3 Norwegian authors

[hdw]

I look like having a busy time at the upcoming Edinburgh Book Festival (the marquees are now going up in Charlotte Square). Apart from having bought tickets for several sessions, I've been invited to a reception for the 8 Swedish writers coming over, and today - to my surprise - I got another invite to meet 3 Norwegian authors at a reception on 26th August.

They are Karl O. Knausgaard, Lars Saabye Christensen and Gunnar Staalesen. I have to admit I'm not well up on modern Norwegian fiction. Are these guys big guns?

Harry

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by hdw

Lars Saabye Christensen

I would say this one is a big gun, from the outsider's perspective. He has plenty of novels in translation (published by Arcadia Books) and has featured regularly on long/shortlists of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize over the years. His novel Beatles, recently out in English, was apparently voted the 'Best' Norwegian book of the last twenty-five years.

Haven't read Karl O. Knausgaard, but I do remember Tom (at A Common Reader) disliking his novel, A Time To Every Purpose Under Heaven. And, as for Staaleson, I've not heard of him.

[hdw]

Originally Posted by Stewart

And, as for Staaleson, I've not heard of him.

Here he is -

Gunnar Staalesen, b. 1947. Bergen, Norway. Cand. philol., University of Bergen, 1976 (Master's in English, minors in French and Literature). Information secretary for Den Nationale Scene 1972-73 and 1976-87. Now a full-time author.

Although born and raised in Bergen, in a city where such things are important I unfortunately cannot boast of being anything more than a first-generation Bergenser. I don't even have Sunnfjord blood in my veins. My father, a lector in higher education, came from Haugesund, and my mother, a nurse, was from Fredrikstad. As an author, I am nevertheless grateful that destiny deposited me in Bergen, this city which imprints itself on the soul: more landscape than city; as much weather and nature as streets and alleys.

During the most significant part of my childhood, from six to sixteen, I lived in Nordnes, a central part of the city built on a peninsula that juts out into Byfjorden. I have therefore always considered myself a "Nordnesgutt". What impressed me most in my childhood was playing in World War II ruins: Nordnes was one of the areas of Bergen hardest struck by both coastal bombing and the great ammunitions explosion of April 20, 1944. Only in the beginning of the sixties were these areas rebuilt; the war was a constant and vivid presence for those of us who grew up there.

I began to write already at the age of 12 or 13. I was a bookworm who plowed through the shelves of Bergen Public Library's children's section until I'd left no book unread, and turned from there to the adult section, the literature of the entire world before my eyes ... My own writing came as a natural consequence of this interest; first as a hobby and something to do in my free time, later as a side occupation, and finally, from 1987, as a full-time profession. One of my theses is that most authors write books of the type they most like to read. I have always enjoyed reading crime fiction, from my first encounter with Sherlock Holmes. Accordingly, crime literature became the part of the literary landscape where I first and foremost feel at home. Nevertheless, over the years I have also made occasional forays to other waters: drama, children's literature and, from 1996 to the present, an extensive historical trilogy spanning the entire twentieth century, with parts of the narrative set in a special geographical place - Bergen.


Translated by Deborah Miller

[Stewart]

Thanks. I've taken that info and made a thread for him.

[kpjayan]

Here is a review of Lars Saabye Christensen's The Model

Words Without Borders: Lars Saabye Christensen's <i>The Model</i>

[Flower]

I love Lars Saabye Christensen and have read several of his books!

Look up "The halfbrother" and "The model" as they are the ones which has been translated into English, as far as I know.
-for those who read either Norweigan or Danish, I can highly recommend "Den misundelige frisør" (the jealous hairdresser), which is a collection of hilarious essays. One of the essays has been made into a film. The last time I checked, several months ago, I was not able to find this collection in English anywhere and have no clue whether is has been translated into German or French for that matter.

Harry, I wish I could join you to meet Lars Saabye Christensen and get him to sign my books as he is a great writer!
-by the way, which Swedish writers do you get to meet?

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by Flower

...which Swedish writers do you get to meet?

Flower, Harry mentioned them here.

[hdw]

Thanks, Stewart, I've just caught up with this thread again. I visited my local university library a few days ago and borrowed Lars Saabye Christensen's Amatøren and Gunnar Gunnarson's Edbrødre. Sometimes I like to correct my Swedish bias and read a bit of Danish and Norwegian literature too!

I posted on the Knut Hamsun thread yesterday if anyone's interested. It should be possible to read the Jonathan Glancy article online. It was illustrated with a fine photo of the new Hamsun Centre in Norway.

I've lived and worked in Sweden, and as a boy I had a week's holiday in Denmark with a school trip, but I've never been to Norway. So I was delighted, some years ago, when I met a long-lost cousin of my mother's in Edinburgh who showed me a medal she got from the Norwegian government, and a handwritten letter from old King Haakon. My mother's cousin played the organ in the Norwegian Seamen's church in Edinburgh for 50 years, and during WWII she postponed her wedding to play for King Haakon when he visited Edinburgh to meet Norwegian exiles there.

Harry

[Flower]

Harry,
You should go to Norway!

I have been skiing in Norway and it simply takes your breath away! Its so beautiful up there!

I shall look forward to see what you think of Lars Saabye Christensen! I havent read "Amatøren".