Rune Christiansen

"For the first time in her life, she felt very alone, left to herself, and to be affected in this way was not like her, she who could enjoy all manner of small detail: the gentle presence she felt in nature, almost imperceptible and yet urgent and alive, when she was with the animals, by the edge of the lake at dusk, in a clearing in the forest—it was all she wished for."

The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman’s Life by Rune Christiansen, (translated by Kari Dickson) is a beautifully- written, quiet, and meditative novel that inspires pause and reflection. We follow Lydia Erneman, the only child of a farming family from Sweden, as she navigates her life as a veterinarian in Norway.

"But “to be at peace with oneself ” was, to all intents and purposes, the same as denying that one was part of everything else—all the important and banal things you went through, the big and small disruptions that helped to strengthen you, perhaps even liberate you. Sometimes, caught as she was between these two ways of living, Lydia felt like a traitor without being able to say why."

There isn't much of a plot per se to this novel but we embark on a journey with the main character and share her experiences as she tends to the animals she loves and the connections she forges, some deeper than others, with the people she meets yet never losing her sense of self, learning from life, growing and evolving as a person, welcoming and exacting change in her life as she sees her priorities changing and much more. Lydia, as a character, might not strike you as particularly complex or even interesting, to be honest, but what enriches the narrative are the moments of solitude, soul searching and reflection and the wisdom and insight she gathers as she strives to understand how she is impacted by the people, places and the simple events in her life. Through flashbacks and Lydia’s memories, we are given a glimpse into Lydia’s childhood experiences, her modest upbringing and her hopes and dreams. The author writes in simple yet elegant prose with minimal embellishments or drama, often adopting a nostalgic (and a tad melancholic) tone, with vivid descriptions of the settings that transport you to rural Norway with Lydia.

Many thanks to Book*hug Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

“What was it her mother used to say? That openness deserved openness in return, and that what was closed also deserved to be met with openness.”… (mais)

Rune Christiansen’s prize-winning novel (capably translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson) is a paean to solitude which suggests that, while loneliness might be widely regarded as an unfortunate aspect of the human condition, it can also be a choice, one that does not have to be sad or tragic. Lydia Erneman grows up in Northern Sweden, an only child living in intimate proximity to the natural world. Her parents provide for her physical and emotional needs, but even as a child she senses that their marriage is “a form of coexistence” sustained and strengthened by “distance,” “detachment” and “absence.” Lydia matures into a dual awareness, of her connectedness to all things and the separateness that enables her to objectively observe what goes on around her. Above all else, her childhood teaches her how to be alone. After graduation she becomes a veterinarian and takes a position in rural Norway. At this point her life becomes busy and purposeful. The hands-on nature of her veterinary practice suits her. The work is fulfilling and seems to satisfy her professionally and emotionally. Believing she is content in her solitude, she neither craves nor seeks human contact beyond professional colleagues and the farmers whose animals she treats. But Christiansen’s quietly powerful narrative demonstrates how events can propel us in unexpected directions, subverting our intentions and landing us in the midst of friendships and attachments we never saw coming. Subtly, inevitably, Christiansen draws us into Lydia’s apparently uneventful life in the manner of a film that ticks along scene by scene, building tension on the sly, as if behind the viewer’s back, until before we know it, we can’t pull our eyes away from the screen. Lydia’s emotional growth occurs while we’re distracted by Christiansen’s contemplative, melancholic prose, which evokes a Nordic landscape of fading light and muted passions. Lydia Erneman’s thoroughly unremarkable days encompass achievement and disappointment, love and loss, serenity and frustration, confusion and certainty. The events that occur in these pages rarely rise above the commonplace. But as we read, Lydia’s story gradually becomes riveting, and we emerge from it with a sense that life lived unobtrusively and on a small scale can be meaningful, impactful, joyous and profoundly worthwhile. The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman’s Life is a triumph of bare-bones, understated storytelling that celebrates the rhythms of ordinary life, those precious moments we spend recalling a childhood memory, listening to the wind in the trees, or sharing a cup of tea with a friend. This is a novel that transcends the quotidian lives depicted in its pages. Haunting, captivating, uplifting.… (mais)

The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman's Life, written by Rune Christiansen and translated by Kari Dickson, is that rare novel of everyday life that manages to transcend the mundane, or perhaps better, makes the daily mundane transcendent.

It is hard to separate the impact of the novel from the writing. I'm not sure the same story, the same events, would have the same impact had the writing not been so exquisite. Yet beautiful prose, alone, is not enough to always move a reader. Here, we have an ideal blend of writing and story detail. A lot of credit also has to go to the translator. I don't know Norwegian but I have to believe Dickson made excellent translational decisions to capture the flow of the original.

Admittedly any readers who want action and excitement may be disappointed, the reader is responsible for grasping the value in what action and excitement there is. If you enjoy contemplative literature (yes, I know that has religious overtones but if you can bracket your idea of formal religion and let this speak to you, I think it fits) that looks below the surface of everyday activity, you will love this book.

A little about what I decided to do with my reading of this. A short way into the book I found myself both deeply invested in Lydia while also spending too much (albeit enjoyable) time and energy thinking about my own life. I made a decision to do my best to read through the first time without going off on personal tangents. That doesn't mean I didn't make connections with my own life, but I kept my focus on Lydia's. I then, after sitting with my thoughts for a couple of days, I reread it and gave myself free reign to insert myself more fully into my reading. Places where our feelings aligned I more readily went off on my tangent. In some places I felt that she gave me new and often better ways to look at things, so during those sections I focused on how she was understanding her life and tried to reassess my own with that new perspective.

I don't think this is going to speak to every reader the same way it did to me. I do, however, think that those who like to gain new insight on their own lives from reading how characters navigate their worlds will be richly rewarded.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mais)

Het boek gaat voor mij over een eerder op zichzelf gerichte vrouw die graag alleen is en van veel dingen kan genieten als ze alleen is en daar ook bewust voor kiest. Maar haar leven lijkt op gebied van relaties en sociale contacten niet helemaal zoals ze dat zou willen. Ook al heeft ze voldoende sociale contacten, af en toe lijkt ze iets te missen.

Af en toe is haar onzekerheid op gebied van relaties goed voelbaar en is er een deel van haar verklaring te vinden in haar jeugd. De ondertoon dat haar leven goed maar niet helemaal naar wens is, is de ganse tijd goed voelbaar in het boek. En dat is voor mij de grootste kwaliteit van dit boek.

Zelf ben ik ook graag veel alleen en heb ik daarnaast ook voldoende sociale contacten. En toch ervaar ik dezelfde moeilijke zoektocht naar het evenwicht hiertussen. Ik heb het boek heel graag gelezen omdat dit een heel belangrijk thema is in het boek.

De vertelstijl van het boek is eenvoudig. Het boek leest erg vlot. Ik had veel zin om snel verder te lezen in het boek.… (mais)