A man follows his wife into hospital, where they wait for the delivery to begin. Everything around him is describes as if it were seen from a distance. And the most important feature in this novel is perhaps the eye: the eye of the nameless man, following the events around him attentively; coldly registering them. In the course of a few hours, while the delivery is taking place, he moves around in the hospital and the surrounding area; almost demonstratively situating himself on the outside of the world of others. But there is also a “you” in this novel, and that is the woman giving birth.

Gradually, almost unnoticeably, the language is laden with a discernible and almost paradoxical sensitivity. Morten Øen has written a novel with a tangible fascination for the bodily; the boundary between life and death. The Eye’s Urge for Softness is a well-written and intense piece of prose art.