Novel 11, Book 18

Description

A highly subversive novel - about gambling with a comfortable existence - from the master of Norwegian literature WINNER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY'S NORDIC PRIZE 2017 'He's a kind of surrealistic writer... I think that's serious literature' Haruki Murakami 'An utterly hypnotic and utterly humane writer' James Wood 'Without question Norway's bravest, most intelligent novelist' Per Petterson 'Dag Solstad serves up another helping of his wan and wise almost-comedy' Geoff Dyer 'He doesn't write to please other people. Do exactly what you want, that's my idea...the drama exists in his voice' Lydia Davis Bj rn Hansen, a respectable town treasurer, has just turned fifty and is horrified by the thought that chance has ruled his life. Eighteen years ago he left his wife and their two-year-old son for his mistress, who persuaded him to start afresh in a small, provincial town and to dabble in amateur dramatics. But as time passes, this relationship begins to wilt and die as well. After four years of living comfortably alone, Bj rn starts entertaining a dangerous course of action that will change his life beyond recognition. This urge to gamble with his comfortable existence becomes irresistible, taking Bj rn to Vilnius, Lithuania, with Dr Schi tz his fellow conspirator, where he cannot tell whether he's tangled up in a game or an absurd new reality.

Dag Solstad is one of Norway's leading and most celebrated contemporary writers. Solstad has won many Norwegian and international awards, most recently the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize in 2017, and is the only author to have won the Norwegian Critics Prize three times. All three of his novels already published in English - Shyness and Dignity, Novel 11, Book 18 and Professor Andersen's Night - have been listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

In the intriguingly titled Novel 11, Book 18 Norwegian writer Dag Solstad serves up another helping of his wan and wise almost-comedy. -- Geoff Dyer * Observer * He doesn't write to please other people. Do exactly what you want, that's my idea...the drama exists in his voice, in his comments and views, and that works, it helps connect the reader to the story -- Lydia Davis Bleak, funny, brilliantly observed * The Times * Bleak, funny, brilliantly observed * The Times * Unexpectedly moving...a wry, fantastic book -- Books of The Year * Irish Times * Unexpectedly moving...a wry, fantastic book -- Books of The Year * Irish Times * Brilliant and subtle... What matters is Solstad's dedicated application to the mysteries of human conduct and relations that his town treasurer illustrates * Independent * Brilliant and subtle... What matters is Solstad's dedicated application to the mysteries of human conduct and relations that his town treasurer illustrates * Independent * The existential novel is alive and well... Solstad has a dry and bleakly comic style * Daily Telegraph * Solstad is a masterful investigator of human thought and behaviour, and, like the inside of anyone's head, this novel is in turns funny, mournful, quizzical and insightful. And a real pleasure to read. -- Jane Graham * Big Issue *