The Scapegoat, The (Series B: English Translations of Works of Scandinavian Literature) Book

The Scandinavian imagination seems obsessed with the concept of guilt - an obsession Norwegian novelist Borgen (1902-79) appears to fully share. This novel's main character, Matias Roos, is a splintered personality obsessed by frontiers, guilty of an unspecified crime, and in search of a path of atonement. The book begins as an interior monologue but rapidly becomes a bewildering dialogue between ""I"" and ""he"" in which Roos both describes his actions and passes judgement on them; the boundary between Roos' personae is fluid and permeable, but until the dénouement, dialogue between them is intentionally confusing as to voice, plot, and reality...Borgen skillfully fuses modernist techniques and more traditional obsessions in a work refulgent with contemporary angst if not indeed with ancient fire and brimstone."" - Booklist. ""A seminal and fascinating text"" - Choice.Read More