Doppler

by Erlend Loe

Other authorsOuti Menna (Translator)

Paperback, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

839.823

Publication

Helsinki : Loisto : WSOY, 2006.

Description

Doppler has a nice house, a nice wife and a nice job. But Doppler isn't happy. 'Wonderfuly subversive, funny and original' Observer. 'A darkly comic fable' Independent. When his father dies, Doppler decides to leave everything behind and start a new life in the forest. There, deep amongst the trees, he reconnects with nature, ponders the meaning of life, and bonds with a baby elk called Bongo. Sweet, funny and subversive, this is a charming fable about the pressures of modern existence and finding friends in the strangest of places. 'Dead-pan comedy' Financial Times. 'An absurdist, hilariously subversive novel'Saga.

User reviews

LibraryThing member kathlenecc

And fantastic novel about the increase of consumerism in society and the great feeling of being outdoors and with nature. For those feeling the world is too concerned with itself these days, an excellent read. Can get through the whole book in one sitting!

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LibraryThing member frisky_kitty

I picked this book up because of the cover, because of the blurb and especially because of the moose. I'm intrigued by Scandanavian stories and had high hopes for Doppler. My reading was that Doppler is meant to be a sort of anti-consumerist messiah. He doesn't grow or evolve through the story,

rather everyone around him comes to embrace his views. Or they're idiots. If you've been looking for a tale to affirm your decision to ditch the wife and kids and get in touch with your inner forest troll, this is the book for you. But be warned: the moose does't turn up as much as you might wish.

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LibraryThing member clq

Doppler is a very strange book for all the right reasons. It is the stream of consciousness of a man, Andreas Doppler, who comes to the realisation that he has grown weary of living a proper life with all the other proper people doing proper things. He decides to go live out in the woods for an

indefinite amount of time. Pointless, yes, but no more so than anything else he could be doing. The book is both funny and clever without getting too pleased with itself. It also manages to maintain a slight discomfort and uneasiness throughout. It's impossible not to like the main character, but at the same time it is impossible to accept his thoughts and his actions. Doing so would invalidate too many of the premises our society is based on. However, the book never becomes preachy. It poses many questions, but doesn't claim to know all, or even any of the answers. Even when it makes judgements (and quite harsh ones at that) it is done in a slightly absurd and irreverent way which I doubt would offend anyone, even if they happened to identify with the conservative-voting money-grabbing stereotype the main character dislikes so much. In short the book manages to put question marks next to many established truths and wisdoms in a way which I think will give everyone some food for thought without patronising anyone. That's quite rare.

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LibraryThing member BunnysBla

I just love everything Erlend writes. This story was partly sad (I am animal lover, so you can imagine if you read it), but once you get over the start, it is jolly good novel.

LibraryThing member Laine-Cunningham

Very interesting read. Not sure I liked the jokey portions; they sometimes came off as too flippant. Otherwise a great read about a guy who tosses everything to live in the woods...and yet who can't find the solitude he craves when others take that as a signal to do the same and move in next to

him.
I do like the redemption he achieves with his son at the end. And the fact that he doesn't give up on his new life...he just moves on. He moves forward, really, and that's a powerful statement.

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LibraryThing member pivic

This is a brilliant book. Like Loe's other ones, this is also about an apocalypse in the mind, body and soul. A busy family father topples from his bike onto the ground which stuns him; as he lies in the grass, concussed and estranged from his hectic everyday existance, he starts unraveling and

reaches two conclusions: 1) he dislikes people and 2) he must move to the forest.

So he does move into the forest, away from his wife and two kids, and befriends a deer (after slaughtering its mother). And that's just the start.

Radiant writing, quite in-tact with Loe's previous writings so if you've read him before I think you'll fairly soon find your way around this novel as well, and if you haven't, you're in for a treat.

A lot of humor, a bit of tragedy and a lot of everyday bliss. Paper-bag-from-American-Beauty-ish. Love it.

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