The first three books in the so-called “climate quartet” have made Maja Lunde an international author with an impressive readership. The combination of thorough knowledge and well-functioning voltage curves has been appreciated by readers around the world. This year’s book fits into the pattern, and there is every reason to believe that the readership is ready to accept. But is it good literature? And do the books motivate us to fight the crisis? Adam and Eve in Svalbard In “The Dream of a Tree” the action is set in Svalbard, about three generations forward in time. The island community lives in harmony with nature and takes care of the seed vault where huge quantities of seeds from all over the world are stored deep in the permafrost. Until a deadly plague kills almost everyone. Back are the teenagers Tommy and Rakel and three smaller children. For a while, Tommy’s grandmother also hung out. She herself is the guardian of the seed suffocation. What will the last five do? Should they live as before until they die? Are the two 17-year-olds going to have children and become Svalbard’s answer to Adam and Eve? Or should they try to call for help? The latter requires cleverness in what is clearly a post-digital society without contact with the outside world. The tension in the novel is linked to this rather mature problem, which is not made easier by the fact that Tommy and Rakel see very different things, including what they should do. Early in the novel, a group of Chinese come to the field. They are quite keen on the seed trap. The story closely follows Tommy from Svalbard and Tao from Sichuan, who each get their own chapters. If the name Tao seems familiar, she was also part of “History of the Bees”. Insistent and image-poor Maja Lunde writes tendency literature. She wants readers to understand the climate crisis, and then help save what can be saved. And she wants to show that we can only achieve this together. It is a commendable project. But trend literature has an annoying tendency to focus so fiercely and directly on the issue that the reader is exhausted rather than inspired. This criticism happens to Maja Lunde’s books to varying degrees, let me stick to “The Dream of a Tree”. Grandma gives long lessons to Tommy about seeds and about the big connections. Often Tommy answers with defiance. I have to admit that I feel the same way. The knowledge is too weakly integrated into the action. Character drawing is another pitfall for trend writers. They must represent different positions to get the message across clearly. So here too. The language is surprisingly flat, general and lacking in images. The children play and everyone has a meal. I can’t even imagine the mountains on Svalbard. The text dies a little between the voltage peaks. To speak to the heart or brain It is precisely the tension curve, together with the knowledge, that will inform this novel. I think: We know there is a climate crisis. It is not a lack of information that prevents us from acting. And I keep thinking about Kerstin Ekman’s newest novel “Løpe ulv”. The two authors share the concern that man is impoverishing nature. But where Lunde is general, Ekman is specific. She mentions plants and animals by name, she gets close and lets us see, smell, feel and feel again. The urge to protect grows in the reader, without Ekman rubbing it in. Not everyone has to write like Ekman, but the contrasts between the two books show where Lunde is lacking in literature. Nevertheless: If Lunde’s novels call the readers to action despite their weaknesses, nothing is better than that. news reviewer Photo: Aschehoug Title: “The dream of a tree” Author: Maja Lunde Genre: Novel Number of pages: 481 Publisher: Aschehoug Published: 2022 Hi! I am chief critic of fiction at news. Feel free to read my book reviews of “Våkenetter” by Christine Nitter, “Matrix” by Lauren Groff or “Invictus” by Sunniva Lye Axelsen.
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“The dream of a tree” by Maja Lunde – Reviews and recommendations
