Birds (Penguin Modern Classics)

'The best Norwegian novel ever' Karl Ove Knausgaard

Mattis doesn'tunderstand much about the world. He doesn't understand why others callhim simple. Or why his sister Hege, who has cared for him in theirpeaceful lakeside cottage since they were young, gets so frustrated. Buthe knows that the woodcock which starts to fly over their house everyday is a sign something is about to change. And when Hege falls in love,disrupting their familiar existence and unbalancing his thoughts, hedecides he must face his fate.

Translated by Torbjørn Støverud and Michael Barnes

'A masterpiece' Literary Review

'Mattis, absurd and boastful, but also sweet, pathetic and even funny, is shown with great insight' Sunday Times

Reviews

A spare, icily humane story... The character of Mattis, absurd and boastful, but also sweet, pathetic and even funny, is shown with great insight. The translation conveys successfully a concentration of style and feeling that seems to be Vesaas' characteristic mark as a novelist