Snow and sleet and freezing temperatures do not bite the book industry. There, spring already starts in January, with a load of new books. Here is a tiny selection among the titles. Books worth looking forward to in 2024. They are about everything from Norwegian colonial history to the American publishing industry, and take us to South Korea, Ukraine – and Odda. Books by Norwegian authors Oil and identity TO THE CARIBBEAN: Marjam Idriss has written about a work trip to the Caribbean. Photo: Alf Simensen / Gyldendal Book: “Halft” Author: Marjam Idriss When: Expected in February What is the connection between the oil industry and colonial history, and between one’s own identity and historical events? A young Norwegian woman, Inge, has got a job at Equinor. She went with the oil company to St. Croix in the Caribbean, an island that was once a Danish-Norwegian colony. At the same time, Inge also has personal ties to the Caribbean – ties of the complicated kind. Atom and remorse RICH: Johan Harstad’s new book is a story about a lot. Photo: John Erik Riley / Gyldendal Book: “Ebba m.fl.” Author: Johan Harstad When: Waiting in April A paranoid spy story, a story about the powers of the atom, and a story about regret and death and waiting. Johan Harstad is back, with a novel that sounds as rich as the thick case “Max, Mischa & Tetoffensiven” was. Ingmar is at a nuclear conference in Warsaw when he is contacted by an American who knows things from his upbringing. Now my memory tumbles up and forward. About Ebba. With several. The family and brothers RELATIONSHIP: Marit Eikemo write about the family and the place she comes from. Photo: Agnete Brun / Samlaget Bok: “We are the Eikemo brothers!” Author: Marit Eikemo When: Venta in May How much history is there in a house? And what happens when no one wants to? Marit Eikemo’s 86-year-old father, Per, is the system operator in a four-storey multi-generational house with many rooms. It was his father who built the house, but when Per was only 14, his father died. Per became the oldest man in the home, with four younger brothers to make men of. Marit Eikemo writes about the family, about Odda – where she comes from, and about a time that is over. Financial poem SELF: Martin Svedman uses his own experiences when he writes. Photo: Cappelen Damm Book: “Finans” Author: Martin Svedman When: Expected in January Martin Svedman had a big impact with his debut collection of poems, “Når jeg drikder”, which was about his own experience of alcoholism. In “Finance” too, Svedman uses his own experiences, from the time when he worked as a civil economist in the French financial industry, although the action here is set in Norwegian business life. An unnamed guy in the consulting industry has ambitions and wants to move up and up. Then there is a problem that the company he works for starts to struggle financially. The Ice People! BEFORE THE ICE PEOPLE: Hilde Susan Jegtnæs has written about the time before Margit Sandemoe’s epic saga began. Photo: Paal Audestad / Vigemostad/Bjørke Book: “Son of the Sun” Author: Hilde Susan Jægtnes When: Expected in February “The Saga of the Ice People” is back! In any case, Hilde Susan Jægtnes has been inspired by Margit Sandemo’s epic saga, and written a prequel, i.e. a book about what happened before the series starts. An original choice, perhaps, for an author who has previously written “I founded the United States”, about the American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and “Gildra”, about a horse girl in Iceland. But absolutely original. In “Son of the Sun”, Hanna is born with special abilities. She falls in love with a chieftain’s son. At the same time, bad things start to happen… Selling books Computer games as a book COMPUTER GAMES AS ART: This book is about identity, technology and computer games as an art form. Photo: Aschehoug Book: “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” Author: Gabrielle Zevin When: Venta in March Can computer games work as books? The two million copies Gabrielle Zevin has sold of “Tomorrow…” may be the answer to the question. A boy and a girl get to know each other by playing Super Mario Bros at the hospital where she is visiting and he is a patient. Eventually, both become computer game creators. And colleagues. Friends. Or maybe lovers? Zevin shows that love and friendship are more difficult in the world than on the computer screen. But also that what happens on computer screens can be an important part of the world. French porn ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE: There is almost always a lot going on around Michel Houellebecq. Now he comes with a kind of diary. Photo: Cappelen Damm Book: “A few months in my life: October 2022 – March 2023” Author: Michel Houellebecq When: Expected in January Say what you will about French literature’s enfant terrible Michel Houellebecq – but it’s rare for those who follow on his (author’s) life! “A few months…” is a kind of diary, in which the Frenchman writes mostly about two episodes: In November 2022, he said that since Muslims so often use terror against “real Frenchmen”, ethnic French will soon attack Muslims. He received sharp criticism for inciting violence. In the book he says sorry. He also writes about when he recorded a pornographic film, which he later tried to get stopped. The experience must have made him feel like “a wild animal in a nature documentary”. Troubled love CONFLICT AND LOVE: The book is about love and the thirty-year conflict in Northern Ireland, The Troubles Photo: Aschehoug forlag Book: “Trespasses” Author: Louise Kennedy When: Expected in January Northern Ireland Louise Kennedy worked for thirty years as cook before she made her literary debut. This complicated love story has become her big breakthrough. A young woman meets an older man. Not only is he married. He is also Protestant, while she is Catholic, in Belfast in 1975. That means Trouble. With a capital T. All odds are against it. Nevertheless, they start a relationship, in a novel that was nominated for several awards and ended up on several British best of the year lists. Swedish curse FAMILY DRAMA: This is a family drama that spans several continents. Photo: Gyldendal Book: “Søstrene” Author: Jonas Hassen Khemiri When: Venta in January One of the most distinctive voices in Swedish literature is back, this time with a great novel with an action spanning thirty years. Three mythical sisters have a curse hanging over them: Everything they love, they will lose. Now the sisters have moved into Jonas’ townhouse. It turns out that there is a bond between him and them. But does the band also belong to the curse? “True crime” OLD MURDER: What actually happened in 1995? Photo: Kagge forlag Book: “I have some questions for you” Author: Rebecca Makkai When: Expected in January American Makkai made a big impression with her first novel, “The Great Believers”, about art, friendship and the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in 1980 – number. In “I have some…” he explores the true crime genre. Bodie is a successful film professor. Now she reluctantly returns to the secondary private school where she herself was a pupil to teach. When a current student starts digging into an unsolved murder that happened while Bodie was there, the past comes closer than she likes. Musical Nobel Prize winner INSISTERANDE: The pianist in the book sends music, letters, poetry and invitations to travel to the woman he has fallen in love with. Photo: Cappelen Damm Book: “The Pole” Author: JM Coetzee When: Expected in February The South African Nobel Prize winner in literature has this time writing a long story in which music plays an important role. A pianist is invited to Barcelona. He has a name “so full of W’ar and Z’ar” that everyone just calls him “the Pole”. Now he plays Chopin, to good reviews. After the concert, the aging pianist falls in love with a somewhat younger Spanish woman. In any case, he is particularly fascinated. But what does she think about love? Fierce girlfriend jealousy MORAL QUESTIONS: How far can one go to get what one thinks one deserves? Photo: Gyldendal Book: “Guling” Author: Rebecca F. Kuang When: Venta in March This book takes a dig at the American publishing industry – and the publishing industry loves it. Athena is perfect. Charismatic and popular, and a sparkling original author with a Chinese-American background. June, on the other hand, has no interesting, exotic background, and feels like a failure compared to her brilliant friend. A dramatic event forces June to make a moral choice. What does it actually cost to become really popular, asks Kuang, in a book about cultural appropriation, internet trolls and writing. Rushdie on the attack FATWA: Salman Rushdie writes in this book in detail about the traumatic events 12 August 2022, Photo: Aschehoug forlag Book: “Knife: reflections after an attempted murder” Author: Salman Rushdie When: World launch 16 April After having lived with a fatwa hanging over him for over thirty years, Rushdie was attacked with a knife in August 2022. Now he writes about the incident. What do threats and violence do to art? Rushdie has been forced to think more about the question than many. “Knife..” is about survival, and about creating even if you feel shaken. Ukrainian family saga UKRAINE BEFORE AND NOW: The novel deals with old and recent resistance in Ukraine. Photo: Kagge forlag Book: “The Museum of Left Behind Secrets” Author: Oksana Zabuzjko When: Expected in February Ukrainian Zabuzjko has written a family saga that spans Ukrainian history from the Stalin era to the Orange Revolution sixty years later. The journalist Daryna is the main character. She comes across an old photograph of a woman who was killed by Stalin’s secret police in 1947. Soon she unrolls a fascinating story about rebellion and resistance – at the same time drawing lines against similar rebellion and resistance in Ukraine in our time. “Crime” from Korea UNTYPICAL CRIME: What is it like to live with an unsolved murder? Photo: Bonnier forlag Book: “Lemon” Author: Kwon Yeo-sun When: Expected in February Cold Case in Korea! It starts with a murder, but this story is not a typical crime story. South Korean Kwon is more concerned with those who have to live with an unsolved murder hanging over them. A 19-year-old girl is killed. The police suspect two young men, but no one is convicted of the crime. Seventeen years later, the men are still struggling with the loss. So does the younger sister of the victim. Hello! I am a literary critic at news, with a particular interest in Norwegian and published fiction. Feel free to read my message about the historical novels “Xiania” by Lotta Elstad and “Skråpånatta” by Lars Mytting, or “Unwanted behavior” by Olaug Nilssen. Feel free to write to me!
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Good books to look forward to in spring 2024 – Reviews and recommendations
