You Travel North to Die
The story is set in Västerbotten in northern Sweden. Sara and Benjamin have just met and are now traveling around in an old Volvo. At a gas station they shoot the cashier. The boy becomes the first victim of their murdering rampage.
Lávra cleans and Karim works in the kitchen at Hotel Skellet when the police appear, chasing the murderer. They know who they’re looking for. Andreas must leave his beloved Slavoj and travel home to bury his little brother.
You Travel North to Die might be a novel about a crime, but not the one you first think of. It might be a novel about Västerbotten and about what we inherit and how this influences us. It might also be a translation of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. Then again, Ida Linde’s new novel might simply be a place for terror and fear to reign freely.
Ida Linde was born in 1980, grew up in Umeå but now lives in Stockholm. She made her debut in 2006 with novel Maskinflickans testamente. Her 2014 novel You Travel North to Die was awarded Norrland Literature Society’s Prize and Aftonbladet’s Literary Prize. Linde has taught Creative Writing at the renowned Biskops Arnö Writers’ School and is…
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Sold to: Belarus, Poland: LokatorThe story is set in Västerbotten in northern Sweden. Sara and Benjamin have just met and are now traveling around in an old Volvo. At a gas station they shoot the cashier. The boy becomes the first victim of their murdering rampage.
Lávra cleans and Karim works in the kitchen at Hotel Skellet when the police appear, chasing the murderer. They know who they’re looking for. Andreas must leave his beloved Slavoj and travel home to bury his little brother.
You Travel North to Die might be a novel about a crime, but not the one you first think of. It might be a novel about Västerbotten and about what we inherit and how this influences us. It might also be a translation of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. Then again, Ida Linde’s new novel might simply be a place for terror and fear to reign freely.
Reviews
In short, it’s one of the best books I have read in a long time
Ida Linde has written an extremely focused novel that’s held together with a steady hand without ever becoming over-explicit. /…/ Reading Ida Linde’s latest novel is both exciting and painful. There is a darkness that’s difficult to defend yourself against, but at the same time, the language is so well composed and sparkling that it makes me happy. You kind of read with your entire self, not just your eyes but your ears, heart, intellect and nerves. In short, it’s one of the best books I have read in a long time
Borås Tidning“You Travel North To Die,” is nothing less than a magnificent novel.
The first chapter is so astounding that I have to read it twice in one sitting. Such frenzy! And then it’s so bizarre, so twisted, that it – for lack of a better comparison – feels like you have ended up in a David Lynch movie./…/ Ida Linde steps right into the vulnerable reader’s heart with a thriller so black and hard-boiled that a Raymond Chandler book seem like soft ice cream with warm caramel sauce in comparison. Then afterward, a series of tales in the wake of Sarah’s and Benjamin’s rampage. These human fates, in the inland and coastal towns of Västerbotten, have all been affected and will all be affected by what they have done. The thrill is gone, darkness and tension remain./…/ Using small recurring details and repeated formulations, Linde stiches her novel together seamlessly. Each and every one of the lives that she creates takes our breath away and leaves a distinct mark on our chest. “You Travel North To Die,” is nothing less than a magnificent novel.
Svenska Dagbladet (SE)It is my guess that You Travel North To Die will be one of the important novels in 2014.
When the perpetrators are asked the reason for their crime, their only reply is: I don’t know and, Perhaps there is evil in the world after all. But even without the answer to these eternal questions, Ida Linde explores the question about collective responsibility in a new, exciting and believable way. It is my guess that You Travel North To Die will be one of the important novels in 2014.
Värmlands Folkblad
