Customer Reviews

Beyond the Great Indoors

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I bought this while in the Scotland, and was very charmed by this book. So far I haven't seen it in the US, which is a shame; I'm glad Amazon has it. The touching story about Elling, a neurotic agoraphobic man learning to live in the outside world after a long, mostly self-induced hiatus is very entertaining; funny, engaging, and fully drawn. Kjell, his slow, strong, slovenly, sex-obsessed, and handy roommate, is lovable foil to all his inner monologues. The story really starts when the two adopt a couple of kittens, but if you're a cat-hater(I'm not, in full disclosure), you'll be too involved with the human characters to be irritated. I'm not very good at summarizing plots, but basically Elling and Kjell start by meeting a Girl Upstairs, befriending a celebrated poet, and taking an historic (for them) trip to the Norwegian seaside. This is apparently the first in a series of books about Elling. I would be very happy if they started translating the next three into English, because I'd very much like to read them.

The characters in the book are vividly imagined and are irresistable. They humorously demonstrate the joys of friendship by noticing the small details. Very funny and original. Recommended.