Horowitz, a New York Jew, widower, and former Marine who saw action in Korea, has not long begun a new life in Norway, courtesy of his granddaughter Rhea and her husband Lars. He is cranky and outspoken; Rhea would not be surprised to learn that he has dementia. But privately he is haunted by memories of his son Saul, Rhea's father, who followed him into the US army and was killed in Vietnam. Inside his lighted rooms he relives his days in Korea (he was a sniper there), visualises himself in Vietnam alongside Saul and his comrades, and has conversations with Bill, an old friend from his New York days. Horowitz does indeed have, as he says at one point, a rich inner life. Rhea, who suspects that her grandfather is talking increasingly to the dead, nevertheless accepts that he still has all of his powers of reasoning.