Synopses & Reviews
In the sixteenth century, Antinous Bellori, a boy of eleven, is lost in a dark forest and stumbles upon two glowing beings, one carrying a spear, the other a flaming torch … This event is decisive in Belloris life, and he thereafter devotes himself to the pursuit and study of angels, the intermediaries of the divine. Beginning in the Garden of Eden and soaring through to the present, A Time for Everything reimagines pivotal encounters between humans and angels: the glow of the cherubim watching over Eden; the profound love between Cain and Abel despite their differences; Lots shame in Sodom; Noahs isolation before the flood; Ezekiel tied to his bed, prophesying ferociously; the death of Christ; and the emergence of sensual, mischievous cherubs in the seventeenth century. Alighting upon these dramatic scenes - from the Bible and beyond - Knausgaards imagination takes flight: the result is a dazzling display of storytelling at its majestic, spellbinding best. Incorporating and challenging tradition, legend, and the Apocrypha, these penetrating glimpses hazard chilling questions: can the nature of the divine undergo change, and can the immortal perish?
Review
"A marvelous book.... Knausgaard's most evident strength as a writer is his gift for minute description, especially of nature, but also of the human psyche.... The descriptions of forests, floods, streams, fields, and Henrik Vankel's secluded island are ravishing and... create the feeling that we are being transported, again and again, into some primordial world."
Ingrid D. Rowland, The New York Review of Books
"This demanding narrative on the nature of angels may become a cult book
Knausgaard is at his best with finely observed natural description; he is also skillful with atmosphere."
The Guardian, UK
"
this strange and serious novel of ideas is an admirably imaginative contemporary reinterpretation of characters whose odd, splendid appearances in Christian mythology are made all the more mysterious for being matter-of-fact and never fully explained."
Metro, UK
"Knausgaard joins the ranks of the greatest storytellers of our time. His glittering prose is purposeful, precise, and poetic.
There can be no doubt about his extraordinary talent: only the work of a master can be thought provoking on so many levels yet retain a lightness of touch."
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"The writing glows with an intense awareness of the here and now, and loving observations of landscapes and objects . . . this is an extraordinary novel, and completely original."
The Independent
Synopsis
“The writing glows with an intense awareness of the here and now, and loving observations of landscapes and objects...this is an extraordinary novel, and completely original.”—The Independent
“The most original and promising Norwegian writer of his generation.” —Adresseavisen
“Knausgaard joins the ranks of the greatest storytellers of our time.”—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Antinous Bellori, a boy of eleven, loses his way in the woods in the mountains behind his home. Unseen, he stumbles upon two glowing beings, an event that leads him to devote the rest of his life to the study of angels. Bellori reinterprets moments throughout the Bible where men confront angels: the expulsion from the garden, Cain and Abel, Lot in Sodom, Noah’s isolation before the flood, Ezekiel’s visions. . . . Through his profound glimpses, Karl Knausgaard—an extraordinary storyteller and thinker—explores with spellbinding insight how the nature and roles of these intermediaries between man and the divine have shifted throughout history.
Synopsis
A "marvelous," startlingly original novel that reimagines scenes from the Bible and beyond, from the Norwegian author of the widely acclaimed My Struggle series (The New York Review of Books) In the sixteenth century, eleven-year-old Antinous Bellori is lost in a dark forest and stumbles upon two glowing beings--one carrying a spear, the other a flaming torch. This event is decisive in Bellori's life, and he thereafter devotes himself to the pursuit and study of angels, the intermediaries of the divine.
Beginning in the Garden of Eden and soaring through to the present, A Time for Everything reimagines pivotal encounters between humans and angels: the glow of the cherubim watching over Eden; the profound love between Cain and Abel despite their differences; Lot's shame in Sodom; Noah's isolation before the flood; Ezekiel tied to his bed, prophesying ferociously; the death of Christ; and the emergence of sensual, mischievous cherubs in the seventeenth century. Alighting upon these dramatic scenes--from the Bible and beyond--Knausgaard's imagination takes flight. The result is a dazzling display of storytelling at its majestic, spellbinding best. Incorporating and challenging tradition, legend, and the Apocrypha, these penetrating glimpses hazard chilling questions: can the nature of the divine undergo change, and can the immortal perish?
Synopsis
A spellbinding pursuit of divine mysteries from My Struggle's Karl Ove Knausgaard, whose dazzling prose and landscapes evoke Nabokov and Knut Hamsun In the sixteenth century, Antinous Bellori, a boy of eleven, is lost in a dark forest and stumbles upon two glowing beings - one carrying a spear, the other a flaming torch. This event is decisive in Bellori's life, and he thereafter devotes himself to the pursuit and study of angels, the intermediaries of the divine. Stretching from the Garden of Eden to the present, A Time for Everything reimagines key allegorical encounters between humans and angels: the glow of the cherubim watching over Eden; the profound love between Cain and Abel despite their differences; Lot's shame in Sodom; Noah's isolation before the flood; Ezekiel tied to his bed, prophesying ferociously; the death of Christ; and the emergence of sensual, mischievous cherubs in the seventeenth century. Alighting upon these dramatic scenes - from the Bible and beyond - Knausgaard's imagination takes flight. The result is a dazzling display of storytelling at its majestic, spellbinding best. Incorporating and challenging tradition, legend, and the Apocrypha, these penetrating glimpses hazard chilling questions: can the nature of the divine undergo change, and can the immortal perish?
Synopsis
A spellbinding pursuit of divine mysteries from the celebrated author of
My Struggle "The writing glows with an intense awareness of the here and now, and loving observations of landscapes and objects . . . an extraordinary novel, and completely original." --The Independent
In the sixteenth century, Antinous Bellori, a boy of eleven, is lost in a dark forest and stumbles upon two glowing beings--one carrying a spear, the other a flaming torch. This event is decisive in Bellori's life, and he thereafter devotes himself to the pursuit and study of angels, the intermediaries of the divine.
Stretching from the Garden of Eden to the present, A Time for Everything reimagines key allegorical encounters between humans and angels: the glow of the cherubim watching over Eden; the profound love between Cain and Abel despite their differences; Lot's shame in Sodom; Noah's isolation before the flood; Ezekiel tied to his bed, prophesying ferociously; the death of Christ; and the emergence of sensual, mischievous cherubs in the seventeenth century. Alighting upon these dramatic scenes--from the Bible and beyond--Knausgaard's imagination takes flight. The result is a dazzling display of storytelling at its majestic, spellbinding best. Incorporating and challenging tradition, legend, and the Apocrypha, these penetrating glimpses hazard chilling questions: can the nature of the divine undergo change, and can the immortal perish?
Synopsis
A stunning reimagining of man's relationship with angels. Utterly original, perceptive, and alive. A modern masterpiece.
About the Author
Karl O. Knausgaard was born in Norway in 1968 and made his debut with the novel Ute av verden (Out of the World). A Time for Everything, his second novel, was nominated for the Nordic Council Prize. It is his first to be translated into English.
James Andersons literary translations from the Norwegian include Berlin Poplars by Anne B. Ragde, Nutmeg by Kristin Valla, and several works by Jostein Gaarder.