Tuesday 17 May 2011

17 Mai: Norway’s National Holiday

Norwegian flag

May 17th is the day Norwegians celebrate being free from Sweden (that would be us Open-mouthed smile) and in honour of this I thought I would post some ideas for Norwegian authors people might like to check out.

Henrik Ibsen: No list of Norwegian authors is complete without mentioning Ibsen. I read and reviewed A Doll’s House for A Year of Feminist Classics. It is the only one of Ibsen’s works I have read but I also saw a performance of The Wild Duck when I was in high school that I enjoyed.

Sigrid Undset: An author I have not yet read. One day I will tackle Kristin Lavransdatter. There was a read-a-long in 2009. Check it out for more information on the author and the book.

Jostein Gaard: The author of Sophie’s World (which I haven’t read either, but want to). It is supposed to be a good introduction to philosophy. I can actually remember when it came out and I have wanted to red it ever since.

For those who like crime there is Karin Fossum, Jo Nesbo and Anne Holt. I haven’t read Fossum but I tried Nesbo earlier this year and it wasn’t really for me, but others seem to like them. I will give one of his other books a try though. One of Holt’s books is sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

Zoe from Playing by the Book (which is quickly becoming my go to blog for children’s books) has some recommendations for picture books from Norwegian authors.

As you can see I have read shockingly few Norwegian authors. Do you have any favourites that I have missed? Please give me some recommendations!

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Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

From your list, I've only read Henrik Ibsen. But you forgot one of my favorite (Norwegian and ever) writers: Knut Hamsun.

A more modern Knut, Knut Faldbakken, wrote a great pre-and post-apocalyptic set of books.

I also like Johan Harstad (e.g., http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/hasselby-by-johan-harstad/)

and I've heard good things about Per Petterson (But not read him myself).

What a pity you had to "let Norway go" - they have lots of fishing and oil, don't they? ;-)

Anonymous said...

I really liked Sophie's World when I was 13. I am hoping to reread it at some point, now I can hardly imagine that I understood all that the book told back then..