27 Years Online
••• The International Writers Magazine - Book Review

Air by Christian Kracht ISBN: 9781805228844 Pub: Serpent’s Tail 2026 A beautifully written and harrowing story • Sam Hawksmoor review	AIR by Christian Kracht

This life, this sorrow. Both were imagined.

So begins Christian Kracht’s tale of sadness.  Our hero is something of an aesthete. The man who understands the importance of the right colour, the right piece of furniture and is often consulted and perhaps surprised to be even paid well for his advice. He lives a simple life in Orkney and seems estranged from humanity. He’s asked to come up with the perfect white for a project in Norway by the owner of the eclectic magazine Kuki – an aesthetic style magazine. He decides to accept. Norway is not so far from Orkney and relatively simple to get to.

Then consider Ildr, a young girl out hunting with a bow and arrow in the snowy forest. Where is she? When is she?  Does she live alone? Why?  Who are the evil people she lives in fear of?

How one meets the other is a genuine nightmare. Ildr aims at a deer but hits our hero and then must somehow save his life. He has no idea of how he got there or where exactly he is.

Air is a surreal magical text written with a beautiful poetic style (as translated by Daniel Bowles).  It’s spare, gripping and wistful as time collides with a strange reality. It makes for a haunting read and you can feel the chill of the snow and ice seep into your bones as you turn the pages. For readers of Haruki Murakami it is a perfect fit.

Highly recommend.

Sam Hawksmoor 6.10.26
Author of Saving Shannon and other stories

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