2024
The Beast – partly Mary Shelley, partly Wes Craven, partly Samuel Beckett, but completely Per Schreiner.
On a jog through the woods one quiet spring day, Knut gets bitten by an animal. A day later, his body begins to change. Small growths appear around his throat. His sense of smell grows stronger, and he is struck by an inexplicable hunger. In any case, nobody reacts to the changes he is going through – neither his wife, his daughter, nor the neighbours in his pretty surburbia. Even Knut himself doesn’t know what to believe. Perhaps it’s not so bad after all; life goes on. A beast still has to do the laundry. A beast still has to make the dinner.
A dark little pearl.
What an excellent time this book provides, one where you can feel your fangs growing a tiny bit.
The Beast is a strange, fascinating book about a man gradually turning into an animal.
For young writers, The Beast is a real find. Study and note what the writer does, and how. And do the same. Again and again. Novels like this only come from repeated practice and a keen eye for what shouldn’t be there.
5 out of 6 stars
Once again, Schreiner has delivered a compelling and highly readable novel. It must now be safe to assert without question that he has written his way into being one of contemporary literature’s most distinguished figures.
5 out of 6 stars
Per Schreiner
Paal Audestad
