Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost

A haunting tale of Arctic exploration, hubris, and the enduring power of the past.

From his icy grave on Novaya Zemlya, a 16th-century Dutch narrator recounts a failed expedition to find a northeast passage to China. As he becomes one with the landscape, he witnesses centuries of change, meditating on human hubris and the forces that shape our world.

History and fiction collide in this boldly imaginative novel, populated by real-life figures, Arctic wildlife, and transcendent shaman. Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost explores the unchanging characteristics of human behavior and their impact on a changing natural world. For readers of literary fiction, historical novels, and stories of exploration and survival.

Jonathan Reeder, a New York native and longtime Amsterdam resident, has enjoyed a dual career as a literary translator and performing musician. After many years as an orchestral bassoonist, he now translates contemporary Dutch and Flemish fiction and nonfiction, as well as opera libretti and essays on classical music. Recent translations include Cracking Skulls by Roger Van de Velde, The Sound of Utopia by Michel Krielaars, and Mathijs Deen’ s Down Old Roads and The Boundless River. Hailed as the “ Zen master of Dutch literature,” Donald Niedekker was awarded the 2021 Brussels Free University’ s Luc Bucquoye Prize, given for work that stands out for its unconventional and idiosyncratic nature. In 2023, Waarachtige Beschrijvingen Uit de Permafrost (Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost), won the prestigious Bordewijk Prize. The jury praised it as “ a scintillating ode to language and history, which at the same time astutely sheds light on our own times. A novel to freeze yourself to.”