What are we to make of things that are neither didactic nor mimetic? I guess that could be the question of all literature after 1970 or so, especially when it’s something, like this book, that hints at things both familiar and revelatory, so that you feel like there’s a big Truth here if only you could interpret the work in the correct way. Of course, there’s always fractals of truth, both big and small. It’s just about choosing a lens from which to view them.

What starts out as a kind of dark fairy tale quickly turns into much more. Twin brothers Claus and Lucas are left to be raised by their grandmother, a more worldly version of the wicked-witch archetype, in the midst of a war that separates them from the rest of their family. They have to adjust to their grandmother’s strange customs, living in a house apart from a nearby village. They have visits from an officer and priest that help expand their worldview and give glimpses of some of the goings on in the world at large. It’s not specified with great detail, but they are surrounded by war and danger and live under this constant threat.