Tarjei Vesaas

A tale of intense friendship and almost overwhelming grief amongst the frozen fjords of rural Norway. In winter, the black ice cracks like a gunshot across the lake, growing thicker and darker every night. Nearby, a frozen waterfall transforms into a fantastic, baroque structure with dripping buttresses, flying spurs of ice and translucent, sparkling towers. The schoolchildren call it the...

New to Penguin Modern Classics, a moving portrayal of the fragility of the human mind and an acclaimed Norwegian masterpiece. The Birds is the story of Mattis, a mentally handicapped man who lives with and is cared for by his older sister, Hege. Within their isolated, lakeside existence, Mattis cannot make sense of his tangled thoughts, frightening apparitions, surges of...