Jarl André Bjerke was a Norwegian writer and poet. His debut was in 1940 with a collection of poems, Syngende Jord (Singing Earth). He has written a wide range of material: poems (both for children and adults), mystery novels (four of them under the pseudonym Bernhard Borge), essays, and articles. He was known as a master translator, and translated works by Shakespeare, Molière, Goethe, Racine, etc. into elegant Norwegian. A central theme in Bjerke's works, especially his poems, is the longing for childhood.
Andre Bjerke er en gigant innen norsk litteratur, og jeg skjønner godt at han selv rangerte Enhjørningen som en av sine beste bøker. Mesterlig språk og en fantastisk fortellerteknikk gjør dette til en av de beste norske kriminalromanene noensinne!
Første gang jeg prøver ut lydbok (Storytel). Perfekt å høre på lydbok på tur med hundene eller under flytting slik som i påsken, og Enhjørningen opplest av den avdøde skuespilleren Knut Risan, som forøvrig leser opp på et elegant og behagelig vis, var perfekt for dette formålet. Det er det første jeg "leser" (hører) av André Bjerke, og jeg liker veldig godt enkelheten i fortellerstilen og hvordan han fletter inn flere interessante referanser som både vitenskapens Freud og kunstens Cervantes med Don Quijote. Dette er en spennende bok som setter vitenskapen og okkultismen opp mot hverandre.
P.S.: Jeg likte slutten godt! Ikke det mest oppfinnsomme, men det kom faktisk litt overraskende på meg.
If Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie decided to write a novel with elements of paranomal in it, it would likely look something like Enhjørningen (The Unicorn). It is cleverly written, partly crime, partly mystery. Unfortunately I don’t think it is translated or it doesn’t look like it here on goodreads at least. This was a re-read and it is as clever today as last time. The third story dragged a little and put it down from 4,5 Stars to 4. It is still a really good book.
Det ble smertefullt åpenbart at denne boka er skrevet av en mann, da Rigmor i Direktørens historie går i Oslos gater og tenker på hvor inderlig hun ønsker at noen skal voldta henne, og at hun i så tilfelle ville skreket av fryd. På tross av at man må huske at denne boka ble skrevet i en tid med andre verdier, så gjør det at den mister en stjerne i min vurdering.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. André Bjerke's 1963 Norwegian book "Enhjørningen" ("The Unicorn") could easily have been written 20 or 30 years earlier; it's the sort of delightfully old-fashioned book, focused purely on telling a story and telling it well, which you so rarely see nowadays.
The story opens with four men, a poet, a journalist, a businessman, and a psychiatrist, playing a game of bridge. During the game, the conversation turns to discussion of the weird and supernatural, and each of the men tells a story from his own experience having to do with the supernatural -- except for the psychiatrist, who doesn't believe in such things and tries to debunk each story (sometimes rather laughably unconvincingly).
The poet's story concerns a party held in the early 1800s at the house of a nobleman and his beautiful young wife. During the party, a sort of game takes place, involving a spell from a medieval spell book; at the end of the witchcraft it's discovered that the wife has vanished and is nowhere to be found. Flash forward to the present day, when the poet wants to write a play involving these events. He goes, along with two actors, to spend the night in the nobleman's mansion, where he tries to solve the old mystery.
The businessman's story concerns his daughter and her rather creepy doll, who seems to have supernatural powers. But this isn't your typical evil doll story; rather, the plot has more to do with the man's poor relationship with his wife and his affair with her young cousin. The supernaturally endowed doll's activities will have an unexpected effect on their love triangle.
The journalist's story is probably the most exciting of the bunch, though also probably the least supernatural. Fifteen years earlier, a shipwreck occurred under mysterious circumstances. The pilot claimed he was following signals from the lighthouse, but none of the ship's other crew saw the lights, and the pilot led the ship badly off course to its destruction. The error was blamed on drunkenness, but the journalist has a series of strange dreams that lead him towards the real sequence of events -- which certain people have reasons for wishing to keep silent.
The book ends on a light note, with a fourth "story", in which the host (the poet) attempts to prove to the psychiatrist the existence of otherworldly powers, when he claims he can stop a clock at precisely 3 o'clock, using only the power of his mind. It doesn't turn out exactly as anyone expects, and ends the book on an appropriately ambiguous and jovial note.
A delightful read, of which I enjoyed every page. Bjerke does a great job of balancing the natural and supernatural to craft a book that's believable and yet contains just the right amount of the uncanny or eerie.
Fire noveller som fortelles av venner på et bridge-party. Ikke stor litteratur, spørru meg. -svarteboksleken -alvedukken -krim i havgapet med fyr og månen som ingredienser -klokken som kanskje stoppet på 0300
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.