Literature and Fiction · Paperback

The Visit

Norwegian title: Besøket

Stig Sæterbakken

Lawyer Sigmund Winther seems satisfied with his not too-challenging career and comfortable existence with his wife, Cecilie, a museum curator. But on his 42nd birthday he is visited by an old school friend. Twenty-three years have passed since he and Gunnar Samuelsen last saw each other. Gunnar has brought a cassette recording with him from their schooldays. On the tape, which was made during a debate in an anarchist group they were both members of, Sigmund hears his voice for the first time. The experience is a shock for him and forces him to re-evaluate the self-image he has lived with, as well as the relationship he has with the people around him. In addition, Gunnar proves to be more difficult to get out of the house than Sigmund and Cecilie had first thought. The Visit is a classic existential chamber play, an intense drama about fragile identities, about lost dreams and a forgotten love.