From a Norwegian master, a selection spanning his entire career, of his famously dark and gripping, bleak and haunted stories
Kjell Askildsen (Author)
Kjell Askildsen (b. 1929) is widely recognized as one of the
pre-eminent Norwegian writers of the twentieth century and among
the greatest short-story authors of all time. He entered the
literary scene in 1953 with the collection of short stories From
Now On I'll Take You All the Way Home, which received glittering
reviews in the Oslo press, but was banished from the library in his
home town, for immorality. It was not until 1987, after the
publication of A Sudden Liberating Thought, that he received
critical acclaim.
Askildsen has received numerous literary awards, among them are-
the Norwegian Critics' Prize (1983 and 1991), the Brage Honorary
Prize (1996), the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize (2009), and in
1991, he was nominated for the Nordic Council's Prize for
Literature.
Askildsen's dry, absurd humour is not unlike that of Beckett... His
short stories are packed with irony, and the dialogue is sharp and
expressive
*TLS*
Offers stark portraits of male sexuality and familial dysfunction
that are full of compelling strangeness. Lives surge through a few
brittle pages, suppressed loves and resentments threaten to erupt.
Characters are rarely isolated but their loneliness is palpable as
they steal time in the shadows. Names recur throughout the book so
the reader tries to connect people with events, but it's the loose
ends which draw you back to these taut dramas
*Independent*
Kjell Askildsen has a completely unique ability to write low-key
tension between people, razor-sharp and often chamber-like stories
that hit you with relentless certainty.
*Verdens Gang, Norway*
Askildsen, who has translated works by Brecht, similarly shines a
spotlight on his characters, and that light is alienating and
unforgiving, illuminating selfishness and stagnant
relationships.
*Literateur*
A master of the short story, Kjell Askildsen's unadorned style is
not so much concerned with the manipulation of plotlines as with
the manipulation of the reader's feelings and allegiances, with the
presentation of characters as people, real people, people so like
us that it's creepy, uncanny.
*Electric Literature*
Reading Askildsen is like falling in love with someone you know
will hurt you ... hypnotically alluring
*Expressen, Sweden*
One of the great storytellers of the human soul
*ABC, Spain*
Stark, minimalist stories, translated from Norwegian, about
characters hungry for more than life has delivered
*The New York Times*
Relentlessly weird in the best possible way
*The White Review*
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