“An old guesthouse on a windswept coast, cliffs threatening to collapse under the feet of lonely wanderers, sudden death, confused minds, and overgrown manors … [..] Rune Christiansen brings places and people to life. With his sensual language, he almost lifts them off the pages … Where many claim they can recognize Dag Solstad’s voice as soon as they open a Solstad book, I would say the same about Rune Christiansen … I do not hesitate to call Tragedy Under Drifting Clouds literature of the highest class.”
****** 6/6 stars, Anne Cathrine Straume, NRK
“Powerful about a woman on the edge … There are so many moods in the book, so much hidden, so many agitated states that stretch Kerstin’s psyche to the breaking point, that the reader sits in suspense, in the house of spirits … It is overwhelmingly elegantly done, no one writes like Christiansen – he has proven this in eleven original novels so far – in a delicate and transcendent prose. A mystery novel with a powerful and nuanced picture of a woman on the edge, it could easily become this year’s most powerful read.”
****** 6/6 stars, Stein Roll, Adresseavisen
“Few Norwegian authors can, like Rune Christiansen, turn experiences of loss into literary gain. His texts offer us broken relationships, melancholy, grief processing, loneliness, and death … His image-creating ability takes us beyond realism, without losing sight of reality….With stylistic brilliance, Christiansen illustrates how understanding arises within us and helps us accept the meaningless.”
Astrid Fosvold, Vårt Land
“The novel creates a trance-like atmosphere, weaving together the familiar and the mysterious. Towards the end, everything dissolves and becomes melancholic (…) The language strongly emphasises the mystery of existence and the changing nature of the physical surroundings. Rarely have I read a novel with such intense and vivid descriptions of sunshine and shadows, and indeed, drifting clouds. But it is also a novel about grief and longing for what has been lost (…) There are many passages in this novel that invite quoting. At times, it has a melancholic atmosphere that is moving (…) the prose is a delight.”
Turid Larsen, Dagsavisen
