| From Publishers Weekly In Hoeg's previous book， the thriller Smilla's Sense of Snow， the psychological insights and background detail were more gripping than the action scenes. Here， he has largely eschewed action and produced a story of psychological suspense in which the sense of menace is nearly palpable. This is a bleak， heartbreaking tale of gallant， desperately frightened children accepted on probation by an elite private school near Copenhagen. The narrator， Peter， was 14 when he arrived there， after anguished years in other institutions. Yet this school is even more frightening: both tyrannical mind control and physical violence are used to intimidate the students， in the name of scientific "improvement." Peter makes friends with two other "borderliners，" the orphaned Katarina and August， a psychotic youngster who has repressed the fact that he killed his parents because they tortured and abused him. Together these damaged children strive to understand the goals of what they intuit as the school's "grand plan." They also have reason to inquire into the nature of time， for the traumas they have experienced have left them unsure of what constitutes reality. Hoeg succeeds brilliantly in conveying the fear of children who are helpless against brutal adult authority. His speculations about time， the principles of education and moral values are equally impressive， but those expecting a conventional thriller may find these passages digressive and heavy-handed. In the end， after all the portentous references to "the plan，" its eventual unveiling is anticlimactic. And the disparity between the school's supposedly noble objective and its wretched practices strains credibility. The book， like the plan， is a laudable effort that falls somewhat short of its goals. Hoeg retains a shocker for the closing pages， however， leading readers to speculate about the autobiographical elements of the story. 75，000 first printing. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Library Journal In this extraordinary novel， Hoeg portrays the closed world of Biehl's， a Danish private school where a bizarre social experiment is underway. The narrator， Peter， is now a student at Biehl's after spending all of his life in children's homes and reform schools. He is a borderline case， along with Katarina， whose parents both died in the past year， and August， severely disturbed after killing his abusive parents. Although allowed no social interaction， the children conspire to conduct their own experiment to discover what plan is being carried out at Biehl's. Hoeg touches on some of the same themes as in his acclaimed Smilla's Sense of Snow (LJ 8/93)-neglected children， scientific experiments， and technology-but this is not a thriller and may not appeal to the same audience. It is instead a fascinating intellectual puzzle that explores the themes of social control， child assessment， family， and the concept of time. Highly recommended.--Patrica Ross， Westerville， OhioCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews |
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