Shyness and Dignity

A Lannan Translation Series Selection

A meditative portrayal of one man’s overwhelming inability to connect with contemporary society

Elias Rukla begins yet another day under the leaden Oslo sky. At the high school where he teaches, a novel insight into Ibsen’s The Wild Duck grips him with a passion so intense that he barely notices the disinterest of his students. After the lesson, when a broken umbrella provokes an unpredictable rage, he barely notices the students’ intense curiosity. He soon realizes, however, that this day will be the decisive day of his life.

Dag Solstad, praised in Norway as one of the most innovative novelists of his generation, offers an intricate and richly drawn portrait of a man who feels irrevocably alienated from contemporary culture, politics, and, ultimately, humanity.