[.ca] Borderliners (ISBN 0312427115)

an untimely story...:
Being the first of Hoeg's works I've read, Borderliners struck me as interesting in its writing style (a kind of dry, unemotional, first-person retelling of the past told in snippets that read like a scientist's lab notebook observations), but ultimately disappointed me. The attempt to mesh a rather bland narrative with the author's partially elaborated philosophical musings on the nature of time proved debilitating to both approaches. With such a serious tone and lofty rhetoric, a reader expects the story and the philosophical concepts to match these heights, but they never do. As the children discover the "plan" behind the school and even deeper insights into their relation to time, I was left feeling and saying, "so what?!" (a kind of bibliophile's equivalent to riding a roller coaster up a big hill expecting to fear or thrill at the other side only to find it just levels out at the top). The writing never quite finds a rhythm or balance, although an element of suspense manages to carry one quite easily through the book. Hoeg's portrayal of childhood and the social forces that shape us stand out admirably, but all in all, his unique approach falls short and ends up muting the overall impact of the book.

Well written, but a bit of a downer:
Borderliners, a national bestseller according to the cover (but never stating which nation) was a fairly compelling and intelligent novel. Roughly, it is the story of a teenager growing up in a Danish orphanage. Actually, it is more focused than that, with the actual story taking place over a span of months, but with frequent (too frequent sometimes) flashbacks to earlier times. Peter Hoeg walks a fine line here, and not always with the agility required of a tightrope walker. At times the descent into the overbearing conformity and casual cruelty of the system is clear and present, but sometimes the author meanders around, yanking us away from the atmosphere he has so skillfully built up. For its size, there isn???t a lot that actually ???happens??? that I wish to discuss without giving away plot elements. But I do want to say that the plot as described on the back cover doesn???t really hold up. What the editorial writer referred to as a ???secret experiment in social Darwinism??? is really nothing more that the practice of mainstreaming ???special needs??? students. I use quotes only because I don???t know the current correct term. And ???re-creating time and space??? is just another phrase for breaking rules and trying not to get caught. This is a simplified breakdown, but I didn???t think in the end it was quite as big a deal as I???d been led to believe. There are other problem areas. For one, a major character was presented sympathetically even though he attacks and breaks fingers whenever someone is rude to him. I suppose the sinister experimentation is that he was put in an environment he couldn???t handle, which is a valid point, but I found it hard to feel that sorry. Another more serious problem is the last section. There are three sections, roughly dividing the story, but the last one is two thirds taken up with Hoeg???s random philosophizing on the nature of time. Mostly this is just introspective musings, and added little of value that I could identify. I suppose it???s meant as further commentary on the strict time schedules the characters are forced to adhere to. I don???t know. But it didn???t add anything. Basically, this is a pretty good book. It???s something a bit different, at least from my normal reading, and I???d probably choose to read more of Hoeg???s work in the future sometime or other. But I hardly found it exceptional.

Haunts the mind:
Danish author Peter Hoeg established himself with the masterful "History of Danish Dreams," a surreal, funny, haunting story that tweaked the boundaries of the real world. "Borderliners" is a bit like that, but starkly real and not very funny at all. it's haunting, surreal, and quite disturbing. Hoeg did a fantastic job with this. They are the "borderliners": Children who don't fit in, be it for not being smart enough, for having difficulties with others, or just failing to slip into the slots that society has for them. Fourteen-year-old Peter has been in institutions of one sort or another all his life, partly because of his lack of "normality," and is now going to the creepy Biehl's Academy where the "borderline" children mingle with the privileged kids, in obsessively strict surroundings. There, Peter encounters the wise orphan Katarina, who saw her parents both die -- her mother of cancer, stretching out every second of the last months of her life, and her grieving father, who tried to speed time up. And there's August, a strangely sinister child who harbors a dark secret in his past. The three grow closer, Peter falls for Katarina, and they begin struggling to break free of the strange experiments in social Darwinism being performed at the school. Given the name of the lead character -- Peter Hoeg -- I can only assume that this is at least partly autobiographical. That may be why the book is so moving and personal-feeling. Like "Danish Dreams," this book contains a lot of surreal philosophy about time, about how people try to either use or avoid the passage of time. This occasionally stops the book dead, but if you can handle that then it won't be a problem. The book is haunting and eerie, almost dreamlike. Hoeg doesn't overburden the story with too much detail. For example, when Peter and Katarina kiss for the first time, he doesn't describe it -- instead he describes the impact it has on Peter. And the dialogue is just as haunting: "What about the darkness inside people?" "The light will disperse it." "There's not that much light in the entire world." I could tell that Peter comes from Hoeg's heart, because he's so vivid in his feelings and responses. Katarina is incredibly smart and cool-headed, with thoughts beyond her years; August is both appealing and frightening, since he can be lost or violent at any given time. The supporting characters are all vivid and well-drawn, whether they are bad or good. The Academy itself has an aura of almost horrific control, an amazingly well-written place. Peter Hoeg is a master storyteller, and "Borderliners" is a book that stuck in my mind for days after I had read it. A creepy, beautifully-told story with wonderful characters.

An examination of power:
Borderliners is a disturbing examination of the nature of power and the way it can be manipulated. The surreal school setting focusses the reader's attention on events that many students may have naturalised; the ringing of bells, the concept of out-of-bounds, punishment, discipline and psychological assessment of students. In disrupting traditional notions of time and of the benign nature of adult authority, Hoeg is able to direct the reader into the world that exists outside of artificial, socially imposed boundaries. It is scary and dark but always a valuable place to consider. Borderliners positions the reader with those who are outside society looking in; it is a shocking experience. The multiple readings that are possible add to the intellectual and emotional impact of this book.

A haunting and beautifully-written Hoeg masterpiece:
Fourteen-year-old Peter Hoeg is a "misfit," a "borderliner" who doesn't fit in with what society deems his "normal" peers. Children like Peter require special "treatment" which can only be adequately rendered in special types of institutions where brutal stringencies are enforced. Thus, Peter spends much of his young life being shuffled from one orphanage to another. He ultimately winds up at the Biehl Academy, a monstrosity of an institution. There he becomes subjected to the harsh rules and regulations which outline the secret experimentations being conducted there-- all for his own good, mind you. At Biehl, Peter becomes involved with Katarina and August, two other "misfit borderliners" who are being guinea-pigged there under the guise of rehabilitation. Despite the academy's strict protocol, which forcefully discourages socialization among the three, Peter, Katarina, and August clandestinely form a tight-knit friendship which will defy the academy's administrators. Together, under the watchful, reprimanding eyes of their "captives," the three children embark on a strategic plan to escape the insufferable conditions in which they live, only to meet up with an unexpected and horrifying tragedy. Hoeg's first novel, "Smilla's Sense of Snow," helped to underline my suspicions that this, too, would be a fantastic novel. And my hunch was right on target. "Borderliners" is another beautifully-written Hoeg masterpiece! It's only rare that a writer can so masterfully create on paper characters so believably real that it feels as if you've known them all your life. I could almost reach out and touch Hoeg's children as if they were sitting right here beside me. And never before have I been so poignantly touched by the emotional pains residing inside of a child's heart. Hoeg brilliantly illustrates the full gamut of emotions exerienced by the orphans--their pains and their struggles, their hopes and dreams. I actually cried at certain parts in the book. It's obvious the amount of research Hoeg puts into his novels. While snow and ice set the theme for "Smilla's Sense of Snow," the subject of time prevails in "Borderliners." It mustn't be easy trying to weave such complex strands of non-fiction into the work of an "autobiographical" thriller, yet Hoeg blends the two genres quite amicably. One complaint I have with this book, however, is Hoeg's incessant rambling in Part 3 about the concepts of time. Though his thoughtful discussions on linear and circular time is bound to titillate the interest of any fan of philosophy, I personally think the book could have done without most of its discussion. But having said this, one must take into consideration that Hoeg's style of writing dictates overly-descriptive passages-- that's just the way he writes and you either like it or you don't. This book is a must for anyone interested in the problems created by social reform and child abuse. "Borderliners" is an accurate depiction of what happens when meddling authorities attempt to control and manipulate human behavior. Two thumbs up for this outstanding book!