Author: Niviaq Korneliussen
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Publication Date: 25 January 2019
Pages: 192
Format: eBook - PDF
Genre: Literary Fiction/LGBT
Source: ARC via NetGalley
The highly acclaimed debut from an author profiled by theNew Yorker as her country's “unlikely literary star,” Last Night in Nuuk follows the lives of five young Greenlanders exploring their identities at the cusp of adulthood.
Niviaq Korneliussen is a ground-breaking young writer hailed for creating “[her] own genre” (Politiken, Denmark) in her witty and fearless debut Last Night in Nuuk. A work of daring invention about young life in Greenland, Korneliussen brilliantly weaves together the coming of age of five young people in the capital city, Nuuk. Fia has recently sworn off sausage (men) only to discover that the woman she wants is unavailable. Arnaq struggles to cope with her past as her hard-partying life spirals out of control and she betrays those she loves most. Inuk, Fia’s brother, is forced to escape Greenland after political scandal implicates him, and confronts the true meaning of home. Meanwhile, Ivik and Sara must confront an important transition in their relationship. In a collection of blurry nights and bleary mornings after, Korneliussen creates a Greenlandic literature unlike any we have known before—young, urbane, stream-of-consciousness, studded with textspeak and delirious with nightlife.
With vibrant imagery and daring prose, Korneliussen writes unforgettably about finding yourself and growing into the person you were meant to be. A stunning debut from a brave new voice, Last Night in Nuuk is a dashing entrance onto the literary scene and establishes her as a voice that cannot be ignored.
Last Night in Nuuk is a book I have struggled to rate. I think the issue is that I wanted to like it more than I did. I was expecting a diverse work with interesting LGBT+ protagonists, but I never got to know the characters well enough to relate to them fully. I also expected to get more of a sense of place, considering the setting. However, I didn't think the work really expressed Greenland. It felt like the events could have taken place anywhere. But let's concentrate on the pros. Things I did like about the book were: its interesting style (it's a very modern work in terms of the prose), the idea behind it (which is attention grabbing), and the way it raised some important themes and issues from modern life. In the end, I am giving this book 3.5 stars. There were some good points about it, but it didn't quite live up to my high expectations.
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