Canadian author Christian Guay-Poliquin is invited to talk about his latest book in German translation “Das Gewicht von Schnee” (Hoffmann und Campe), in conversation with one of his literary translators Andreas Jandl
In the white hell of winter
After a serious car accident, a young man is forced to stay in a village that is increasingly cut off from the outside world by a nationwide power outage and incessantly falling snow, and with an elderly man who is also just stranded here. He only takes him in because the village community promises him food in return and a place on the only bus that will leave for the city in the spring. As the village sinks deeper and deeper into the snow, the two men, forced together by chance, vacillate between pity and mistrust, helpfulness and hatred. Will they hold out until the thaw comes?
Linguistically precise and lyrical at the same time, Christian Guay-Poliquin tells an unusual page-turner whose dramatic intensity is unparalleled and which has won many awards.