Beyond The Great Indoors

Sep 10, 2025 8:14 AM

Author:Ingvar Ambjornsen,Don Bartlett,Kari Dickson

Elling has a wildly overactive imagination and has been molly-coddled by his mother all his life, so when she dies he is left completely incapable of taking care of himself. After a stint in the very helpful Broynes Rehabilitation Centre, Elling returns to Oslo with his room-mate Kjell Bjarne in tow. Together the odd couple embark on a free-spirited new life.

On a quest to live like normal average people, Elling and Kjell's friendship grows - kittens, girlfriends and terrorist poetry enter the equation - even fame beckons. But there are fears to conquer before that, answering the telephone for one, leaving the house for another and the journey outdoors is by no means an easy one.

A touching and hiliarious comedy of anxiety from Norway's biggest talent, Beyond the Great Indoors rejoices in the simplest pleasures of life and reminds us of the importance of conquering our everyday fears.

Reviews

'Hilarious ... Told with balance, pace and wit ... This book is unhesitatingly recommended as a bizarrely ordinary celebration of friendship, love and adventure against the odds.'

—— Independent

'Ambjornsen creates a gentle, but never saccharine, comedy out of Elling's tentative engagement with the world beyond the great indoors. He gives Elling an endearing, childishly direct voice, but adds an edge of anger that keeps the tone arrestingly eccentric.'

—— Guardian

'Brilliant.'

—— FHM (Best New Fiction)

A hypnotic first novel about a young Mexican gal in Berlin who stumbles into friendship with an eccentric historian and the madness that ensues. This book has the power of dreams and still hasn't left me

—— Junot Diaz

A stirring and lyrical first novel by a young writer of immense talent

—— Paul Auster

A fresh and original voice...the book is a portrait of Berlin, a city famed for its richness and strangeness, hauntingly captured by Aridjis

—— Francesca Segal , The Observer

A most unusual debut... An entirely refreshing portrait of young womanhood, it is unselfconscious, uncompromising, wholly authentic

—— Justine Jordan , The Guardian

Exquisite

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

This is a haunting debut with an individual, poetic slant

—— Alastair Mabbot , Herald

It is Paul Auster, only better... This is a whimsical, confident book sustained by offbeat charm and intelligence

—— Eileen Battersby , Irish Times

Aridjis is an insightful observer of post-reunification Berlin... Her lyrical, restrained prose conjures a dream-like atmosphere that borders on magical realism. This haunting debut is a significant and memorable addition to the literature of a troubling city

—— CJ Schuler , Independent

Influenced by magical realism and the cool prose of modernism, first-time author Chloe Aridjis takes the best from each

—— Alastair Mabbott , Herald

Previous Article：Book of Clouds Next Article：Documents Concerning Rubashov the Gambler

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.