Perhaps you have heard of Norwegian crime writers, such as Karin Fossum or Gunnar Staalesen. Maybe Jo Nesbo? If you are in the mood for something more action filled, you may wish to pick up a psychological thriller. Believe me, they are nothing like an American thriller, which seems to follow the same plot line over and over again. (The Girl…fill in the blank.)
Or, you may prefer a classic work with more historical value, such as something written by Henrik Ibsen or Knut Hamsun.
If you’re planning to read for Nonfiction November, there are several options, as well options for Novellas in November; I think it’s fun to combine reading events.
I am going to leave a compilation of Fosse works published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, with a much more complete list of Norwegian authors to come, hoping that something will catch your eye and you’ll join me in Norway this November. I’d surely hate to go alone.
A selection of books by Jon Fosse, awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature ‘for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable’, in Damion Searls’s translations.
Included publications:
Wow, from Japan to Norway, you did it!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have a look again at Septology.
But I see I have Pan, by Knut Hamsun (whom I enjoyed a lot in my early teens, in French) on my TBR. So I'll read at least this one. Happy to join you!
I have not read Knut Hamsun, so I’m glad to hear you enjoyed him a lot…in French! How wonderful that you would join me, I’m so happy. I’ll have to ‘work’ to not make this event all about Fosse and branch out into other authors. Which I will list soon on an official invitation to all.
DeleteM, my dear friend, you know I'm in. I love the sound of Norway in November :) Like you, my blogging has been in decline and I've been trying to figure out how to restart it/jump start it, whatever you call it. So, this should be fun. Especially since I've heard so much about Jon Fosse. I'm not sure what I will read, which is the exciting part. I'm going to look through my books to see if I have anything and if not, then I will have to definitely purchase a book or two :) Looking forward to spending time in Norway with you in November. xx
ReplyDeleteYay, Nadia! I’m glad you’re in, and you agree it will be fun. I’m looking forward to spending time with you, too, in this new reading adventure.
DeleteInteresting. I like you're doing a new challenge. I like Norway and my cousins are Norwegian and so I've been there a couple times. Good country to pick. I've read some Knut Hamsun & liked his work but perhaps I will try Sigrid Undset who I've haven't tried before. I will start to browse what the library has here for a possible read in November. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHow fun that your cousins are Norwegian! You will probably have a lot to add to our reading discussions. I’ve never read Knut Hamsun before, and I have Sigrid Undset’s Kirstin Lavransdatter on my shelf, but I suspect it would take me so long to read it I wouldn’t have time for anything else in November. Unless I started now?😉
DeleteI did a bit more research and I think Undset's Middle Ages might be too much for me ... so I'm looking at reading something more modern like Vigdis Hjorth now ... I don't know her work ... but our library has a few of her books ... :-)
DeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteI understand completely what you say about not having anything else to say about Japanese lit, I feel like I am stories about cats in libraries and bookshops. I'm also done with my AusReading Month after 12 years. I don't have the energy to continue with it. I also feel like a lot more bloggers are reading Australian writers as a matter of course now, so my job is done.
I've been enjoying my yearlong reading Orwell project and plan to do Jane Austen next year to celebrate her 250th birthday. But very happy fit in some of Fosse novellas in the meantime. Perfect - great idea - I'm in!
Brona, you perfectly summarized my feelings; cats in libraries or bookstores, for sure! Or, lots of “thrillers.” That said, Murakami’s newest, The City Of Uncertain Walls is coming this November, and I know I’ll gobble that up in January. But, for now it is time for something new, and I am eager to embark on Norwegian writers. How wonderful it is that you, Susan from the cue card, Nadia, and Emma will join me.
Deletep.s. Your Orwell challenge is a good one! I’d never read him before, and by the end of the year I’ll have read three of his works, which I surely should have read before.
DeleteI finally unpacked my box with books in translation a few days ago and realised I had more Fosse books than I thought. So I can chose from A Shining, Aliss at the Fire or Scenes from Childhood. Given that I try to read authors in publication order, I will start with Aliss and see how we get on.
DeleteI also popped your event into my latest Stories and Shout-out post, so we find a few more readers to join us.
Glad you are enjoying reading your Orwell books this year. I'm into my second biography which is fuelling my desire to read more Orwell too.
I've done some more checking - turns out that Scenes from a Childhood was published in Norwegian before Aliss (as Prosa frå ein oppvekst in 1994). So that's where I will start :-)
DeleteI though about revisiting Ibsen, I thought about some poets, but I will just follow your enthusiasm and read Septology or at least part of it. It is three books, after all, published over the course of three years.
ReplyDeleteKristin Lavransdattir is also three books published over three years. No need to read them all at once. I sure didn't. I think you would find interesting things in those books.
I wish someone would read some of Fosse's plays and tell me about them. He was for a period the most performed playwright in Europe, but I have never come across anyone who has read any of the plays. I would read some if the books were handy.
Tom, I could not be more thrilled that you are joining in, that you are reading Septology!! Fitzcarraldo Editions is publishing a special edition of it with their First Decade Collection (https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/first-decade-collection/) which I have asked to receive for Christmas.( Septology, not the whole collection.) It will all I can do not to re-reread it. In fact, I’m pretty sure I will, and branch out into Kristin later…At any rate, so very glad to have you along, and eager to read your thoughts on Fosse.
DeleteHi Tom
DeleteI was double checking the publication order of Fosse's books when I came across the Asymptote website that publishes works in translation. They have one of Fosse's dramas on offer - Death Variations - here.
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/drama/jon-fosse-death-variations/
I don't think there are any real classics from the Scandinavian Crime Fiction genre. Who cares, as long as they keep 'em coming! I just wish they would translate a series in order. The series tend to be progressive, so it is quite annoying to have to start with book four then find the next book translated is number seven. Apparently someone at the publishers' thinks that if they start with the best one, noone will mind that the reader has no idea what happened in the first few books, or the two in between. It can take years to read a series and thats IF they even decide to translate the entire series at all. By then I have moved on.
ReplyDelete