FICTION
BERLIN MARATHON In Geir Olav Jørgensen's new novel we meet Erik, who has moved to Berlin with his wife and children to study art history. He has always tried to be self-taught, but he has had to give that up and begin to study like everyone else. We follow Erik through a very hectic 24 hours in a hot summer in Berlin. He comes home from classes, goes into the block of flats and sees his wife sitting out, chatting with Rammstein the lawyer. He thinks she is behaving flirtatiously, but knows that that is probably nothing to worry about. She is faithful. Instead, he just goes out into the summer evening.
AUTHOR:
GEIR OLAV JØRGENSEN
From here on it's just one incident after another, and tending more downwards than upwards. He visits a girl friend, but feels that he has to go on further. He starts talking with a prostitute, but changes his mind. He meets a Canadian girl whom he just abandons in a bar. The longer he goes on, the deeper he digs himself into a hole. He accepts a drink uncritically. It is laced with magic mushroom and he experiences some unpleasant delirious visions. He ends up taking a taxi with the old man who gave him the drink. He floats round in the Berlin night with a steadily growing paranoia, and falls asleep on a bench. When he comes home his wife is furious and is about to go in to town with the neighbour Rammstein while Erik has to look after the children. He feels rotten, and is terrified of what might happen.
TITLE ENGLISH:
BERLIN MARATHON TITLE NORWEGIAN:
MARATHON BERLIN FORMAT:
130 x205 mm / 120 pages
Geir Olav Jørgensen is one of our most powerful writers, and the way he changes between close description and chilly assertions makes a strong impression that everything is unmanageable, even what we think we can control.
Geir Olav Jørgensen (1971–) dropped his psychology studies to travel the world for seven years. He visited 27 countries and nearly every continent. He earned his living as a street musician in Amsterdam and New York. In 2006 he made his literary début with the novel mono, which he wrote while working in an orchard in Andalusia.
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19.08.15 12:41