{"product_id":"the-scent-of-light-9781552454381","title":"The Scent of Light","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKazim Ali introduces five autofiction novellas by Kristjana Gunnars--available in the U.S. for the first time, in a single, handsome volume\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBetween the late eighties and late nineties, Kristjana Gunnars published five transgeneric novels comprised of a scintillating blend of fiction, autobiography, literary theory, and philosophy. Elusive and poetic... rigorous yet passionate...these books were treasured by a devoted readership and have been lauded by critics throughout the years since. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e-- Kazim Ali, from the introduction\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom a childhood in Cold War Iceland to love affairs and deaths, these short works document a life of perpetual motion, told a discontinuous, subversive style to reflect the singular, feminist, nomadic life of the narrator. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt is a life of thought, an ongoing engagement with writers from Proust to Kierkegaard to Kristeva, seeking and often finding a companionship in the writing of others. These five spellbinding narratives act as a bending bow, open to what life has to offer day by day and taking the gentler course, wherein nothing is forced and life's big questions remain beautifully unanswered.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Prowler\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is a reminiscence of childhood spent in Iceland, seen from a distance with the Cold War as a backdrop, just before the hyper-modernization of the mid-sixties, when the air of the past was still discernible. When an orange was a delicacy against the darkness. This is Gunnars' most lauded novella.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eZero Hour\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e is a contemplation and remembrance of the narrator's father and his death. The narrative traces the course of the father's illness and final moments, and confronts the reality and grief of absolute endings. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Substance of Forgetting\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is ultimately about happiness. Set in a lush valley in central B.C., the narrator begins to awaken to possibilities of love and transcendence. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Rose Garden\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is set in Germany and the narrator is on an academic exchange wherein all that happens are things that are not supposed to happen. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNight Train to Nyk bing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is a darker exploration of life's (and love's) unknowns and the dangers inherent in choices we make. The narrator is travelling between Vancouver and Oslo in a continuous back and forth that gives rise to a sense of the liminality of life itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Coach House Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/17\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781552454381\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 350","brand":"Kristjana Gunnars","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41968335126709,"sku":"9781552454381","price":18.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_cbf1d29d-80cb-45ee-bf6a-f58bf5c360a6.jpg?v=1647957056","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-scent-of-light-9781552454381","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}