Literature and Fiction · Hardback

Silence is Like the Chop of an Axe

Norwegian title: Stillheten er et øksehugg

Tom Ingar Eliassen

On a farm, by a river, surrounded by large, quiet mountains Else and the narrator of the novel, Egil, live. They’ve had a long life together, but now Else has lost her ability to speak and Egil seeks solace in nature, in the river, the forest and the birds. On the other side Eva is waiting, she comes from the town, has a scar across her face and dreams about finding a pond with a view. In the sky an eagle floats by, the waterfall plays in the river, the trout awakens, while the wolverines wander restlessly around in the mountains.

In this quiet novel, Egil looks back at a life that is gone. It's about kissing someone who has stopped returning the kiss, about axe chops and love, about longing and grief, about losing something, and discovering something new.

The language in the novel is simple and precise, but full of imagery. Through short scenes and memories, we see the contours of what connects us and what drives us apart, like the clouds drift across the mountains, like the river which flows and flows, sometimes silently in the dark.