Evil Flowers: Stories

by Gunnhild Øyehaug, Kari Dickson (Translator)

From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Present Tense Machine and Knots, a collection of playfully surreal stories about love, death, and metamorphosis.

In Evil Flowers, a precise but madcap collection of short stories, Gunnhild Øyehaug extracts the bizarre from the mundane and reveals the strange, startling brilliance of everyday life.

Across twenty-five stories, Øyehaug renovates the form again and again, confirming Lydia Davis's observation that her every story is "a formal surprise, smart and droll." The stories converse with, contradict, and expand on one another; birds, hagfish, and wild beasts reappear, gnawing at the fringes. A section of a woman's brain slips into the toilet bowl, removing her ability to remember or recognize types of birds (particularly problematic because she is an ornithologist). Medicinal leeches ingest information from fiberoptic cables, and a new museum sinks into the ground.

Inspired by Charles Baudelaire, a dreamer and romantic in the era of realism, Øyehaug revolts against the ordinary, reaching instead for the wonder to be found in fantasy and absurdity. Brimming with wit, ingenuity, and irrepressible joy, these stories mark another triumph from a dazzling international writer.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Short Story Collection, Literary Fiction, Adult

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Royce · Rating 5 out of 5]

These brilliant stories (essays/reflections on life) can be devoured in a few hours.

Here is an example of the exquisite writing, for an image of death, “when my light runs out into the dark like a small river.”

Simply beautiful and magical. “I had learned that miracles did not exist, other than in stories.” I, for one, agree wholeheartedly with Gunnhild Oyehaug (writer) and Kari Dickson (translator from the Norwegian language).

Please, DEAR READER, pick up this excellent collection of short stories and immerse yourself in the fabulous writing. Ordinary situations become bizarre. See “Mational Nuseum” or “White Dove Becomes Black Crow” to explain this. Highly recommended.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘— I stared into the portrait of Baudelaire and tried to understand what it is that he’s staring at, until it feels like we’re staring at the quivering marrow at the core of existence —’

First half held my attention more than the second. Pretty ‘experimental’ writing; quite ‘clever’ (almost too clever for me to fully appreciate). Ultimately, I think the ‘humour’ just didn’t work on/for me, unfortunately. Don’t have much to say about it, but am still keen to read her other books.

‘Ornamental grass is worse than hosta, a plant that many people fell in love with in the early eighties. — Disgusting, disgusting in the garden; some might say that I was an aesthetically oversensitive child to have reacted to something as ordinary as ornamental grass and hosta, but when I reflect on it now, it’s possible that I reacted precisely because they were so ordinary. But I didn’t like bleeding hearts either, even though the flowers are pink and heart-shaped and hang from the stem. The only flowers I really loved were snowflakes and lilies of the valley. — If one is fortunate enough to stumble upon a belt of flowering lilies of the valley in the forest just as the sunlight filters through the trees and touches the forest floor and the green leaves and the small white bells so everything is luminous, one might experience the same quiet but effervescent joy that one feels when one understands that the person one loves loves one back, and if one imagines sunlight on ornamental grass in the same way, one will perhaps see that sunlight on ornamental grass isn’t anything more than what it is: sunlight, ornamental grass.’

‘Unhappy endings drive us nuts, and we think that people who are let out a back door, without even knowing they’re being shown to the back door, should be given a prize. Innocent and full of expectation, they have until now believed that they were being shown to the entrance of a palace or something, and are not prepared to find themselves suddenly outside a back door, looking down at a sad gravel backyard and the ugly wobbly metal staircase that leads down to it.’

[Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vet ikke helt hvor jeg skal begynne… men altså for noe sprø greier! Denne novellesamlingen overrasket meg skikkelig! Den starter helt normalt med en ganske solid novelle om en ornitolog som plutselig har mistet den delen av hjernen som inneholder all kunnskap om fugler. Så i en av de neste novellene blir man introdusert til Analyseavdelingen, som kommenterer og kommer med endringsforslag til noveller de mener ikke er tilfredstillende. Til tider var jeg usikker på om det ble litt for meta for meg, med alle referansene til skriving og noveller i novellene. Men jeg endte opp med å helle over på den positive siden! Jeg leste jo denne samlingen rett etter jeg leste Kropp og sinn av Jan Grue, to veldig forskjellige novellesamlinger. Samtidig er de begge også veldig forskjellig fra andre novellesamlinger jeg har lest før, så de havner litt i samme bås. I denne samlingen er det også noen noveller jeg ikke husker like godt. Det var også flere veldig korte noveller i denne, så selv om boka bare er på litt over hundre sider er det ganske mange noveller. I skrivende stund gir jeg denne en femmer, nettopp fordi den overrasket meg og moret meg så mye. Har lånt den videre til Marte, og er spent på å se hva de synes ettersom de mister overraskelsesmomentet som imponerte meg (jeg har gjenfortalt flere av novellene). Så ja det er en utfordring til deg Marte om at du må skrive en anmeldelse

[Sunny Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. Fun and fresh

[Daniel.leser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastisk fortellerstemme, hvor du blir dradd inn og ut av novellene. Når du tror du forstår hvor forfatteren vil hen, vær du sikker på at forfatteren kommer med respons til forrige tekst, eller er det forfatteren som skriver? Det er absurd, morsomt men ikke minst en fryd å lese denne boken. Jeg er usikker på om jeg fikk med meg alt, men det jeg fikk med meg sitter igjen.

Hva skjer om en ornitolog plutselig mister all kunnskap om fugler, og når en eldre dame ligger på sykehus eller sykehjem, er hun egentlig så forlatt som historien først vil ha det til? Og hvordan staver man «Nasjonalmuseet» både i det virkelige liv og drømmeverdenen.

Har aldri lest Øyehaug før, men nå vil jeg lese mer, anbefales på det sterkeste!

[Marte Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mar har etterspurt en anmeldelse, så her kommer den.

Disse novellene føltes ut som å tenke. Det bare flyter og alt gir mening selv om det er rart og absurd og tullete. Det var veldig deilig. Samtidig var det ingen av novellene som rørte meg. Men trenger man å bli rørt for at det skal være bra? Jeg tror ikke det. Jeg likte de alle sammen ganske godt.

[Else Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mange veldig gode noveller, men et par som ble litt for meta for meg. Alt i alt en god novellesamling.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Länge sen man läste nåt som var en ren fröjd att läsa, men nu är vi alltså här!! Øyehaug tycker att det är skitkul att skriva and it shows. What a ride alltså

[Vemund Knudsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Øyehaug har framleis ikkje skrive meisterverket eller den boka som tek ho frå å vera jamnt over skikkeleg god til å vera den aller beste. Men ho er ikkje langt frå å vera det.

[Åsmund Ådnøy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Det er mye smerte i det norske folk", sa min tidligere kollega Aud Jorunn en gang hun skulle oppsummere nyere norsk skjønnlitteratur. Det er presist sagt. Av bøkene som skrives skulle ingen tro at vi bor i verdens beste land, det er lidelse av alle typer, side opp og side ned i bøkene som skrives her til lands.

Det er derfor Gunnhild Øyehaug trengs. Jeg plukka med meg denne boka fra Narvik bibliotek rett før jeg skulle ta flyet til Oslo, og var innstilt på å sovne et sted over Dovre. Det gjorde jeg ikke. I stedet ble jeg sittende og fnise bak munnbindet, over Øyehaugs grenseløse prosa. Der størsteparten av norske forfattere står og depper over en øl på kjøkkenet, danser Øyehaug salsa på verandaen mens hun skyter opp fyrverkeri med begge hendene.

Drøm og virkelighet, tekster som refererer til hverandre, folk som oppdager døde menn som flyter motstrøms, en alternativ beskrivelse av Norden, problemet med do-fasilitetene hvis man besøker Virginia Woolfs hus og så videre. Det er alt her i denne boka på 100 sider.

[Gregory Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Magic. Set my synapses aflame. Øyehaug made me think, laugh, and left my mouth agape. So simple yet so brilliant. Questions of form, wild metamorphoses, a mixture of essay and short story, a desire to fool around, a fascination with the inability of perspective, it's all there (in a manner that perfectly corresponds to the vibe encapsulated by the cover). I want everyone to read this so I can talk about all of it. Brilliant brilliant brilliant collection.

[Shan C]

I was shocked at how much I loved this little strange book! Each short story is so unique. On multiple occasions I caught myself laughing or questioning things out loud. It’s somehow absurd and relatable at the same time.

[Ann Ingebrigtsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elskar dette!

[Annie • willyoubemybookfriend]

reading this felt as if i were blindfolded and being led thru a maze but the person leading me was intentionally letting me walk into walls

[Danielle | Dogmombookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like coming to all of a sudden and thinking you may be tripping ... 3.75

[Jamie Withorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d love to have a coffee with this author.

[Bob Lopez]

Some wild stories in here but some so short they instantly slipped from my mind. The writing is exquisite however, and I plan on returning to the author. It's a me problem, I understand, with shorter short stories, they tend to just slip out of my mind. I enjoyed the one about the three women that survived a plane crash and were about to eat a dead body, and the very first one about the ornithology PhD candidate who forgot about birds. There were a few interruptions that worked "on behalf" of the reader where the narrative voice issued an objection to the action of the previous story; interesting device but I found it...cute? I'm not the appropriate judge for this collection and will leave it without a rating. Fun, fanciful, extremely short, and almost immediately forgotten.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe something was lost in translation. Maybe the words madcap, bizarre and absurd aren’t actually buzzwords that I vibe with, though I thought they were. Maybe the problem is me. Those are all possibilities. But, there’s also the possibility that this was the most nonsensical, irritating, experiment of form and structure that I’ve ever forced myself to get through. I listened to it on audiobook and that was probably my first mistake. Finishing it at all was my next one.

I got actively angry listening to this. Because, what? Why? Huh? And now I feel like I was bamboozled when this showed up in my “you might like this” because you read Fruiting Bodies section on Everand/Scribd. The audacity! How dare they put this in the same category! Please fire whoever populated that. If it’s an algorithm fire the algorithm.

These are 25 short (sometimes very short) stories that honestly, I don’t even know how to describe. I didn’t know what the heck she was talking about half the time. There were unreliable narrators but to the max, there were criticisms of the stories themselves interspersed between them. It felt like stream of consciousness but if you were sitting next to someone tripping balls on the bus, insisting on telling you about their current fever dream. It felt like someone asked AI to write a book of short stories and have fun with it. Could I follow it? No. Did I listen to the whole thing periodically asking myself WTF am I reading? Yes. Could I recommend this to anyone? Absolutely not.

I’m sure there’s an audience for this book out there. I just don’t know who it is. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t want to know them. We are not friends. You can’t sit with me. Just kidding, if you DO ever read this PLEASE get in touch and explain to me what in the heck this even is. Because I couldn’t, can’t, won’t. This is probably going to be the worst book I read this year, maybe all decade. And I’m not sorry. (I’m a little sorry). ’twas just not for me.

[Bjorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alltför många historier slutar på det här sättet, och nu hoppas vi att vi har gjort vårt för att uppmärksamheten ska rikts mot det här, att saker och ting inte måste sluta på det här viset, att det finns andra slut än att pirålar tyst slingrar iväg.

Min första bekantskap med Øyehaug, och en som gör mig nyfiken om inte störtförälskad. Onda blommor är genialiskt lekfull och irriterande självgod omvartannat. Metafiktion som ibland slår upp enorma hål i litteraturens väggar och ibland sparkar upp samma öppna dörr flera gånger. Här finns några noveller - den om fåglarna, den om pirålarna, etc etc - som är bland det bästa jag läst i år, och andra som jag bara gäspar förbi. Fan vad kul att det finns författare som vågar misslyckas.

[Ian Mond]

See that cover. That’s what it’s like reading the barmy stories in Evil Flowers. The first story involves a woman who loses a bit of her brain in the toilet and promptly forgets birds, which is a bit of a problem because she’s an ornithologist. And that’s probably the most “linear” piece. It’s a short collection, so the stories are mostly vignettes, ideas that never (and deliberately) fully develop into narratives but are wonderful and bizarre and sometimes moving nonetheless. Metamorphosis, death, navigating our impossible, surreal lives, that’s what these stories are about. But basically, it’s just a degustation menu of absurdism.

[Dougie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is a collection of short stories, it is more than a short story collection, the stories lead on from one another and intermingle, repeating references and imagery from one another in a way that makes it feel like one long severely fractured narrative. I loved the interjections of the analysis department and their protests, the bizarre occurrences of slime eels and the strange way lightness mingled with sadness throughout.

[Seline Trædal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oppfinnsomhetsdronningen slår til igjen! Men samtidig ikke helt. Jeg forventet å like denne i hvertfall litt, men dessverre falt den ikke helt i smak for meg.

Jeg kan like den opprørske metafiksjonen hun bruker, og analytisk sett er det masse godsaker å ta fatt i her, men som sagt var den ikke for meg. Vonde blomar er fin, men svært begeistret eller imponert var jeg ikke.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Booklist.

[Alex Matzkeit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful weirdness

[Marius Paulsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

so fun, weird, and fascinating. i loved the way the essays interacted with each other! definitely want to read more from this author.

[Alecsander · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. An entertaining array of short stories. I have to admit some of it went above my head. I liked the twists and turns of the different stories and how they seemed to relate to one another - some in more obvious ways that others. I genuinely laughed at times. It seems like a good book club book where you can discuss it with others! Refreshing to read a book in Nynorsk as well!


Thank you, Royce, for recommending this to me! 😁

[Victoria Nolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection of short stories that tie together beautifully. I loved the themes and overall rhythm of ‘Evil Flowers’. Will likely revisit, and already recommended to a friend.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting style of narration, but the stories themselves were definitely NOT my cup of tea…

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were clever. Lovely writing, strange concepts, clever connections between each story.