Status
Available
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Rochester, NY : Open Letter, 2009.
Description
"The final novel in a trilogy of books about the Norwegian television celebrity Jonas Wergeland, The Discoverer finds Jonas released from prison, having completed his sentence for the death of his wife. He has taken a job as a secretary aboard the Voyager, a ship which is exploring the far reaches of the Sognefjord, the longest fjord in the world. On the ship, Jonas works for a team of young people, including his daughter, Kristin, who are engaged in a multimedia project that is seeking to chart every aspect of the fjord in a new medium that merges text, image, film, and design."--Publisher.
User reviews
LibraryThing member pelletier.eb
I loved The Discoverer by Jan Kjaerstad. The plotline is multi-directional, just as Jonas Hanson is. This suits him even more once you learn that his dream is to think multiple thoughts at the same time, and to live multiple lives all at once. His greatest desire is to save a life. He is
Jonas Hanson’s thoughts and actions are beautiful. He not only takes the blame for his wife’s suicide, but actually takes the pains to make it appear that he killed her. It is not to save her reputation, but because he felt that his treatment of her during her life, though he never held the gun, killed her just as surely as if he had shot her.
I love Kjaerstad’s writing, and am inspired to read his other books. He built three dimensional characters whose lives were interesting and important. Often I find the back and forth between stories and time periods confusing, but somehow it always makes sense when Kjaerstad does it. He begins one story, which reminds him of another story, which makes him want to express a certain philosophy, which brings him back to the second story, and finally the first story he started makes sense.
Thanks to this wonderful publisher for bringing us translated editions of non-english books.
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disappointed when he does because he feels the event to be anticlimactic. What he doesn’t realize is that the life he was destined to save is his own.Jonas Hanson’s thoughts and actions are beautiful. He not only takes the blame for his wife’s suicide, but actually takes the pains to make it appear that he killed her. It is not to save her reputation, but because he felt that his treatment of her during her life, though he never held the gun, killed her just as surely as if he had shot her.
I love Kjaerstad’s writing, and am inspired to read his other books. He built three dimensional characters whose lives were interesting and important. Often I find the back and forth between stories and time periods confusing, but somehow it always makes sense when Kjaerstad does it. He begins one story, which reminds him of another story, which makes him want to express a certain philosophy, which brings him back to the second story, and finally the first story he started makes sense.
Thanks to this wonderful publisher for bringing us translated editions of non-english books.
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LibraryThing member bookking
I really did enjoy the writing of this story. Yes, it's a translation, but the flow of the story felt good. I missed the 2 previous installments and am curious about them, but overall I likely won't pursue them. I got what I wanted out of this story.
The main character, Jonas is likable enough and
I would have given it a 5th star, but felt that several areas, midway through the story fell a little short of the rest.
The main character, Jonas is likable enough and
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has a compelling tale and adventure. Without giving away too much info, rest assured that the details and descriptions of his journey are wonderful.I would have given it a 5th star, but felt that several areas, midway through the story fell a little short of the rest.
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LibraryThing member RobFow
Though not completely finished reading my copy of this wonderful book. I have been very pleased with the publisher Open Letter, for bringing books from around the world to the US and other English speaking countries. I will have a complete review upon my completion of this novel.
LibraryThing member AmericasEditor
Jan Kjaerstad's The Discoverer is full of rich detail that pulls you into the story again and again. The storytelling uses a stream of consciousness style, but remains true to the plot, which offers the truth behind the death of Jonas’s wife. Kjaerstad reminds you, with amazing accuracy, what
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it’s like to be a child. Jonas is a real person, not a hero or a villain, and his sense of wonder and quiet actions rule his entire life and leads him to not only fulfill many lifelong goals but also to experience hardships that he must account for. Kjaerstad describes various stages of manhood and adulthood that began to take root in me. There is no beauty of language lost in translation. A serious and encapsulating read. I only wish I had read the first two books in the series first, although it was not necessary to understand the storyline. Show Less
LibraryThing member AmericasEditor
Jan Kjaerstad's The Discoverer is full of rich detail that pulls you into the story again and again. The storytelling uses a stream of consciousness style, but remains true to the plot, which offers the truth behind the death of Jonas’s wife. Kjaerstad reminds you, with amazing accuracy, what
Show More
it’s like to be a child. Jonas is a real person, not a hero or a villain, and his sense of wonder and quiet actions rule his entire life and leads him to not only fulfill many lifelong goals but also to experience hardships that he must account for. Kjaerstad describes various stages of manhood and adulthood that began to take root in me. There is no beauty of language lost in translation. A serious and encapsulating read. I only wish I had read the first two books in the series first, although it was not necessary to understand the storyline. Show Less
LibraryThing member bbrad
You really have to like Jonas Wergeland to parse this long, dense novel about his life. And I found that even though Wergeland did some interesting things (had some near-death experiences, palled around with cool friends, tried to regroup graphically all of human knowledge, went to prison for
Perhaps the problem is that this is the last book of a trilogy (the first two unread by me). The publisher pushes this book as a "stand alone", however, and I accordingly read it that way. The pivotal event of the novel - and, apparently, of the first two books of the trilogy - is the suicide of Wergeland's wife, a depressive, and Wergeland's successful effort to be blamed for her "murder" and to serve time in prison. Other than some guilt over a sexual encounter with a female work colleague, we don't know why Wergeland made this choice. I suppose - and this is a legitimate device - the reader is to sort through scattered clues and be left guessing.
A major reason we don't form much emotional attachment to the protagonist is that we hardly ever hear him talk to others. Dialogue adds a dimension to a character - personalizes him, and it is almost totally absent here.
The style of the book keeps the reader alert. The narrative is not linear; it jumps from one seminal event in Wergeland's life to another, occurring randomly, at age seven, at middle age, as a teenager, and so forth. And those events are revisited again and again in different order. Sometimes the different narrators are unknown or revealed very late in the narration.
Despite its difficulties as a narrative, the book is well written - or at least well translated, since I can't vouch for the Norwegian. Objects are beautifully descirbed, as is the Norwegian fjord country. Events are oftren revealed with gripping suspense. I just wish all the beautiful language and other artifices had made me care.
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killing his wife, produced a masterful TV series for Norwegian television exploring the soul of Norway) the book didn't present him in a way that made me care much about him. His portrayal certainly doesn't support this assessment of him made by his talented daughter near the end of the book: "He was an exceptional person, one in a billion, because he embodied the possibilities of his day, all the unrealized potential. He reflected the future. He showed us, me at least, what mankind could be."Perhaps the problem is that this is the last book of a trilogy (the first two unread by me). The publisher pushes this book as a "stand alone", however, and I accordingly read it that way. The pivotal event of the novel - and, apparently, of the first two books of the trilogy - is the suicide of Wergeland's wife, a depressive, and Wergeland's successful effort to be blamed for her "murder" and to serve time in prison. Other than some guilt over a sexual encounter with a female work colleague, we don't know why Wergeland made this choice. I suppose - and this is a legitimate device - the reader is to sort through scattered clues and be left guessing.
A major reason we don't form much emotional attachment to the protagonist is that we hardly ever hear him talk to others. Dialogue adds a dimension to a character - personalizes him, and it is almost totally absent here.
The style of the book keeps the reader alert. The narrative is not linear; it jumps from one seminal event in Wergeland's life to another, occurring randomly, at age seven, at middle age, as a teenager, and so forth. And those events are revisited again and again in different order. Sometimes the different narrators are unknown or revealed very late in the narration.
Despite its difficulties as a narrative, the book is well written - or at least well translated, since I can't vouch for the Norwegian. Objects are beautifully descirbed, as is the Norwegian fjord country. Events are oftren revealed with gripping suspense. I just wish all the beautiful language and other artifices had made me care.
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LibraryThing member echaika
This is a superb book, written and disorganized as if you are privy to the constant dialogue in Jonas's mind, the neverending discourse all of us cursed or blessed with language have reeling in our brains. Only Jonas's thoughts are more interesting than most people's. I suspect. Utterly
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fascinating, engrossing, dense, vivid, superb. Show Less
LibraryThing member texasheartland
Kind of hard for me to understand since it is from a translation, but I thought it was very nicely written!
Awards
Best Translated Book Award (Shortlist — Fiction — 2010)
Nordisk Råds litteraturpris (Nominee — 2001)
Language
Original language
Norwegian
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