk at the edge of the frozen sea. The other leads in between Mexico’s snow-clad volcanoes. Where are those two boys today, years later? Who is the narrator, and what does he know of the society we will wake up to tomorrow? The Northeast Passage is a novel about life paths, seaways and escapes across new waters when the ice melts and the ideological climate shifts. And are we supposed to envision imaginary creatures from the past when we hear hooves thundering across the plains?
From one of the most important and influential Norwegian writers today.
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