‘It takes vast willpower, luck, and skill to be the first. But it takes a gigantic heart to be number two.’ – Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? by Johan Harstad.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

The second man on the moon:

Magnificent. Magnificent solitude.

Mattias lives his life by Buzz Aldrin’s dictum; trying to find magnificence in his solitude, trying to avoid making that giant leap for mankind. But the earth carries weight and far too much water and people keep on appearing when you least expect them to and they keep finding you when you are lying down in your solitude or when you are submerging yourself in all that water. This is a novel that searches for solitude in the desolate, moon-like Faroe Islands. About a small group of people who decide to make an escape together, more than once.

We accompany Mattias from his quiet existence as a gardener in Stavanger, Norway, to a peculiar post-psychiatric commune in Denmark’s hidden islands. There is a brief adventure to the Caribbean on a manmade boat. The landscape along with the story is epic. There is unmaintainable love and subsequent despair. Discovery is constant.

Mattias finds out that Buzz Aldrin may not be the character he thought he was and is left to ask, what happened to me in all the confusion? Far from an experience of solitude, you come out of Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? having found company in Mattias; a character that reveals himself in unusual ways, bringing you into such close proximity to him that you will find him unforgettable.

An author whose voice has been compared to Dave Eggers and The Little Prince, Harstad’s skillful use of language is formally daring with an unexpected intensity. He strikes the perfect balance between drama and comedy with a candid use of pop-culture. At times poetic and rambling, at others sharp and concise, Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? is like a perilous journey in a small boat – it makes you revalue life.

Anna

UWAP Prac Student

Johan Harstad tours Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from 23 Feb – 2 Mar 2012. Catch him in several Perth Writers Festival sessions (available here) from 24 – 26 Feb.

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