Gotta be honest, I didn’t get Martin Hansen‘s The Liar. It’s probably me not being in the right frame of mind to give it the attention it demands — it’s a close read, a subtle and low-key novel that I just didn’t fully engage with. I broke the Rules of Reading too, reading it in smaller chunks.

It’s a Danish novel and as I understand it, it’s commonly assigned reading for high-school students. It’s in the form of some pseudo-diary entries from Johannes Lye, who lives on a remote island. It’s the end of winter and the thaw is coming, ending a weeks-long ice-in.

The book is a drama of his interactions with other inhabitants of the island – his irritation with a few of them, his secret love for Annemari, and his dissatisfaction with himself.

Johannes is a liar, and the book kind of examines his dishonesty with himself and others, leading to a bit of a surprise ending. The setting is gorgeously described, the isolation and small-town vibes are real throughout the book. It’s a book I’ll probably re-read at some point when I’m able to give it the love it deserves.

To write anything more wouldn’t be fair to the book.

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