noisedfisk

Naí¯ve. Super

2005.06.27

— Music

When you’re surrounded by a world you don’t understand anymore, when you feel disgusted by what’s going on around you, just ride a bike. Or listen to the Kings of Convenience. Or read this novel. Or maybe the best thing to do is to ride your bike to a nice park, lie on the grass, listen to the Kings of Convenience and read Erlend Loe’s novel at the same time. You’ll quicky forget about the bad things you’re experiencing. It will make you happy. Hopefully.
Erlend Loe is a young norwegian author, born in Trondheim in 1969, whose Naí¯ve Super is often considered as a contemporary masterpiece. At least in Norway. This simple novel is an original meditation about the life of a 25-year-old narrator, who quits university to think about existence. He writes lists, he becomes obsessed by time and whether it actually matters, he uses a fax machine to communicate, falls in innocent love with Lise. Such a simple language, such simple words, and yet complex feelings and impressions…
Don’t expect any typical norwegian atmosphere in the novel, though. Just let yourself carried away by the style, by those ironic anecdotes and start writing your own lists.

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