Hernan Diaz Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Hernan Diaz is a fiction author whose two novels have been translated into over twenty languages. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and published essays and stories in the Kenyon Review, the Paris Review, and The New York Times.

In The Distance won the Saroyan International Award, the New American voices Award, and the Cabell Award. Hernan also received a Whiting Award in 2019 and has also received fellowships from Macdowell, Yaddo, New York Public Library Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.
In the Distance
A Swedish boy wanders in California and finds out that he has no money left. Hakan was born in Sweden but relocated to America with his elder brother, Linus. It was a rural area where most people were used to living an impoverished life.

Their parents stayed in Sweden since they could only afford the children’s fare, who seemed to have big dreams of a better life in another world. Hakan looks up to Linus more than anybody else and takes him as his teacher and best friend.

The two boys are too eager to experience the new life on the other side of the world and can’t wait to reach their destination. The two brothers separated before the ship left England during the stopover, as fate had it.

Hakan boards a ship traveling to America, hoping they will be reunited with his brother there. Hakan decides not to lose hope and has a feeling that he will find his brother in New York, their planned destination.

When the ship docks in California instead, Hakan decides to travel across the continent to meet his brother on the other end. He foots to the east, moving against the great push to the west. Hakan meets criminals, Lawmen, naturalists, and religious fanatics on his journey in the vast expanses.

Hakan faces many terrifying obstacles on his journey, but the thought of reuniting with his brother once more keeps him going without giving up. While he learns about the strange land, he also discovers what kind of a man he is.

He keeps on growing physically and has no option but to develop his fighting skills which earn him legendary status as the Hawk.
The term is used for a bloodthirsty savage who kills people with bare hands. Those stories make Hakan more frightened, which drives him away from civilization and into solitude. Before long, he becomes a man feared, admired, and also hunted.

Lorimer is the first person to be kind to him in America, and when the man falls ill, Hakan realizes what he’s missing while comparing it to his love for his brother. He discovers his passion for science and medicine and likes practicing the skills he was taught.

Lorimer teaches him how to survive in the wilderness as he teaches him how to hunt and skin animals. He hopes those skills will help him reach New York and meet his brother since that was his primary goal. However, destiny seems to have different plans for him as all he wants is to survive.

During his voyage to the east, his loneliness becomes unbearable, and he starts feeling hopeless. He feels so good after making a friend since he has been lonely for the longest time and can’t believe he has been missing so much.

Hernan Diaz disobeys the conventions of historical fiction, giving a look at the stereotypes that fill people’s past and a picture of foreignness.
It was a competition initially, but by the time beasts understood it, they embraced it and lay down until Hakan woke up. Hakan always did this each time he spied someone living on the circular horizon.

Now he intends to go far from the cold after he had trekked to the south for many days. It’s a fascinating look into what it would be like to travel in a country where you don’t know the language to communicate with the rest and with no money for upkeep.

Hakan comes across so many people, and it’s only a few instances he’s lucky to meet people who leave a positive impact on his life. He also meets a mentor who teaches him about the natural world and medicine.

Hakan feels so lucky to get such life skills that he desperately needs in the future. He encounters challenging situations, meets odd characters, interacts with suspicious women, and at times finds love before letting it go.

This is a story of a man whose life and everything in it has gone wrong. He decides to live his life in isolation from others without knowing where he is. To make matters worse, Hakan doesn’t know how to communicate in English. He’s terrible luck and spends most of the book all alone.

Hernan uses extraordinary imagination and empathy while crafting Hakan. He pulls off one scene after another as his main character experiences a challenge that threatens to end his life but overcomes it. In the Distance is a beautiful and suspenseful novel with the best landscape writing history.
The author cleverly uses Hakan’s lack of the right language to communicate to increase the tension in the story. Hakan lives repetitive existence in the desert where he never sees anyone for many years, and words start to repeat themselves.

The novel is a clever take on exploring what happens when one’s American dream takes an unexpected turn. In the Distance qualifies to be an immigrant experience book.

Trust
Most people in New York have heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask, even in the roar of the 1920s. Benjamin is a Wall Street tycoon, while Helen is the intelligent daughter of unconventional aristocrats. They’ve gone to the top together and now have what appears as endless wealth.

However, the secrets surrounding their popularity attract a lot of gossip in the town. Rumors about Benjamin’s financial operations and Helen’s unknown source of wealth start spreading as the speculations near the end. How did they acquire such wealth, or was it just a fortune?

Trust is a mystery story where the author creates the stories of these characters into conversations to bring more tension. The novel engages the reader in search of the truth while still confronting reality.

Diaz is majorly concerned with the American0based capita

lism with a wall street setting and accusations of wealth accumulated based on slavery.