The timing for this book could hardly have been better: In 2023, the best-selling and critically acclaimed author has both won the Aschehoug prize and been awarded the honorary prize at the Brage award. In addition, these are in all likelihood the last interviews Ingvar Ambjørnsen gives. The author has had COPD for the past fifteen years, and he is getting worse. This certainty creates seriousness and necessity in the text: Now is the time! Long lines Alf van der Hagen has held conversations with authors and published them in book form ever since 1993, and has gradually specialized in the long form. The recipe is simple. As van der Hagen says to Ambjørnsen: “I ask, you answer, I write down and edit”. As in a long podcast, the method provides room for elaboration as well as the opportunity to follow digressions along the way. van der Hagen masters the form well. Naturally, it helps that the interviewee is not only one of Norway’s most central authors of the last 40 years. Ingvar Ambjørnsen is also a distinctive person. FAMOUS BIOGRAPHER: Alf van der Hagen (tv) has published several conversation books. He won the critic’s prize for the conversation book with Dag Solstad in 2013. The conversation book with Kjell Askildsen was named one of the ten best Norwegian non-fiction publications from the 2000s in Morgenbladet’s, Weekendavisen’s and Aftonbladet’s Scandinavian non-fiction evaluation in 2018. In addition, he has written conversation books with, among others, the critic Henning Hagerup and Queen Sonja. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB The outsider who became a writer One of the things that strikes me most in the book is Ambjørnsen’s consistent desire to write. The will to live in line with the desire is strong, the ability to implement it is astonishing. He dropped out of high school and became part of the so-called free environment. Later he lived in Oslo for many years without his own place to live. He slept with friends and acquaintances, all the while working on a book project. He took odd jobs based only on how much writing time the money could get him, and found out early on that he didn’t want children – it was all about writing. There is no indication that this man would change course, even if he hadn’t achieved the incredible commercial success of the 80s and 90s. That the writing was successful appears almost as a bonus. Obsessed with publishing books Alf van der Hagen unleashes Ambjørnsen in fascinating descriptions of how publishing books became an obsession. Especially the immensely productive period of the 80s and 90s is exciting reading. In addition to achieving cult status with books such as “Den siste revejakta” and “Hvite niggere” which dealt with experiences from the Freeker milieu, Ambjørnsen wrote the popular youth books about Pelle and Proffen. Beyond the 90s, the books about Elling, the novels that became Norwegian popular reading, were made into theater and later into film. PELLE AND THE PRO: Ambjørnsen is Norwegian literature’s most filmed author. “Døden på Oslo S” with Tommy Karlsen and Håvard Bakke is an undisputed Norwegian cult classic. Several such “Buddy films” based on Ambjørnsen’s work have been popular in Norway. Photo: Bård Brinchmann Løvvig INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS: The “Elling” films took Per Christian Ellefsen and Sven Nordin to new heights, and not least to Hollywood in connection with an Oscar nomination in 2002. Here from the third film in the series, “Love me tomorrow ». Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB STONER COMEDY: In the film “The last fox hunt” from 2008, Nicolai Cleve Broch and Kristoffer Joner play two hash dealers who encounter trouble when they have to carry out their last, big deal. Photo: Filmweb An anecdote from the most productive period is indicative: Ambjørnsen marked the submission of a new adult novel script by sitting down at the pub and planning the plot for a new Pelle og Proffen book. “Didn’t you celebrate?” asks Alf van der Hagen. “Starting a new book was to celebrate,” replies Ambjørnsen. The agony of editing Ambjørnsen’s account of his family background and lineage is not as interesting to read about, probably because he himself finds it boring: These parts of the book could have been edited more tightly. In the same way, not all the books Ambjørnsen has written are equally good. Then it’s refreshing when van der Hagen is brutally honest, for example when they discuss the description of anxiety: I went into a trance as a child Anxiety is, by the way, a central review theme in the book. Early in the conversations, Ambjørnsen talks about a decisive experience at the age of 7-8, which puts both his writing and several life choices in an interesting light. He experienced falling into a kind of trance where it was as if the outside world merged with his consciousness. The voice of his grandmother, who called him down to dinner, was distant and far away. The grandfather had to carry him down into the living room, and he was jolted out of his condition. He refers to it as a separate space that all people carry within themselves, a space where the rest of the world with its demands and duties can appear as irrelevant. It cannot have been easy for Ambjørnsen to understand and process such an overwhelming experience at a young age. STAYED TOGETHER: Ingvar Ambjørnsen is behind some of the 80s and 90s’ biggest sales successes in Norwegian literature. He has also written several critically acclaimed collections of short stories and has been an active newspaper columnist for several years. The author has lived in Hamburg with his wife, the translator Gabriele Haefs, since the mid-80s. When he received the honorary award during the Brage Prize this autumn, it was Haefs who accepted it on his behalf as he himself was too ill. The picture is from 1988. Photo: Ole Christiansen / NTB He says that the incident has haunted him all his life. As a reader, it is natural to draw parallels between this experience and Ambjørnsen’s longing for freedom, his strong desire to write, and not least his experimentation with drugs. He himself draws some of the same parallels: The costs of all drug use, including large quantities of alcohol, have obviously been high. Perhaps the connection between anxiety and addiction could have been successfully explored more in the book. At the same time, van der Hagen’s open and relatively non-confrontational method gives room to see connections that provide new and very interesting perspectives on Ambjørnsen’s life’s work. Along the way, a picture emerges of a man who, despite periods of strong anxiety, has really not been afraid to go his own way. Ambjørnsen’s writing has served as a unifying force in Norway through depictions of often marginalized people. The books have had broad appeal and a unique combination of topicality and literary quality. “Wish me rather good luck” is a worthy summary of both the writing and a remarkable life. news reviewer Photo: Forlaget Oktober Title: “I’d rather have a good trip – Conversations with Ingvar Ambjørnsen” Author: Alf van der Hagen Category: Non-fiction/biography Number of pages: 404 Publisher: Oktober Published: 2023 ISBN: 9788249526796
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“Wish me rather a good trip – conversations with Ingvar Ambjørnsen” by Alf van der Hagen – Reviews and recommendations
