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01
Book Review: Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye
2010 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Published September 28, 2010 by Unbridled Books
What do you know about a lifetime of anything but coming and going, huh? You were always gone.
Noah Torr’s father Olaf has been absent from his family, in one way or another, for the thirty-five years since the ship he worked on—the famed Ragnarøk—sank in Lake Superior and left him one of only three survivors. Their relationship has been strained at best, and they have been completely estranged for four years when Olaf calls Noah to say he believes he is dying of cancer. Unsure of where the urge to do so originates, Noah heads to his father’s cabin in Misquah, Minnesota to see him through his final days.
My life was split the night she sank.
Peter Geye’s quietly stunning debut novel Safe from the Sea is a story about a man whose life is divided into the time Before and After a defining tragic event. For the thirty-five years since the Ragnarøk went down, Olaf has carried guilt and grief that he never shared with his family, though his actions belied his feelings more clearly than he understood. The time Olaf and Noah spend together in Olaf’s cabin in the middle of a harsh Minnesota winter is the most intimate time they will ever share, and it gives Noah pause to reflect on the fact that though he resembles the place he was raised, his father, “he was inhabited by it.”
During their two weeks together, Olaf tells Noah the full story of what happened the night the Ragnarøk went down, and they discuss other bits of previously “forbidden history” and “ancient grief.” Noah tells his father how he has always felt, revealing years of resentment:
I think you’ve always believed that what happened to you was more tragic and more meaningful than anything that ever happened to anyone else. And that’s wrong. You just couldn’t shake it, that’s all, you lugged it around like a yoke and nothing else mattered.
And Olaf tells his son that his final wish is to be buried in the lake.
This is going to happen on my terms, understand?
As the father and son unearth long-hidden feelings and say all of the things they have heretofore left unsaid, Olaf’s dying wish becomes the central conflict of the novel. Why does he want his son to wrap him in chains and drop him into a freezing lake? Should Noah do it? Could he do it? And shouldn’t someone do something to convince Olaf to get treatment? Where is all this coming from?
What was left of his father, his mother, his sister, even himself, on the bottom of Lake Superior?
Olaf lays out his argument in what becomes one of the most memorable scenes in this beautifully spare novel, and Noah begins to think about the rhythm of family life and the ways in which his father’s request makes sense. And there in the dead of winter, in a place where new life seems impossible, Noah gains perspective on his own marriage and the struggles he and his wife are facing with infertility.
For a book set in a place so cold (and let me tell you, Geye succeeds in making the setting an unforgettable character unto itself) and about something so tragic, Safe from the Sea has small moments of great warmth that provide the perfect balance to the depth and weight of the story’s central topic. Whether discussing the biting wind or the raging fire, Geye describes the elements of Olaf and Noah’s story so vividly that you will feel your freezing fingers reaching for the ship’s rails and the beading sweat rolling down the back of your neck as you go to fetch yet another log for the stove.
There is much to love about Safe from the Sea, and there are many details I’ve left out in hopes that you’ll discover them for yourself. Suffice it to say this is one of the best debut novels of the year, and Geye has a promising career that I hope will include many more equally wonderful books.
Stay tuned next week for a Bare Necessities annotated reading list from Peter Geye. Learn more about Safe from the Sea at Unbridled Books and don’t miss the reading group discussion guide.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Rebecca Schinsky
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I just read Beth Fish’s review recently, and Julie’s today. You guys are really working on me. This book sounds wonderful.
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[...] original post here: Book Review: Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye | The Book Lady's Blog This entry was posted in Books and tagged Books, published-september, unbridled, unbridled-books. [...]
Sounds wonderful. Setting (and names truthfully) remind me a little of Out Stealing Horses. I love novels where the setting is one of the characters, and where long lost relationships are finally resolved. Already requested it from the library! THANKS
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I have a copy of this book that I am looking forward to getting to soon. I love when books are so hauntingly evocative and think that this one sounds excellent. I am glad to hear that you liked it and will have to let you know what I think of it. Wonderful review, Rebecca!
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rebecca Schinsky, Rebecca Schinsky. Rebecca Schinsky said: Book Review: Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye http://goo.gl/fb/T3393 [...]
Great review, I really enjoyed the book as well.
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[...] ~ Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye, reviewed by Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog [...]
[...] Geye’s debut novel Safe from the Sea was published last week by Unbridled [...]
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