Hello! When I started George Orwell’s “1984” it was to finally read an important classic. It is a dystopia, where the smell of cooked cabbage hangs over a dark, totalitarian world. But the people were also so nasty! Side characters are depicted as frog-like and beetle-like, and the neighbor, Mr. Parsons, is so sweaty throughout that he practically drips. A bit much or, Mr. Orwell? I complained to Reading Club queen Christine Lossius Thorin, who exclaimed: – Yes, but that’s how it is in old books! Christine has previously had reading circles on radio with both “Kristin Lavransdatter” and “Brødrene Karamasov”, and both times the character descriptions have become a theme for her and the listeners: – I remember Stinke-Lisa from Dostoevsky, a short lady with a stiff and dull expression to an idiot. Her hair looked like sheep’s wool and it looked like she was wearing a black furry hat. You will never find such a description in a modern Norwegian novel. Why not? Were people perhaps uglier before tooth brushing, deodorant, combs and make-up, or was it cool to write badly about people? I contacted a bunch of friends who have knowledge of literary history, who had several theories to offer. I have also created a brand new task for you, and then we look forward to the nobeluka. Do you have the coffee ready? – Feel free to have a chat! Janne Stigen Drangsholt, English professor and classics guru, answered my inquiry when I pressed send. Photo: Janne Stigen Drangshold /Snapchatfilter She has recently been an expert guest in the Reading Club and has George Orwell very far in her mind. Janne says that in 1937 Orwell wrote an essay called “The Road to Wigan Pier” which gained great importance. Orwell was a middle-class socialist and went to visit the working class in northern England to experience for himself the miserable conditions they lived under. He described in detail the dirty miners, the smell of urinals under the breakfast table and greasy food that led to physical decay. Orwell wanted to encourage the improvement of living conditions, but was also perceived as condescending. Perhaps some of the inspiration for portraying proletarians and party members in “1984” comes from these experiences? “1984” was written in 1948, and is relatively new. Actually, it is 19th-century literature that is best known for grotesque depictions of characters, says Janne. She believes it is connected to the large movement to the cities: – In the countryside you know everyone, while in the city everyone is a stranger, and you have to judge people by their appearance. Before Freud and modern psychology, it was believed that you could tell from people who were villains. Thus it became important for your own safety to stay away from the ugly ones. This is reflected in the literature. Bjørn Alex Herrman is a super translator and well versed in new as well as classic literature. Photo: Bastianprisen/Snapchatfilter He is responsible for the new Norwegian edition of “1984”, where we find, for example, this sentence: He was a fat, but energetic man and cripplingly stupid, a lump of imbecile enthusiasm … Bjørn Orwell thinks he is leaving on a little extra to take us into the claustrophobic world of “1984”: – The main character Winston experiences people and society as uncomfortably intrusive, so the descriptions of people are colored by Winston. The only two who are not portrayed as repulsive are Julia and O’Brian, to whom Winston is attracted. Now let’s not pretend that it’s only English writers who enjoy long descriptions. Bjørn singles out Aksel Sandemose as a Norwegian writer who is good at naughty portrayals, with a favorite quote from “Det svundne er en drøm” (1944): The man at the door was a young man with a gaping face. When he was going on a trip, he had tried to cut his hair. It looked like the horse back home had licked him goodbye. He picked his nose and looked aggrieved at what he found. That hairstyle is so funny described! Why don’t writers write like that anymore? The translator has two theories. In one, we have simply become prettier. Or monotonous, as he wants to call it: – Today’s prosperity makes people (especially younger ones) look as if they are cast in plastic, according to the same template and free of distinctive features. I have to agree. Sometimes I don’t see a difference between the individuals in a girl group, since they have identical hair, make-up, clothes and look the same. Or it is just literature that has turned against itself, speculates Oversetter-Bjørn: – Perhaps today’s authors write less poetry, and rather revolve around themselves and their own. There is thus less basis for coloring the person descriptions. We cannot talk about bad character traits without a trip to French literature. French professor Gro Bjørnerud Mo is actually enjoying the autumn holidays at a cafe table in Paris, as it should be, but answers kindly. Photo: Gro Bjørnerud Mo / Snapchatfilter Not unexpectedly, beauty is associated with love and the feminine in French literature. The ugly thus becomes the opposite of love. And then Gro writes: – The beautiful is often abstract. The ugly is described in detail. And it’s true! Beauty is often a little bland. She looked like a rose, bladibla. It is when writers describe defects that they glut themselves in detail. Gro highlights Balzac as a writer who uses the ugly as entertainment. Here from the novel “Eugénie Grandet” (1833):
[ …] Grand [var] a man about five feet, stocky and square, with ankles twelve inches in circumference, broad shoulders, and knobby knees. [ …] At the end of his thick nose he had a blood-filled wart which people rightly said was full of cunning. A bloody wart! You don’t find something like that in books after the 2000s, and suddenly I miss it a little. Eirik Vassenden is a professor of Nordic and something as rare as a Bergen who speaks so softly that I sometimes struggle to hear him. But the email arrives quickly: – Hello! Photo: Eirik Vassenden Eirik says today we have less acceptance for depicting people’s deviant features. With that, we have lost a certain satirical potential. He singles out the novel “Siste kapitel” (1923) by Hamsun, which fills up a sanatorium with outcast figures. Among other things, we meet the overweight Mrs. Ruben: … so wide that she could hardly fit through the door to her room [ …] immeasurably thick and heavy blasted [ …] caused by Fett … Fatshaming is not as popular today, but Hamsun is just as merciless with the thin ones. According to Eirik, the Nobel Prize winner is known for being rude to his people. He believes that the modern world is so full of images that it has changed books: – One theory is that the visual in literature has lost its power in an age where visual media illuminate us around the clock with their hyper-sharp, high-resolution images. Surrounded by HD images and retouched photos, the imaginative descriptions in the literature have completely succumbed. – When was the last time you read a description of a face in a contemporary novel? How many squinting glances, snorting wide noses, greasy lips and bearded hanging mouths do we find in an average contemporary novel? Not that many, no. I cannot write about bad characters without mentioning Charles Dickens. The 19th century author who set his stories in London’s slums is notorious for his tainted characters. Photo: Agnete Brun/Uglybooth filter I’m calling Hilde Østbye, who is currently writing the novel “Jeg elsker Dickens”, based on a real-life meeting between Dickens and HC Andersen. She has a lot on her mind: – Writers in the 19th century in particular portray people as ugly on the outside because they thought they were ugly on the inside. The Greco-Roman physician Claudius Galenos divided people into types according to which body fluid dominated them, and such a way of thinking still lingered. We talk a bit about what people actually looked like in the 19th century, with limited access to water and soap, and Hilde reminds me that people also walked around with untreated diseases, such as cancerous tumors and leprosy. But in this same world, HC Andersen writes a fairy tale about an ugly duckling who turns out to be a beautiful swan. In “David Copperfield”, Dickens bases one of his most famous villains, Uriah Heep, on the Danish author, says Hilde. When the carriage stopped, I caught a glimpse of a ghostly pale face in a small window on the first floor. [ …] He was lean and bony, and his hands were long, thin, and skeletal. HC Andersen was tall and thin and could not be called handsome. He was bullied at school for his looks. Self-portrait of HC Andersen suggests that he himself did not think he was particularly great. Photo: Wiki Commons Hilde has lost her sense of Dickens’s infamous descriptions after she has studied him more closely. – Dickens kicks down and slaps up. He is racist and misogynistic. Fortunately, there are writers from the same period who write contrary to the ideal of beauty, says Hilde. – Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” are about ugly beings who come into the world with pure, innocent souls, but are judged by other people around them because of their appearance. Competition! Folks, here’s a little challenge. In a small text chat between friends, seven well-known book titles are hidden. Do you know the names of the six authors who have written these Norwegian novels? RRoger:RogerOut and steal horses?MMiriam:Miriam no and again noRRoger:RogerListen here, a! We’re not here to have funMMiriam:MiriamBe kind to the animals ❤️RRoger:RogerThey call me the wolf 🐺MMiriam:MiriamHe who is very strong must also be very kind Send me a reply at [email protected]. Ten people with everything correct will receive Bokbrevet’s bookmark in the post. A look ahead The Nobel Prize comes every year like Christmas Eve, and next week the winners in all categories are announced. We have had planning meetings, but for the literature group at news it is difficult to build up the great excitement after the Jon Fosse ecstasy from last year. I have never had so many feelings about a prize winner in literature before Photo: Robert Rønning / news The celebration of the Norwegian Nobel prize has been going on for almost a whole year, with minute-by-minute broadcasts and events all over the country. Right now I’m betting on who wins this year. Several of my favorites are out of date anyway because they are Western European, American or Canadian, all areas that have recently received awards. Should the Japanese Murakami win, we will all cheer, but he is probably too popular for the Swedish Academy’s taste. By next Thursday, I will pull myself together and meet with an open and curious mind. I promise. Otherwise, I put the cloths into understanding the United States, this country in the west that we thought we understood and loved. I have a bunch of new Norwegian books about American society and politics on my bedside table, and I’m a little curious about Melania Trump’s autobiography, which is on its way out to the public. Hope to find some goodies to share with you! Comment What do you think about character descriptions in books? Do you appreciate an inventive and naughty characterization in a classic, or do you prefer today’s “gentler” literature? Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue Published 05.10.2024, at 08.13 Updated 05.10.2024, at 09.54
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Book letter #40 Why are people ugly in old books – Siss Vik’s book letter
