The Story

Jérôme is a Frenchman who lives a very ordered, comfortable life. Through a twist of fate, he ends up in a remote Norwegian village above the 60th parallel. Suddenly, he's surrounded by towering mountains, deep fjords, and people whose idea of a good time involves fishing in icy water and enduring the long polar night. The book follows his often-hilarious attempts to navigate this new world. He tries to apply French logic to Norwegian problems, with mixed results. It's less about a big adventure and more about the daily, sometimes absurd, culture shock of a man who feels like he's landed on another planet.

Why You Should Read It

I fell for Jérôme's grumpy charm. His observations are sharp and often laugh-out-loud funny, but Bedel never makes him a simple joke. You see his genuine bewilderment soften into a grudging respect for the land and its people. The book is really about seeing yourself through someone else's eyes. Jérôme thinks he's bringing civilization to the wilderness, but the wilderness ends up teaching him about resilience, community, and a different kind of happiness. It's a quiet, witty character study wrapped in a travelogue.

Final Verdict

Perfect for anyone who enjoys gentle, character-driven humor and armchair travel. If you like books where the setting is as important as the plot, or stories about finding your place in an unfamiliar world, you'll get a kick out of this. It's not a fast-paced thriller; it's a warm, insightful, and often very funny portrait of a man—and two cultures—learning to understand each other.