The Pros and Cons of Existing (Heftet)

Author:

Vigdis Hjorth

Norwegian title: Fordeler og ulemper ved å være til
Author:
Binding: Heftet
Year: 2018
Pages: 256
Publisher: Cappelen Damm
Språk: Bokmål
ISBN/EAN: 9788202583347
Overview Fordeler og ulemper ved å være til

This is a novel about a bright woman with irrepressible optimism and a belief that everything will work out in the end. She loves life in all its shapes and forms and does what she can to spread happiness and joy. No more grey days! Nina is a single mother with a ten-year old daughter and has just bought the old Grepan Guest House by the Oslo fjord, which has a dining room that opens straight out onto a private beach. Here summer nights are to be enjoyed and life's highlights celebrated. Nina's fascination for people makes her an unusual and perhaps slightly unpredictable hostess, but who cares? as she would say herself.


The question is whether faith and joy can stand meeting the real world? Is being optimistic only positive – or does it have it's disadvantages too? Vigdis Hjorth's novel is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

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Reviews Fordeler og ulemper ved å være til

"En bemerkelsesverdig god roman.(...) Språket tynes for alt det har å gi, og på sitt beste får Hjorth setningene sine til å gløde. Her er vindskeive og merkelig vakre bilder og situasjoner, som vitner om en forfatter som strekker og strekker seg."

Gaute Heivoll, Fædrelandsvennen

"Det er moro å lese ein roman som både er velskriven, underhaldande og klok på same tid."

Marta Norheim, P2

"Full av liv og godt littterært formidlet"

Torunn Borge, Klassekampen

"Lystig og grusom"

Tonje Vold, Dagbladet

"(...)og store deler av romanen hører med blant det beste som skrives i norsk litteratur i dag."

Kjell Olaf Jensen, Aftenposten

"Vigdis Hjorth skriver godt. Hun tenker godt. Dessuten er hun morsom. (...) Få mestrer så presist og vakkert å uttrykke intensiteten i fysiske og emosjonelle erfaringer. "

Maya Troberg Djuve, Dagbladet

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Author Vigdis Hjorth

Vigdis Hjorth (b. 1959) has over several decades been one of Norway’s most important authors. She published her debut in 1983 in form of the children’s book Pelle-Ragnar and the Yellow Building, for which she received the Norwegian Cultural Council’s Debut Prize. Since then, she has had a prolific and award-winning authorship, writing for both children and adults. She has won several awards in Norway and has been nominated twice for the Nordic Council Literature Prize so far, for Will and Testament (2016) and Is Mother Dead (2020).

Hjorth writes existential books about human conditions and life choices, and throws a sharp gaze at current topics in the contemporary time. With novels such as Long Live the Post Horn! (2012) she has made her mark as a fearless political author. Her big breakthrough came in 2016 with Will and Testament, which became an instant favourite among literature critics as well as a huge sales success. In this novel Hjorth writes about complicated family relationships, about violation and liberation in close relationships, and the right to own one’s own story. Will and Testament was nominated for the National Book Award and Millions Best Translated Book Award when it was published in the US and the UK in 2019. In 2022 Is Mother Dead came out in English, and it was longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Award. Hjorth’s novels have been translated into more than 30 languages.

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