The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Merethe Lindstrøm's Nordic Council Literature Prize (2012) winning Days in the History of Silence, coming out from Other Press next week.
Lindstrøm, who just turned fifty earlier this year, hasn't been widely translated -- not even into Swedish, oddly enough; this apparently was the first work of hers (she's written more than a dozen) translated into Swedish, and now also English. Nevertheless, she's racked up a few top prizes -- and has notably appeared on the Nobel betting sheets in recent years (or also this year: betsson, for example, has her at 65/1) -- this despite the fact that, as noted, she hasn't even been widely translated into neighboring Swedish (not that the original Norwegian should pose much of problem for the Swedish Academicians). Worth noting: among her prizes is one from the Nobel-awarding Swedish Academy itself: the Norwegian half of the Doblougska priset, 2008.
Hard to judge, on the basis of this novel alone -- which many have called her best work. There's obvious talent at work here -- but as Jan Arnald wrote in his review in Dagens Nyheter, she's really pushing a particular envelope here: "Merethe Lindstrøm driver på sätt och vis den traditionella nordiska prosan till dess slutpunkt." So it'll be interesting to see where she (and many of the other Scandinavians) go from here.
Lindstrøm, who just turned fifty earlier this year, hasn't been widely translated -- not even into Swedish, oddly enough; this apparently was the first work of hers (she's written more than a dozen) translated into Swedish, and now also English. Nevertheless, she's racked up a few top prizes -- and has notably appeared on the Nobel betting sheets in recent years (or also this year: betsson, for example, has her at 65/1) -- this despite the fact that, as noted, she hasn't even been widely translated into neighboring Swedish (not that the original Norwegian should pose much of problem for the Swedish Academicians). Worth noting: among her prizes is one from the Nobel-awarding Swedish Academy itself: the Norwegian half of the Doblougska priset, 2008.
Hard to judge, on the basis of this novel alone -- which many have called her best work. There's obvious talent at work here -- but as Jan Arnald wrote in his review in Dagens Nyheter, she's really pushing a particular envelope here: "Merethe Lindstrøm driver på sätt och vis den traditionella nordiska prosan till dess slutpunkt." So it'll be interesting to see where she (and many of the other Scandinavians) go from here.