It is in two parts: the first is about two people who think they may have killed someone, and the second is set among Swedish conscripts during World War II.
The book focuses on anxiety, tension and absurdity.
Siri Hustvedt describes it as "a text in which the metaphorical and the literal mingle to such a degree that by its end, the two have merged entirely".
[1] The book was adapted for film in 1966 as Ormen, starring Christina Schollin, Harriet Andersson and Hans Ernback.
[2] This article about a World War II novel is a stub.