The Art of Living Under Water

New experiments take Angus under water, to terrifying depths that no man has seen before. At 16, Angus is the trusted apprentice of Edmond Halley in London, the needle-sharp eye for the successful scientist whose reputation is but growing. When Halley starts exploring the depths of the sea and comes up with the idea of a diving bell, it is naturally Angus who gets to be the guinea pig sunk down to the bottom of river Thames to test the invention. Would it be possible to live under water? Reaching adulthood, Angus struggles to figure out who he really is and where his place is in the world. Dreaming of a great future, Angus follows Mr Halley on a long sea journey, heading back to the Southern hemisphere of his home island. Will he get a chance to come onshore St. Helena again?

Publishing information

Year of publication

2019

Page count

462

Original title

Merenpeitto

Original publisher

Otava

Rights sold

Germany

About the author

Olli Jalonen (b. 1954) is one of Finland’s most respected authors. Since 1978, he has written over 15 works of fiction, some non-fiction and a children’s fantasy novel. Jalonen has received several important literary prizes, including the Finlandia Prize, and he has been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize three times. Jalonen has lived in Finland, Sweden and Ireland, working as a reporter, information officer and researcher. His extensive oeuvre also includes radio plays and scripts for screen and stage.“Jalonen is a master at building open places into a text. His stories breathe, and each page contains an expectation, of good or evil.”– Kouvolan Sanomat

Author page

Reviews

It's rare to experience such a devouring read as The Art of Living Under Water... The novel explores where is the place in the world for someone who does not achieve their dreams.

Suomen Kuvalehti, Finland

Jalonen has written since the novel 14 Knots to Greenwich (2008) as if addressing to the whole world and as if prose was a universal vehicle for universal thought. As it certainly is. And his novel The Celestial Sphere proved this a year ago... If Jalonen had not won his second Finlandia prize for The Celestial Sphere, he would receive it now for The Art of Living Under Water.

Kauppalehti, Finland

"The language is again almost hypnotic in its rhythm... And again it is very sad to say goodbye to Angus, for Jalonen has managed to create such a lifelike character in him."

Savon Sanomat, Finland

"The Celestial Sphere was a novel about seeing and knowing, and also about the limits of knowledge. The Art of Living Under Water observes the depths of the subsea instead of space, setting the previous book in a new light. While The Celestial Sphere describes individual's awakening to the wonders of the world and promotes intellectual role models as a resource, these same factors in The Art of Living Under Water turn to limitations."

Aamulehti, Finland

"Jalonen has set his goals high and achieves them with flying colours. The narration matches the epoch perfectly, in Angus' thoughts, speech and behavior."

Kaleva, Finland

The narration of Angus' life continues to enchant the reader.

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland