The Discovery Of Slowness
Sten Nadolny
“The half-wrecked ship slouched into the inlet more like a saturated sponge than one of His Majesty’s ships”
Available as Paperback, eBook
Nadolny’s internationally bestselling masterpiece, a gripping historical novel based on the life of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin
Nadolny’s masterpiece, The Discovery of Slowness tells the incredible story of Sir John Franklin, a sailor and explorer who battled the frozen Arctic wastes and paved the way for the discovery of the Northwest Passage. Ridiculed for his slowness in his youth, Franklin’s quiet calm later helps him to become an icon of adventure.
A classic of contemporary German literature, The Discovery of Slowness is not only a riveting account of a remarkable life but also a profound and thought-provoking meditation on time.
“This is both a wonderful historical novel and a spell-binding individual portrait … This is a marvellous translation of a masterly work”
observer
See more reviews
“Nadolny brilliantly sets the narrative pace to the rhythms of the frozen landscape, and to the slowness which is bred by hunger”
Robert Macfarlane
“Time, action and vision – a magical hat-trick and one that this translation pays faithful tribute to, capturing grand adventures like a detailed painting”
scotsman
“Sten Nadolny shipped us into beautiful, fatal Arctic wastes with his spellbinding novels”
Boyd Tonkin
“Slow movements of emotion and plot pull the reader expertly in, and the book with its self-consciously ponderous charm, offers all the pleasures of the best historical fiction”
daily Telegraph
Sten Nadolny
Sten Nadolny is the author of four novels and two collections of essays. The Discovery of Slowness (1983) is regarded as his masterpiece. It has been translated into all major languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide, and was nominated for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He lives in Berlin.
