Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes

Arvid Jansen #1

by Per Petterson

Arvid is six years old and lives on the outskirts of Oslo. His father works in a shoe factory; his Danish mother works as a cleaner. Arvid wets his bed at night and has nightmares about crocodiles, but begins to piece the world together. One day his father is collected in a black car; his grandfather has died, like the bullfinch. When Arvid sees a photo of his mother as a young woman he understands how time passes and then he cries and says he doesn't want to get old. And one morning the teacher tells the pupils to pray to God because a nuclear war is looming.

These are beautiful tales of growing up from prizewinning international author Per Petterson.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Historical Fiction, Novella, Audiobook

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Petterson knew from the age of 18 that he wanted to be a writer, but didn't embark on this career for many years - his debut book, the short story collection Aske i munnen, sand i skoa, (Ashes in the Mouth, Sand in the Shoes) was published 17 years later, when Petterson was 35. Previously he had worked for years in a factory as an unskilled labourer, as his parents had done before him, and had also trained as a librarian, and worked as a bookseller.
In 1990, the year following the publication of his first novel, Pettersen's family was struck by tragedy - his mother, father, brother and nephew were killed in a fire onboard a ferry.
His third novel Til Sibir (To Siberia) was nominated for The Nordic Council's Literature Prize, and his fourth novel I kjølvannet (In the Wake), which is a young man's story of losing his family in the Scandinavian Star ferry disaster in 1990, won the Brage Prize for 2000.
His breakthrough, however, was Ut og stjæle hester (Out Stealing Horses) which was awarded two top literary prizes in Norway - the The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature and the Booksellers’ Best Book of the Year Award.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/perpet...

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early awakenings to the nuances of life can be a confusing time. To discover that people contain multitudes, that complexities abound, or the creeping cognizance of the ceaseless passage of time and finding oneself inextricably bound to its progress barrelling towards aging, decay and death. It is a journey of awareness and acceptance we all must travel and starts with the first rocky steps of pre-adolescence. Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, the debut work from Norwegian novelist Per Petterson is a brief bildungsroman sheathed in the perspective of young Arvid Jansen between the ages of 6 and 8. There is a sense of minimalism here, with an austere prose and limited perspective of a young child’s consciousness that perfectly embodies the authorial maxim of “show don’t tell,” with Petterson refraining from philosophizing and allowing the reader to watch across 10 sparse vignettes. These miniature snapshots arrive like ripples on the pond: small, serene, yet a disruption of stillness in the life of the small child. From nightmares and bed-wetting to awareness of the needs and nuances of others or the frailty of life and parental relations, Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, shows how simplicity can still capture complexity.

‘I don’t want to get older. I want to stay like I am now! ’

Originally published in 1987, Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, kickstarted Petterson’s career with a character he would later revisit in I Curse the River of Time, though this time set in 1989 with an adult Arvid in his late thirties as his marriage crumbles. Here we find a young Arvid living a decent life and, as is often for young boys, his factory-working father is at the center of it. There is a tenderness of father/son relationships at work—inspired by the authors own childhood and relationship with his father—that is quite lovely in this book, something that is evinced right away in the opening sentences.

‘Dad had a face that Arvid loved to watch, and at the same time made him nervous as it wasn’t just a face but also a rock in the forest with its furrows and hollows, at least if he squinted when he looked…Those that liked to comment on this kind of thing said that the two of them looked a lot like each other and that was perhaps what made Arvid most nervous, but when he glanced in the mirror he didn’t understand what they meant for Dad was blond, and all Arvid saw in the mirror was two round cheeks and plainly Dad did not have them.
But most of the time Dad was just Dad, someone that Arvid liked and dared to touch.’

But a new awareness of his father grows across these short stories. Death creeps in and he is aware his father will someday pass, time changes everything and he cannot stop it. The boys desire to remain 6 forever reminds me of the poem Now We are Six from Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne:

When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

Yet it is more than a desire to just stay 6 years old but to stop time, to stop his parents and himself from aging. ‘The palms of his hands were quivering and he tried to resist time and hold it back. But nothing helped, and with every pop he felt himself getting older.’ There is a wonderful childlike simplicity and logic to these stories, such as how here he decides it is the clock that causes time to pass—’ time withdrew to the large clock on the wall in the living room and went around alone in there, like a tiger in a cage, he thought, just waiting’—and smashing it reveals he cannot stop time. It is an early brush with futility.

Beyond the erosion of time, Arvid moves through numerous other realizations in his coming-of-age teeming with a ‘determination that couldn’t determine where to go.’ A conversation with a troubled youth leads Arvid to realize others have dynamic interior lives and the panic around the Cuban Missile Crisis opens a window into the awareness of a larger outside world filled with dangers beyond his or his family’s control. Arvid has a sense of fragility around him, yet one that is still intact in comparison to many of the adults around him who have cracked or broken under the weight of a weary world. It gives a sense of hope and empowerment that, despite the harshness of reality, we can fortify ourselves and bear it.

A small and quiet little book, Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes is steeped in nostalgia and and a somber yet serene atmosphere that adds a tender weight to these interconnected stories. While occasionally it is a bit too light to not simply sail from the mind at the slightest breeze, the blend of humor and melancholy as Petterson explores social and familial dynamics through the eyes of a boy stepping tepidly into adolescence is still a lovely read.

3.5/5

[Jakob J. 🎃 · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories grew on me as they drifted along, like a fine moss. Reading them individually would likely not have left a significant impression, I don’t think, but reading through them as a kind of novella, showing glimpses of a dour Norwegian child’s upbringing in the ‘60’s brought the ostensibly disparate recollections of Arvid together, similar to Truman Capote’s Buddy in A Christmas Memory.

I enjoy stories of youth, so long as it’s not a cheap gimmick on the part of the author to show off how child-like he can come across. Petterson adopted a fairly minimalist style that doesn’t appear inauthentic.

Unadorned with the more wistful trappings of sentimentality, the image of a pre-adolescent boy reversing roles with his maudlin father—stroking his hair in consolation—carries a sobering sorrow.

3.5

[Kuszma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Igazából ez az írói tudás mércéje, azt hiszem. Hogy megírsz valamit, amit előtted már megírtak ezren, és mégis más. Olyan, mintha először olvasnánk. Van ez az Arvid, aki hat éves, és ott él anyuval meg apuval valahol a '60-as évek Norvégiájában. Ennyi. Nincs Narniára nyíló ruhásszekrény, nincs tragédia, nincs trauma, csak egy gyönyörűen kivitelezett gyereklátószög: hogy nem látjuk át a dolgok teljességét, nem értjük, mit és miért mondanak a felnőttek, nincs meg hozzá a tapasztalatunk, hogy felfogjuk a világ törvényeit, és nincs meg a nyelvünk, hogy a megfelelő kérdéseket tegyük fel ezzel kapcsolatban. De mégis, valahogy mégis összeállnak a szilánkok valamivé, ami kellő óvatossággal tudásnak nevezhető - és ez egyszerre izgalmas és rémítő. Mert ablakot nyit arra, hogy egyszer majd kik leszünk, vagy kik nem leszünk.

[JimZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Per Petterson’s first work of fiction, published in Norwegian in 1987. The short story collection was indeed short, 10 short stories in all, 118 pages. They center around a boy Arvid Jansen….in one story he was only 6 but in some other stories he was a bit older. He lives with his mother and father and his slightly older sister in Norway. They used to live with the father’s father, but the mother was going stir-crazy and she wanted her own flat with her nuclear family. The boy is a typical 6-year old. The father is overall a kind man. The mother and father at times argue…but not too much. The father has a brother Rolf (Uncle Rolf to Arvid) who has never been married — he and the father get along sort of, but I don’t think there’s a deep familial bond between them. The grandfather dies in one of the short stories and Arvid and his family go to his funeral.

Overall I would give this collection a solid 4 stars — the stories were for the most part interesting, pleasant to read, and the writing was very good, and I look forward to reading his books that I have on my shelves, ‘Out Stealing Horses’ and ‘To Siberia’. In reading a review of Per Petterson’s oeuvre, I learn that the same Arvid Jansen at an older age appears in “In the Wake (I kjølvannet)” (2000) and “I Curse the River of Time (Jeg forbanner tidens elv)” (2008).

My two favorites of this collection were “A Man Without Shoes” and “Like a Tiger in a Cage”. In the first story, the father used to work at a factory that made shoes and he was very proud and happy with his job. The firm goes belly up and he ends up at a job that he hates, assembling toothbrushes on an assembly line. After some time working at his new job, he takes all of his shoe cobbling supplies in his house that he treasured and was so proud of, and throws them in the fire. In “Like a Tiger in a Cage”, Arvid does not want to grow up beyond his present age, 6 (he also saw a picture of his mom when she was much younger, and he is shocked, almost unpleasantly, by how much older she looks now). ‘I don’t want to get older. I want to stay like I am now! Six and a half, that’s enough, isn’t it?’ But he (his mom) smiled sadly and said, to every age its charm. And time withdrew to the large clock on the wall in the living room and went around alone in there, like a tiger in a cage, he thought, just waiting, and Mum became Mum again, almost like before.” So one day the boy gets up on a chair and knocks the clock down, smashing it to smithereens. He has yet to realize time can’t be stopped.

The stories and the order in which they appear in the boo and where they were published previously:
• A Man Without Shoes (first appeared in English in ‘A Public Space’)
• Ashes in His Mouth
• The Black Car
• The King is Dead (first appeared in English in ‘Little Star’)
• Like a Tiger in a Cage (first appeared in English in ‘McSweeneys’, Issue 35, August 17th 2010)
• Fatso
• People are Not Animals
• Call Me Ali Baba
• Today You Must Pray to God
• Before the War (first appeared in English in ‘Little Star’)

Reviews:
• About Per Petterson in general written in 2012 in The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
• By Malcolm Forbes, Star Tribune (Minnesota), April 17. 2015: https://www.startribune.com/review-as...
• https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...
• https://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...
• http://artsatmichigan.umich.edu/seen/...

[Sonja Arlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet novella that gives the reader snippets in the life of a little boy, Arvid, living with his parents in Norway in the early 60’s. His father works in a shoe factory and his Danish mother works as a cleaner. Arvid wets his bed at night and has nightmares about crocodiles, but slowly he is beginning to piece the world together.

Looking at life through the eyes of a sensitive, hyper-imaginative child is always insightful and I enjoyed the stories full of humor and poignant observations.

The writing is simple and straightforward, with occasional beautiful prose.

I found out only after finishing that it’s a prequel to the book I Curse the River of Time which I want to read at some point as well.

[Erika]

A small book, which is really a set of disjointed short stories told by the child Arvid. Very Norwegian in phrase (which as usual is quaint and adorable). Arvid is the holy fool of sorts - seeing things as they really are with a kind of innocence that cuts through adult ways of being and seeing. The book itself was unsatisfying, I think it is the prequel to a later novel about the adult Arvid. I am curious to see if the later novel is more satisfying.
"He held his hands to his face as if to keep his skin in place and for many nights he lay clutching his body, feeling time sweeping through it like little explosions. The palms of his hands were quivering and he tried to resist time and hold it back. But nothing helped, and with every pop he felt himself getting older. he cried, and said to his mother: 'I don't want to get older. I want to stay like I am now! Six and a half, that's enough, isn't it?"

[Adrian Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just loved this short collection of interrelated stories. They all cluster around a young boy named Arvid and a lot of them deal with his relationship to his father, a strong and physically imposing character, in contrast to the sensitive and thoughtful son. These stories are tender, vulnerable and absolutely heartbreaking considering they were written before the real life tragedy that would claim Petterson's father, mother, younger brother and niece (victims of the Scandanavian Star ferry disaster).

Petterson has a way of describing intimate moments that occur when we're alone that are so insightful but he writes them so clearly, as though they were the easiest observations. This is a short book but a significant one.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, the beautifully titled and realized collection of ten short stories, all featuring Arvid Jansen, the protagonist of Petterson’s later novel I Curse the River of Time (2008), was first published in Norway in 1987, and at last here. Why at last? Two reasons. First, here is the first line of the first story: “Dad had a face that Arvid loved to watch, and at the same time made him nervous as it wasn’t just a face but also a rock in the forest with its furrows and hollows, at least if he squinted when he looked.” From the word go, Petterson’s prose is sharp, poetic, real.

From a later story: “It was still early, the sun was up, the sky blue, and he liked to walk behind Dad and see his broad back carrying the rucksack as far up the hill as Trondhjemsveien to catch the bus to town. The air was cold and fresh and Mum ruffled his hair as they said goodbye at the door and pulled his blue wooly cap down over his ears.” Simple, direct description: specific and graced with the significance of the ordinary. There are echoes of Hemingway (and London) in this early work, Petterson’s own version of the Nick Adams stories that appeared in In Our Time, but the voice is fresh, the sensibility uniquely Petterson’s.

The second reason is more complex. The collection is dedicated to Petterson’s father. Significantly the dedication includes the father’s lifespan, 1911-1990—the years perhaps the only addition to the dedication for this newly translated edition. What makes it significant is these stories, fecund photographs along a coming of age storyline, were written before the tragic ferry accident that claimed Petterson’s father, mother, and two other relatives, an event that profoundly impacted Petterson’s life and sensibility. So with Ashes in My Mouth readers are given insight into a gifted but still maturing prose stylist and to a perspective innocent of a life shifting tragedy.

The collection is a magnificent gift, one that I assumed would just be an interesting prelude to reading I Refuse, Petterson’s latest novel to be published in English, but proved, in fact, to be a prelude to an immediate re-reading of Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes and I Curse the River of Time.

[John Hatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is brilliant! Having read several of Per Petterson's novels before now, I was lucky enough to find a used copy of his debut book, and I love it. Although described as a short-story collection, it could just as easily be a novel. Each chapter does indeed tell a story in its own right, but in the end, whether novel or collection of short stories, it is in my opinion a beautiful book. I can recommend it, regardless of the language you read it in. I really don't think that a bad translation of this great book could be produced. Since it was first published in 1987, I'm sure it has been translated into multiple languages.

[M. Sarki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing to get hung about. Basically just another book for a Petterson "completist" to read. Charming little stories that offer little to nothing to rave about. But no disappointment as I already expected his short work to not do me like he does with his novels.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this. This is a collection of short vignette stories from a young boy's life. Each story really spoke to a childhood experience or how it feels to be a kid in a world of adults. It was just so wonderfully engrossing and I can't wait to get to this author's other works.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 1960s Norway, we follow Arvid, a young boy, in his daily life with family and his school. Brief glimpses of larger issues (family dramas, world history and looming nuclear threat), but told through the simple eyes of a child. An endearing and short read.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading the book I found myself to be exceedingly happy. The stories brought back memories - memories of discovering the way things are and of discovering the ability to hold things as they are and to simply let them be. A happy, lovely, lonely little book - a wonder.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times hilarious, at others desperately lonely, a lovely little book that proved a joy to read.

[OM · Rating 5 out of 5]

jeg blei årntli gla' i lille Arvid, og muligheta jeg fikk til å krype inn i hans sinn i denne samlinga med noveller

[Nelson Wattie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book of short stories was Per Petterson’s first publication in Norwegian, though not in English translation, where it followed some substantial novels. It might be thought of as apprenticeship work, but that would not be fair to the talent that could make these brief episodes ring with a multitude of sound and meaning. The stories are interconnected, chronologically following a small boy’s life, so that they are like fragments from a novel. Indeed, considering that fragmentation is a feature of many (post)modern novels, these 150 pages could be read as a novella with the reader making the connections.
Everything is small to the point of modesty. The small boy is Arvid, who lives with his small family in a small Norwegian town. Arvid would prefer not to go on growing – “I want to stay like I am now! Six and a half, that’s enough, isn’t it?” he says to his mother. But from Chekhov through Carver and on (and perhaps one should go backwards, too, to biblical parables), the best short story writers have shown that a large world can exist in a small compass – and Petterson is one of the best. The most dramatic events are a fist fight between Arvid’s father and uncle, grandfather’s funeral and the destruction of an old, decaying barn. But these events are bigger than they seem – like practically everything in the book.
The fight between the adult brothers arises from their frustration at the shrinking world they live in. Arvid’s father has lost his job in a shoe factory, where, as Arvid sees it, there is room for innovation and thought: “There was a lot to say about [shoes]. Gym shoes, smart shoes, ladies’ shoes, children’s shoes, ski boots, riding boots. Dad talked a lot about shoes, and he knew what he was talking about. But now it was over.” Like a little death. Dad would have to join Uncle Rolf in the toothbrush factory, and toothbrushes were much less interesting.
Grandfather’s funeral, described in “The Black Car”, the longest story in the book, is rich in symbolic detail. Now father and uncle were both fatherless and father, in particular, stumbled at the graveside.
But as the adult’s lives shrink, Arvid’s expands, in spite of himself. This is not an encouraging thing. Clambering on a bookshelf, he reaches for the ceiling but in doing so knocks a clock from the wall. Time smashes into fragments, “the scattered cogwheels and the two clock hands wobbling round in the meaningless void”. Arvid is too young to see the significance of this image from his future, but the reader can provide it for him. In another story Arvid creeps into an old barn but hears workmen there, “and then he saw a strip of light widen and then he knew. It was the wall, they were tearing down the wall.” The rubbishy old things are passing, but there is a strip of new light.
As the stories progress, Arvid sees increasing signs of age in the adults who make up his life. The only thing mentioned from outside the village is deep with menace – the Cuba crisis and the threat of nuclear war. At the thought of that, sensitive Arvid goes to bed and refuses to speak for four days – for what is the use if we are all to die soon? But the light continues to grow around him and to darken around the family he loves.

[The Book Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He held his hands to his face as if to keep his skin in place and for many nights he lay clutching his body, feeling time sweeping through it like little explosions. The palms of his hands were quivering and he tried to resist time and hold it back. But nothing helped, and with every pop, he felt himself getting older. he cried, and said to his mother: 'I don't want to get older. I want to stay like I am now! Six and a half, that's enough, isn't it?"

Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes is a sweet little novella. This book gives us readers various snippets of the life of a boy named Arid, who lives with his parents in the country of Norway in the early 1960s. His father is a man who works in a shoe factory, while his mother is a Danish woman who works as a cleaner. This is life through the eyes of a sensitive and imaginative child.

The book is extremely insightful. Throughout the book, we get triumphs and lows. We learn that Arid wets his bed at night, and has nightmares but also that he is a little boy that is beginning to really piece his world together. He is learning to figure things out. I thought the stories in this book were insightful and poignant. The writing had such a beautiful prose and was super breathtaking.

I am super glad that I picked up this short little book at the library and gave it a read. I can't believe it was only recently translated into English. I will be purchasing a copy for myself to treasure forever. I hope you will check this book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, quiet book that could easily be read in one sitting, Ashes in My Mouth... is Per Petterson's debut novel which introduces Arvid, an adult character in Out Stealing Horses as a sweet and insecure six year old. Whether it is the translation or the way it is written, it comes across exactly as a six year old would tell his stories and nails the point of view. The world is an uncertain and scary place for Arvid; he's small for his age, he's bullied at school, and the adults closest to him are a mess but he is also a six year old doing six year old things. I will be interested to see how he fares as an adult in Out Stealing Horses.

[Russell George · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Per Peterson’s novels – though this is probably the length of a novella – and it reminded me again that he does childhood very well. Particularly an experience of childhood shadowed by uneasy adults who drink too much, and all the foreboding that that situation brings. Again, there’s no real story as such, but rather a series of episodes which gradually bring clarity to the family and the town they live in.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashes...simply mesmerizing.

Per Petersen has an uncanny knack for simple language made exquisite. Arvid, as a child character, reveals a perspective that is both daunting and beautiful. I felt I knew this child, but only through his thoughts. It was not the actions of those around him that defined him - but his response to those actions. Beautifully written.

[Paula Lyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories told from the point of view of a young boy. While not particularly unpleasant, he doesn't seem to be a happy child. He seems to spend way too much time eavesdropping on adults. It's makes a sad collection.

[Julie M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great vignettes of a boyhood in 1960's Norway, told in 2nd person from "Arvid's" POV. This collection helped launch Petterson's literary career.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Petterson's simple straightforward and clear writing.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Per Petterson who writes so well, creating vivid pictures in few words. This is a short book of vignettes, sketches from a childhood.

[Julie Mestdagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vorig jaar las ik "menn i min situasjon" van Per Petterson, een sublieme roman met als hoofdpersonage Arvid, die een echtscheiding heeft meegemaakt en zijn weg verder zoekt in het leven. Groot was mijn vreugde toen bleek dat Per Petterson reeds meerdere boeken schreef rond het leven van Arvid, te beginnen met deze "Aske i munnen, sand i skoa". In dit boek ontmoet de lezer Arvid, een dan 6-jarige jongen uit Oslo, voor het allereerst. In 10 korte verhalen krijgen we een mooi beeld van wie Arvid is, hoe zijn familie eruit ziet, wat er in zijn dagelijkse leven speelt en vooral... hoe hij als 6 jarige naar de dingen kijkt. Zo is Arvid bijvoorbeeld stiekem blij dat zijn grootvader overlijdt want nu mag hij eindelijk de kano uitproberen waar hij van zijn grootvader niet in mocht. Petterson slaagt er zeer goed in volwassen situaties door de ogen van ene kind te beschrijven. Ik ga zonder twijfel meer lezen van deze auteur.

[yenni m · Rating 3 out of 5]

This borders the line between astonishing and disturbing. Children are people too! Confused, disorganised, trusting people. Hit a heart spot. Liked it being so small and dissembled but sensical.

[Gill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a short book in large print that I picked up at random in the library for Mark to read alouf to me. I found the stories disjointed,and the best I can say is that they were alright.

[Mushfin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Tuva Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute, jeg liker språket og det barnlige perspektivet. Kunne gjerne vært en full og lengre bok spør du meg

[Baglan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arvid ❤️