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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For such a short book (131 pages) Ørstavik does something very clever: using what almost feels like a film device - dynamic cutting - to move between very short scenes in an abrupt and jarring way. Sometimes it takes a line or two to even know which of the two main characters we are with, and we might spend then a few more lines with them, or a chapter, before we jump back inside the other character's head. This technique ramps up the tension. Vibeke, a single mother believes her eight year old son, Jon to be in bed. Not checking on him, (and in fact not once thinking about him during the whole of the book), she goes out to a funfair, hooks up with a man and goes to a bar with him. Meanwhile Jon, believing his mother has just popped to the shops to buy ingredients for his birthday cake (he's nine the next day), goes out to play with a neighbour and is then distracted. You know it's not going to end well. I'm not always the greatest fan of what's quite a mannered and conscious way of writing in the northern European literary tradition, but this one I really enjoyed.
“… You’re a big boy, the dark’s nothing to be scared of. What you’re scared of is inside you. You’ve got to choose, Jon, decide where to invest your energy. If you want to be scared, you will be. If not, all you have to do is think of something else. I’m closing the door now. Sleep tight.” p 104
What a meditative and melancholic read to see out 2024, is Hanne Ørstavik’s Love. It is a poetic and lyrical dance between a mother and her son on the eve of his 9th birthday. Vibeke and Jon drift through a few hours across 125 pages, each taking a differing pathway, the confluence of each keeping them connected in a strange, pensive and lonely way.
There is a very sad overlay to Love, as Jon anticipates his birthday celebration with Vibeke and imagines the preparation she is going to, to make the day special. Vibeke, on the other hand, appears to not give Jon’s birthday a thought, completely absorbed in her own world, navigating her own needs. There is a searching in each, a son for his mother and a mother for another. It is melancholy, reflective, entwined with heartache, although this is a subtext as opposed to being front and centre.
Set in the northern most reaches of Norway, the freezing setting and atmosphere add to the chilling effect of love unrequited. Ørstavik does not give us an exact location, however there are a number of clues provided - north of Finland, Lake Storvannet, in the vicinity of Rovaniemi, Utsjok and Neiden. This is as remote as remote can be in Scandinavia and provides the backdrop to the remoteness that is felt in location, emotion, and desperation.
“When I grow old, we’ll go away on the train. As far away as we can. We’ll look through the windows, at fells and towns and lakes, and talk to people from foreign lands. We’ll be together all the time. And forever be on our way”. p7
What a meditative and melancholic read to see out 2024, is Hanne Ørstavik’s Love. It is a poetic and lyrical dance between a mother and her son on the eve of his 9th birthday. Vibeke and Jon drift through a few hours across 125 pages, each taking a differing pathway, the confluence of each keeping them connected in a strange, pensive and lonely way.
There is a very sad overlay to Love, as Jon anticipates his birthday celebration with Vibeke and imagines the preparation she is going to, to make the day special. Vibeke, on the other hand, appears to not give Jon’s birthday a thought, completely absorbed in her own world, navigating her own needs. There is a searching in each, a son for his mother and a mother for another. It is melancholy, reflective, entwined with heartache, although this is a subtext as opposed to being front and centre.
Set in the northern most reaches of Norway, the freezing setting and atmosphere add to the chilling effect of love unrequited. Ørstavik does not give us an exact location, however there are a number of clues provided - north of Finland, Lake Storvannet, in the vicinity of Rovaniemi, Utsjok and Neiden. This is as remote as remote can be in Scandinavia and provides the backdrop to the remoteness that is felt in location, emotion, and desperation.
“When I grow old, we’ll go away on the train. As far away as we can. We’ll look through the windows, at fells and towns and lakes, and talk to people from foreign lands. We’ll be together all the time. And forever be on our way”. p7
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Dit is de tweede keer op rij dat de Noorse auteur Hanne Ørstavik me sprakeloos achterlaat en een diepe indruk weet na te laten. "Kjærlighet" is een heel bijzondere en aangrijpende novelle, die zich afspeelt op een enkele avond. Midden in de winter, op een bijzonder koude winteravond, volgen we Jon, 8 jaar, en zijn mama Vibeke. Jon, die snakt naar de liefde van zijn mama, en Vibeke die snakt naar de liefde van een man. Het is de avond voor de verjaardag van Jon en Jon verlaat het huis, in de overtuiging dat zijn mama een taart zal bakken en cadeautjes zal hebben, zoals beloofd. Wat Vibeke echter doet is naar de bibliotheek trekken om leesvoer te halen voor zichzelf en vooral in de hoop een man tegen te komen die ze er vaak ziet. Wanneer de bib gesloten blijkt, trekt ze naar de plaatselijke kermis om er - met succes.- een man aan de haak te slaan. De kracht van het boek zit in het onheilspellende dat de auteur weet te creëren, het gevoel dat er elk moment iets bijzonder onaangenaams staat te gebeuren. Ook de manier waarop het verhaal is opgebouwd is ingenieus en subliem : we springen de hele tijd tussen Jon en Vibeke, maar je weet nooit zeker bij welke zin de sprong wordt gemaakt aangezien sommige zinnen in beide situaties kunnen passen. Dit creert een heel ongewone en intrigerende leeservaring, en versterkt ook het gevoel van eenzaamheid van beide hoofdpersonen. Hoewel hun levens gelinkt zijn, kunnen ze niet verder van elkaar staan dan ze op dit moment doen. Een hard boek. Maar ontzettend goed geschreven. Chapeau.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes