In what year was Boy on the Edge, by Fridrik Erlings, set? You wouldn’t know based solely on the text. There’s no mention of modern technology, and the setting is so isolated that it’s entirely possible that the paucity of high-tech gadgets is a result of the story’s remote locale. In fact, in my humble opinion, the book could’ve been set anytime in the past hundred-plus years. The story is entirely place-dependent, with the forbidding landscape dominating large swaths of the story — the escape plan, Ollie’s near death, the party on the cliff, the comings and goings of domesticated animals, and even the pastoral rhythms of the respective characters’ daily lives. If I had to write a paper on this book, my thesis statement would be centered on how place is oftentimes the root matter of identity; and I’d probably posit that Oswald’s fanaticism is propelled, in part, by his surroundings. So, what is this cruel landscape like? Well, based on my imagination and some time on Google images, I put some evidence together. My big question: Is Boy on the Edge, in part, another example of environmental determinism?

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/cliffs-of-lava-rock-at-the-djupalon-in-iceland-picture-id590432953?s=170667a

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/crevice-mosscovered-lava-and-rocks-in-the-sea-reykjanes-iceland-picture-id501884503?s=170667a

http://traverseearth.com/icelandic-farm-myvatn/

http://www.feedmywanderlust.com/travelogue/iceland