Taking Stock (Innbundet)

Author:

Erlend Loe

Norwegian title: Vareopptelling
Author:
Binding: Innbundet
Year: 2013
Pages: 136
Publisher: Cappelen Damm
Språk: Bokmål
Originaltittel: Vareopptelling
ISBN/EAN: 9788202409524
Overview Vareopptelling

"There were those who thought that Nina Faber should have won the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize in the 1970s. In her own careful way she was a fine poet, but never sufficiently able to find the rhythm of the forced political times; when others wrote about Mao, Nina wrote about marsh helleborine, the pattern in the wings of the dragonfly and about the weather in cities she had never been to."

Nina is an ageing poet. Thanks to an award she has spent the past few years in Istanbul, where she completed her most recent poetry collection, entitled ‘Bosporos’. Back in Oslo she settles in a cottage in Sogn allotment garden and awakes early, on the day that will come to be her last. She waits for the editor to call and share the good reviews. But it doesn’t happen. Everything falls through, so Nina decides to take revenge.

In Taking Stock (Vareopptelling) Erlend Loe writes humorously and ironically about publishing procedures, the mature woman’s meeting with a new age, and about how much anger and bile there is in a woman of a certain age, spectacularly revealed when she makes the decision to take matters into her own hands.

‘The novel Taking Stock by Erlend Loe instantly reminds us all of the author’s obvious qualities. He is funny! Who but Loe would have cared to write about a lactose-intolerant hedgehog? No one, no one at all. Only Erlend Loe.’
NRK

‘Alternating sensitively between rebellion and a feeling of great unease about our culture, Erlend Loe tells the story of a human being who feels that everything fails to be what it should, in her own case and in the world at large. ... The novel is at its best when it describes her general, existential despair.’
DAG OG TID

It has become a narrative brim-full of nerve-tensing humour; sensitive, full of excitement and humbling ... In this tightly organised short novel of less than 130 pages, Loe offers us a dense and detailed introduction to settings, times and to a personality losing its grip, and thus, Vareopptelling becomes an elegant account of the slippery slope into disgrace and breakdown. But, in razor-sharp literary dissections, Loe manages also to turn humiliation into more than a driving force. Although written with a light keyboard touch, Taking Stock is also a serious analysis of the logic driven by an excessive sense of shame.’
DAGSAVISEN

‘A funny, burlesque and grotesque novel about the poet Nina Faber’s intense anger and robust retribution after a cruel review ... According to my own inventory of his writing, Loe has written his best novel since ‘Doppler’- both are also comparable in focusing on protagonists above the ordinary Norwegian standard. Recommended!’
ADRESSEAVISEN

‘He picks settings that he pictures with precision, and his funny passages are light-hearted, easy-going and enjoyable. Characterisation is sparse but sharply observed ... The plot sweeps along, told in a lively tone and at a fast tempo, with brilliantly absurd turns of phrase. Towards the end. Loe completely lets go of the reins, with a quite priceless outcome.’
KLASSEKAMPEN

‘It’s really great it is, Taking Stock. A darkly funny little story that takes each turns tightly. Concise and suggestive. Stunning finale. Recommended, if you have an afternoon or two to spare.’
UNIVERSITAS

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More books by Erlend Loe:

Reviews Vareopptelling

"Vareopptelling er en roman som raskt minner verden om de åpenbare kvalitetene til forfatteren Erlend Loe. Han er morsom! Hvem ellers tar seg bryet med å skildre laktoseintolerante pinnsvin? Ingen, absolutt ingen, det gjør bare Erlend Loe."

Knut Hoem, NRK

"I fin veksling mellom opprør og ei kjensle av eit stort ubehag i kulturen skildrar Erlend Loe eit menneske som føler at alt ikkje er som det burde vere, verken med henne eller verda rundt (...) Romanen er på sitt beste når han skildrar den generelle, eksistensielle desperasjonen hennar."

Marunn Vikingstad, Dag og Tid

"Vareopptelling er fet, den. Den en en mørkmunter liten fortelling, det går kjapt i svingene, den er konsis og suggererende. Knallbra slutt. Anbefales, hvis du har en ettermiddag eller to å sette av."

Filip Roshauw, Universitas

Rabiat hevntokt

"Det er blitt en fortelling breddfull av nervekrympende humor; sår, spenningsmettet og ydmykende (...) I en stramt redigert kortroman på under 130 sider gir Loe en fortettet og detaljrik innføring av miljøer, tidsskiller og en utglidende personlighet, og slik blir «Vareopptelling» en elegant rutsjebane inn i forsmedelsen og sammenbruddet. Men gjennom sylskarpe litterære stikk gjør Loe dessuten fornedrelsen til noe mer enn en drivkraft. Med sine lette tastetrykk er «Vareopptelling» også en alvorspreget analyse av den overstadige skamfølelsens logikk.

Mode Steinkjer, Dagsavisen

"Han tar miljøet han beskriver på kornet, og harselasen er lett, ledig og fornøyelig. Karakteristikkene er knappe, men sylskarpe (...) Plottet rutsjer av gårde med kvikk tone, høyt tempo og kostelig absurde vendinger. Mot slutten slipper Loe tøylene fullstendig, med et ganske ubetalelig resultat."

Silje Bekeng, Klassekampen

"Morsom, burlesk og grotesk roman om poeten Nina Fabers heftige sinne og handlekraftige gjengjeldelse etter en grusom anmeldelse (...)
I min vareopptelling har Loe skrevet sin beste roman siden «Doppler», som også tangerer hverandre i helter som faller utenfor norsk normalstandard. Anbefales!"

Stein Roll, Adresseavisen

"Vareopptelling tilbyr et synspunkt på kritikerens rolle. Og den spiller opp til dans. Slik forblir Loe en av litteraturens fremste samfunnskritikere.
Og gjennom den komiske tonen forblir han min favoritt."

Ida Vågseter, Stavanger Aftenblad

Sprudlende Loe

Bøker som er både lattervekkende, underfundige og tankevekkende på en og samme tid, vokser ikke på trærne i den store norske skogen av bøker. Men, Erlend Loe har fått det til med «Vareopptelling». En herlig historie, som stadig drar seg over mot det absurde, men som likevel hele tiden holder fokuset på den gode og ikke så rent lite viktige historien Loe ønsker å fortelle. (...) Dette er en av de mer fornøyelige bøkene jeg har lest på lenge, lenge. Erlend Loe er tilbake i storslag. Løp og les!

 
Espen Selmer-Torgersen, Brabok.no

Årets beste bøker 2013

"Med den aldrende lyrikeren Nina Faber har Erlend Loe skapt et personportrett som er blant høydepunktene både i hans forfatterskap, og i det norske bokåret. Boka er dessuten et varmt forsvar for poesiens, og i forlengelsen også litteraturens, egenverdi."

Bernt Erik Pedersen, Dagsavisen

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Author Erlend Loe

Erlend Loe is one of the most beloved and popular authors in Norway. He was born in 1969 in Trondheim, Norway, and studied folklore, film studies and literature at university. He made his debut with the novel Frankly, my dear (Tatt av kvinnen) in 1993, for which he received raving reviews. In 1996 came Naiv. Super, his big break through in Norway and internationally. It has been called the novel of his generation. His novel Doppler, which came out in 2004, has been critically acclaimed for it's depiction of the modern man, and The Guardian named it 'Book of the Year'. He is a productive author, and writes books both for adults and children. His books about Kurt have been a huge success, and have also been turned into an animated film. The books have been published in thirty-nine countries so far.

He lives in Oslo and enjoys biking.
Awards:

  • 1996 Ministry of Cultural Affairs Prize for Den store røde hunden (The Big Red Dog), children's picture book, Illustrated by Kim Hiorthøy.
  • 1997 The Cappelen Award
  • 1998 The Critics Prize for Kurt Quo Vadis?, illustrated children’s novel, children’s book.
  • 1999 The Bookseller Award for L (L).
  • 2006 The French Prix Européen des Jeunes Lecteurs for Naiv.Super. (Naïve.Super.).
  • 2006 The French Tam-tam Prize for Fisken (The Fish), children’s book.
  • 2010 De Grote Jongerenliteratuur Prijs (the Netherlands) for Muleum (Muleum)
  • 2013 The Aschehoug Award
  • 2016 the Liv Ullman Prize
  • 2022 BolognaRagazzi Award - COMICS Early Reader - for Hvem rumpet brunosten? (Who buttocked the brown cheese?)

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Foreign rights
Denmark
Hungary
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Sweden
Turkey

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