The diary is the first recipient: “dear diary, you won’t believe what happened today”. The person who writes a diary must therefore have an acute urge to tell, without the ambition that it will all come together into one big story. Because no one knows what the day will bring, whether it will be brand new or just a sound that flutters by. In “Summer with Balder”, Øyvind Berg takes us slavishly through all the days of first May, June and then July. There is war in Europe and a dog in the house. We read about Balder’s eager rounds in the garden on the brink of summer, in the same breath as news updates from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Berg’s enthusiasm for the Japanese haiku poetry tradition. JUMPING HAPPY: Øyvind Berg won the Gyldendal prize for 2019, and was in great spirits during the awarding in Gyldendalhuset in Oslo in February 2020. Photo: NTB “Bergsk” Øyvind Berg is a central poet and re-poet in Norwegian literature. The unmistakable “Bergske” continues with this book: the filthy clean, down-to-earth and always fearless. The days bounce off with the personality of a wise and lively man. The joy of listening to someone talk about things they have experienced or are deeply concerned about cannot be understated. Not enough to get bored The diary’s free form allows for a mixture of different texts, which Berg has taken advantage of. Between descriptions of the weather and the daily don’t, he spies on with his own and others’ poems, anecdotes, analyses, references to myths and more. This way he avoids staying too much in everyday life. When Per Petterson’s journal “Mitt Abruzzo” was well received two years ago, some thought that Petterson had failed to breathe life into his dog-ridden corona state. OPPOSITE: In “Through Darkness”, Berg wrote one text every day during the three darkest months of the year. In “Summer with Balder” he takes us through the days in the brightest. Photo: Forlaget Oktober LATE DEBUT: Berg is perhaps best known as a lyricist, and first made his debut as a novelist in 2019 with “Roseromanen”. His first collection of poems “Directions” was published in 1982. Photo: Forlaget Oktober The life of Øyvind Berg is probably not infinitely more exciting, but the style is quicker. You can’t get bored. Berg has written a diary before, he. In “Gjennom mørketida” (2014), he wrote one text every day during the three darkest months of the year – in contrast to now, with the brightest – and even then the Bosnian war was an important topic. But back then, nothing was to be transferred from one day to the next. That is not the case with “Summer with Balder”. It is less concentrated in form and has more continuity and drive through several recurring elements, such as the dog and the war. Life-affirming Although the humor never evaporates and there are elements of both the grotesque, clumsy and surreal, it seems that Berg is more sensitive when he writes prose. If the inveterate and devilish violence in his poetry is not directly muted, it is in any case the close and observant parts of the book that shine in the memory. This is also how I remember his previous prose book, the debut novel “Roseromanen” (2019). Here, too, people turned towards nature, to see and understand more. Øyvind Berg is concerned with the essential – the important, and what has to do with beings. He does not see the dog Balder as his son, project or servant, but as a friend. He sees his neighbors, who celebrate a holiday he himself does not, as friends. He sees the worm, the poppy flower, the carp and the owl that eats the carp as his friends. It is pleasant to be in this friendly mind. Although, the book mentions a lot of unexplainable things. Dina Abazović is a survivor of the Bosnian war and knows it well, and Øyvind Berg is Dina’s partner and lover and knows her well. Directing yourself towards nature – which bursts forth with a desire to live – becomes a vital contrast to the trauma of war and the nearby wasteland. To embrace life is to despair of war’s total lack of respect for life, and it is to squat down in front of the pond full of frogs and let yourself be refrogged. news reviews Photo: Forlaget Oktober Title: “Summer with Balder” Author: Øyvind Berg Genre: Prose, poem, diary Publisher: Oktober Number of pages: 289 Date: 28.04.2023
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“Summer with Balder” by Øyvind Berg – Reviews and recommendations
