We are into a new year, happy 2024! Here are some new book reviews for you from our resident reader, Glen Pearce.
The Dancer – Óskar Guðmundsson
‘Dance is the hidden language of the soul’ said famous dancer Martha Graham, but what happens when that soul is a tormented one?
Óskar Guðmundsson’s The Dancer takes us into the very darkest recesses of the human soul, a troubled and tortured mind that has suffered much and seeks revenge in the most brutal manner.
In heavy falling snow on a Reykjavik hillside, Tony dances to the strain of Mick Jagger, naked and oblivious to the cold. It’s something he’s been doing for over twenty years, since he was five, his feet gnarled and bleeding from the decades of punishing dance practice.
His mother, a former ballet student with great potential is now wheelchair-bound, her mind as frail as her body. When children discover Tony’s father’s heavily decomposed body wrapped and hidden in a deserted building, it’s clear the body has been there for a while but, for Tony, there’s little to mourn when news of his estranged father’s murder is broken to him.
Tony is about to achieve something his mother never did: to dance on the National Theatre stage, but as he enters a new world of jealousy, competitiveness and his first tentative steps into the world of relationships, the boundaries between fantasy and reality begin to blur.
Guðmundsson crafts a perfect physiological thriller, the layers of Tony’s troubled mind are carefully unraveled without flinching from the horrors that have shaped his demons. There’s brutality that doesn’t flinch from the darkest corners of humanity but there’s also empathy and a dawning realisation that events aren’t as one-dimensional as first appear.
There’s beautifully observed characterisation here. The troubled dancer’s at times destructive, at times nurturing relationship with his mother, a tender yet touching exploration of sexuality and in the investigating officers Ylfa and Valdimar, an enticing hint of a new investigative duo.
Quentin Bates’ translation brings Guðmundsson’s page-turner to an English audience with flair, capturing both the darkness and the flawed humanity in the story. There are echoes of Norman Bates in Psycho, Natalie Portman’s Black Swan, and even a hint of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard but this isn’t some rehashed choreography, The Dancer stands centre stage in its own right as a thrilling work that will have the reader avidly turning the page.
The Dancer by Óskar Guðmundsson and translated by Quentin Bates is out now published by Corylus Books.
The Guests – Agnes Ravatn
Keeping up with the Joneses, the time-honoured practice of trying to outdo your neighbours in social standings, has become more complicated in the Social Media Age. Whereas it used to be all about having the latest car in the driveway or going on an exotic vacation, the pressure to live the perfect Instagrammable lifestyle is now all too common.
In Agnes Ravatn’s The Guests, a young married couple not only have to play a game of one-upmanship with the neighbours, but there is the added complication of trying to compete with former schoolmates over who has achieved the most in life.
However, “schoolmate” is probably going too far. Karin, a planning consultant working for a local council just outside Oslo, would rather forget she went to school with famous actress, Iris Vilden. Karin has spent much of her adult life actively avoiding the now-famous celebrity who bullied her at school.
When Karin and her husband, Kai, are offered a week’s vacation in the actress’ plush countryside cabin after a chance encounter, reconciliation appears to be in the air, but as Karin’s mind goes into overdrive, a chance encounter with a famous writer sees Karin inventing a whole new backstory.
Ravatn, told entirely in the first person from Karin’s point of view, delves deep into the psyche, exposing Karin’s thought processes. Doubts about her professional achievements, family struggles, and a desire for something more glamorous than local council procedural.
It’s a well-crafted examination of the pressure to succeed and what success actually entails. In today’s celebrity-obsessed world, fame is more sought after than a successful career away from the spotlight. Ravatn cleverly capitalises on our innate self-doubt that our accomplishments are less than they appear.
Despite the luxurious setting of a cabin overlooking a vast expanse of Norwegian countryside, there is a growing sense of claustrophobia as Karin’s increasingly erratic thoughts isolate her from the world outside.
This is a slow-burning story; those expecting a fast-paced action thriller or a big plot twist at the end will be disappointed. Yes, there are unexpected twists and turns, but this is a much more subtle exploration of the human mind than a conventional thriller.
After such a slow build, the ending can feel a little anticlimactic, and there is a sense that while Karin’s character has been drawn in minute detail, the characters around her are less fully developed.
Regardless, The Guests is a thought-provoking read, and it’s possible that, like Karin’s life story, this is a story about the journey to something bigger, if not the finished product.
The Guests, by Agnes Ravatn, will be published by Orenda Books on January 18, 2024.
