This books is my Around the World for a Good Book selection for Greenland
Author: Niviaq Korneliussen
Title: Crimson
Translator: Anna Halager
Publication Info: London : Virago, 2018.
Summary/Review:
I can’t say I know enough about Greenland to have any misconceptions about Greenland, nevertheless I was surprised that this novel was set in an urban area. The city of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital and largest city with 18,000 people, is described by one of the characters:
“Nuuk is big when there’s somebody you actually want to bump into. People you don’t want to see pop up all the time, but people you want to see are nowhere to be found.” – p. 170
The novel is in five chapters, each from the perspective of a different young adult in Nuuk, focusing on that individual’s experience as a queer person. They deal with issues such as the first-time feeling of same sex attraction, the shame and anger of a relationship with a Greenland politician going public, cheating, and recognizing transgender identity. The stories overlap as the characters know one another as siblings, housemates, and romantic partners. Each of the character’s writes in a different style, which includes letters, journals, stream of conciousness, and even snippets of text messages. The names of the characters also tie into gender identity in the original Greenlandic, which this translation is good about making clear.
The author translated the book into Danish which is the source of this English translation. The book was originally titled Homo Sapienne and is also being published under the title Last Night in Nuuk. This book is a good glimpse into contemporary life in Greenland and is a great LGBTQ read for Pride Month, as well as being an excellent work of contemporary literature.
Rating: ***1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 