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Surreal and poetic, this book transports readers into spaces where the imagined and reality blur, spaces where strange voices come and go in powerful waves. The novella’s narrator, a rather successful academic, leads an isolated existence in Oslo. Readers watch as the protagonist navigates Oslo’s artistic offerings and the cultural differences, as well as the onslaught of voices that more and more plague the speaker’s existence. As the voices grow increasingly insistent, and the strain begins taking its toll on his relationship, one witnesses how the narrator grows desperate for normalcy. Readers travel vicariously to Paris with the speaker, and they wander the Paris streets, seeking respite from an invisible force pushing him to a steep edge.
The author's book is an exploration of what it means to lose oneself and then rediscover it. Minimalist in form and language yet poetically written, this book reads quickly. While the narrator’s mental undoing is painful to witness, Linstroth’s writing successfully mirrors that undoing. Long, emotive sentences sweep the author’s audience into the protagonist’s struggle. The novella also explores the significance of place, and the speaker’s clear descriptions of Oslo and Paris make readers feel as though they were walking through each city with him. At its core, however, the novella opens a candid conversation about individual and societal responses to mental illness. The narrator’s outcome is also a testament to the power of arts-focused treatment. At times brutally honest and at other times brilliantly hallucinogenic, Linstroth’s book is a gripping, carefully paced psychological thriller.