The Last Thing You Will See Is A Face of Love (Heftet)

Author:

Eivind Hofstad Evjemo

Norwegian title: Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet
Author:
Binding: Heftet
Year: 2013
Pages: 496
Publisher: Cappelen Damm
Språk: Bokmål
ISBN/EAN: 9788202419189
Overview Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet

Practically an entire community is described in The last You will see is a face of Love (Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet). Even the floor in a gymnasium is given its own tiny chapter. The narrative focuses on four characters: Roy and his son Aksel, together with Kjersti, who is an advocate for the handicapped school pupil Siri, and finally the head master at Aksel and Siri's school. We share their day to day lives as the quiet drama unfolds in a community sheltered by the newly-rich Norwegian state.

Hofstad Evjemo writes about the dreams you hold on to in places where the world seems distant – and about everyone sharing the hope that life will offer something more. But, as we know, this is also about a community: new spaces in it are opened up and you can get in behind the facades, go where no one usually goes, find new patterns and structures. Practically everyone is presented and has parts of his or her life described: the bus driver, the driving school instructor, the nurse, the headmaster, the pupils, and the local authority arts boss – even the Crown Prince, when he visits the college in the town to give a lecture on climate. We are given a roving, strangely realistic view of the author's dissection of a body of Norwegian reality. Everywhere, he provides sharp thumbnail sketches of social and communal life.
Eivind Hofstad Evjemo has dared to do something not many in his generation would try: make a community his subject and explore its social hierarchies. He writes in a charged, insightful language.

‘Eivind Hofstad Evjemo recreates life in Norway in 2012, down to the finest detail, in a major candidate for the title “the great Norwegian novel”. … Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet is the kind of book that will challenge the capacity of the delivery trucks supplying the book shops this Christmas.’
DAGENS NÆRINGSLIV

‘This is an extraordinarily well-written piece of Norwegian contemporary literature (...)Brilliant: This is an unusually well-written example of contemporary Norwegian literature ... Eivind Hofstad Evjemo has an excellent grasp of style.’
KLASSEKAMPEN

‘Evjemo writes exceptionally well, with passion, insight and credibility. He is also effective in his use of humour, without being crude or dull. We smile with the people in his narrative, not at them. The characters come alive as nuanced and believable individuals. ... Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet is an ambitious and successful book which stands out among other contemporary Norwegian novels.’
ADRESSEAVISEN

‘Eivind Hofstad Evjemo’s excellent second novel describes individuals and local communities in a maelstrom of ordinary life. ... His language, which is both realistic and poetic, allows Evjemo to show how ruthlessly time slices through communities and human lives. In this way, Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet forms a lucid image of a small part of Norway.’
DAG OG TID

‘Playful and serious… The novel tugs and tears at the facades and empty clichés surrounding success. It goes to where real human beings exist, closely connected with each other. ... In a time when writers compete in describing their own, personal life experiences, it is a delight to hold in your hands a novel which insists on describing the ways in which every single human being is sincerely connected to others.’
5 stars out of 6
TRØNDERAVISA

‘This novel makes me reflect on the ways in which we organize and systematize our society, and how we really treat each other in this country, which is always top rated on indexes measuring happiness and quality of life. That a book triggers such ideas in the minds of its readers shows that the text has taken a long stride in the direction of a socially engaged literature. Well done in these days of self-revelation and glorification of intimacy.’
VÅRT LAND

‘This is skillfully written. The result is beautiful.’
STAVANGER AFTENBLAD

‘Clever writing about local authority management … It follows that Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet is a witty satire, a wise story and sometimes so disquieting that the sum total becomes truly interesting.’
NRK P2

‘There is a longing in us all that Evjemo expresses sensitively in this low-key novel, which reaches its greatest heights when it takes the least things seriously. It is a humble and very Norwegian insight.’
MORGENBLADET

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More books by Eivind Hofstad Evjemo:

Reviews Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet

"Evjemo tar oss med inn i helt samfunn og gir livsrytmen og hverdagen ned til de minste detaljene, og alt sammen tas på alvor i et svært fint språk. Jeg kan ikke huske å ha lest en slik roman av en norsk forfatter."

 
MARI NYMOEN NILSEN, VG

"Som et menneske med dype erfaringer og med formuleringsevnen til en dreven forfatter, klarer 29-åringen Evjemo å skildre «Den norske virkeligheten» langt på vei slik den oppleves av mange av oss. (...) Evjemo debuterte i 2009 og fikk Tarjei Vesaas’ debutantpris. Den nye romanen kommer ganske sikkert også til å få priser."

 
Emil Otto Syvertsen, Fædrelandsvennen

"Eivind Hofstad Evjemo gjenskaper livet i Norge 2012 ned til aller minste detalj i en tungtveiende søknad til "den store norske romanen".
(…) Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet er en bok som kan utfordre kapasiteten til lastebilene som kjører til bokhandlene før jul."

Bjørn Gabrielsen, Dagens Næringsliv

"Empatisk prosa fra et lysende talent. (...) Evjemo mestrer å fylle det helt ubetydelige og det usynlige rundt oss med en uvurderlig mening."

Silje Stavrum Norevik, Dagbladet

Poetisk samtidsportrett

"Forfatteren har gjort research og skriver troverdig. Han er dessuten ikke ondskapsfull, men hans ironiseringer er rammende(…)Hofstad Evjemo blåser liv i flere karakterer som hver på sin måte kaver med å finne ut av sine liv. De med mest bagasje er ikke nødvendigvis de mest helstøpte, men forfatteren faller ikke for fristelsen til å beskrive de funksjonshemmede fjortenåringene som mest menneskelige. Snarere har alle personene dypt menneskelige trekk(…)
Hofstads poetiske skrivemåte fikk meg en stund til å tro at forfatteren forskjønner tilværelsen mer enn han har dekning for, men det stemmer ikke. Hofstad skriver dobbeltbunnet og dypt."

Atle Christiansen, Aftenposten

Strålende: Dette er et usedvanlig velskrevet stykke norsk samtidslitteratur.

"Eivind Hofstad Evjemo skriver aldeles strålende."

Aksel Kielland, Klassekampen

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Author Eivind Hofstad Evjemo

Eivind Hofstad Evjemo (1983–) studied writing at Litterær Gestaltning in Gothenburg, Sweden. For his debut novel Wake me if I fall asleep (Vekk meg hvis jeg sovner) from 2009 he won the Tarjei Vesaas’ First Writers Award, the most prestigious Norwegian Debut Prize. For his second novel, The last You will see is a face of Love (Det siste du skal se er et ansikt av kjærlighet) from 2012 he recieved The Young Critics Prize, the UT-award and Writer of the year from Trøndelag County.
The novel Welcome to Us (Velkommen til oss) from 2014 received wonderful reviews.
Hofstad Evjemo is as well as a writer, also the editor of the yearly debut anthology SIGNALER.

In 2015 he was listed as one of the ten best norwegian authors under 35, by weekly newspaper Morgenbladet and Norsk Litteraturfestival.
Rights to his books have been sold to Denmark, France and Austria.

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