I have to admit that couple of nights last week I saw nightmares about Politkovskaja. But one night was different. During that night I woke up two times because I was laughing out so loud. My dream-life has always been quite wild. Sometimes I wake up because I speak so much during my sleep. Two times I have woken up because I have been singing so loudly and yes, I have also woken up crying. But it was so great to wake up laughing. All I can still remember from my dream was that there was Leena Krohn and I was telling her about my superpowers. One of my superpowers was, that when I was swinging I cold jump pretty far. We both thought that was kind of funny superpower to have.

This is why I think today is a good day to talk about some books that made me laugh out loud when I was awake. When I was sitting in a bus or walking at street looking like crazy person laughing alone. It's also good to laugh after writing so sad things here in my blog lately.

So, yes, little bit more about Erlend Loe.

I read his books "Doppler" and "Volvo lastvagnar" ("Volvon kuorma-autot"). Both books tell about Doppler, this middleaged man who leaves his family and go to the forest to live with a moose but they have been written in very different ways. "Doppler" is pretty much like "Naiv. Super." ("Supernaiivi"). Leading character could be the same person after couple of years and after couple of kids. He doesn't know what to do with his life but he realise that he doesn't like people so he moves to forest. Unfortunately world doesn't want to forget him. He has a wife and children and somehow he gets three new friends: old man whos food Doppler steals regulary, youger man who steals Doppler's dvd-player (and because Doppler asks so nicely he agrees to take also his son's irritating dvd-cartoons...) and one angry rich man who wants to arrange a brotherhood festival for all the world religions.

 

(Next chapter is only in Finnish because someone has stealen norwegian version of the book from library...)

Tunnit kuluvat, kunnes Greguksen keho jälleen aistii lastenohjelmien lähetysajan lähestyvän ja alkaa nykiä. Katso, isä, hän sanoo, minun käteni nykii. Ohhoh, minä sanon. Mistähän se mahtaa johtua? En tiedä, hän sanoo. En minäkään, sanon minä.

Jatkamme hetken ampumista, mutta huomaan että Greguksen into on hiipunut. Hänen katseensa on lasittunut ja etäinen. Hän käy kovaa kamppailua, ja minun käy häntä sääliksi.

Lastenohjelmat ovat alkamassa, minä sanon. Siksi sinun kätesi nykii. Kehosi yritää kertoa sinulle, että sinun on aika panna tv päälle. Tiesinhän minä, että se johtuu jostain, sanoo Gregus. Mutta missä täällä on telkkari? Minulla ei ole tv:tä minä selitän. Metsässä ihmisillä ei tavallisesti ole telkkareita. (suom. Outi Menna)

 

It's a great book, very funny, but also kind of irritating. I have to admit that somehow Loe's nervous and self-centred characters are more sympathetic when they are young. Middleaged men who leave their family because they need to find themselves are not so charming anymore, they are just selfish and childish. But Loe knows this too. Doppler knows this. He doesn't think that his escaping from his family is smart or high-minded but he does it anyway.

"Volvo lastvagnar" continues from where "Doppler" ends. It tells about Doppler too but the book is really different. In "Volvo lastvagnar" one of the main characters is writer called Erlend Loe. He plays tricks and talks to readers and brakes the way books are normally written. This is kind of irritating too. But everytime you think "well, ok very funny, we see you try to be very clever here" Loe writes: "see, I'm trying to be clever here". So actually you can't blame him about anything because he knows what you are thinking and blames himself first. It's a great book too. Maybe not a world literature classic but still a book that really makes you laugh.

And there's a picture!

Denne siden er i hovedsak myntet på Ingunn Økland som kommenterer kultur i den norske avisen Aftenposten. Hun er noen ganger litt sint eller skuffet for et eller annet og hun er særlig skuffet over at norske forfattare benytter bilder på kjedelige måter i bøkene sine – i motsetning til utenlandske forfattare som benytter bilder på spennende måter. Jeg (altså jeg som skriver dette) ønsker å berike teksten ved å inkludere dette fotografiet, og jeg er spent på om Ingunn Økland syns jeg oppnår den ønskede effekten. Alle som ikke er Ingunn Økland kan hoppe over hele siden, eller de kan, dersom de ønsker det, studere bildet i ro og mak. Det er et fint lite bilde av en fin liten fugl.

(Tämä sivu on tarkoitettu pääasiassa Ingunn Øklandille, joka kommentoi kulttuuriasioita Aftenpostenissa, norjalaisessa sanomalehdessä. Hän on toisinaan raivoissaan jostakin tai pettynyt johonkin, ja erityisen pettynyt hän on norjalaiskirjailijoiden tylsään tapaan käyttää kuvitusta teoksissaan – joka on täysin päinvastainen verrattuna ulkomaisten kirjailijoiden jännittävään tapaan käyttää kuvitusta. Minä (eli siis tämän kirjoittaja) haluan rikastuttaa omaa tekstiäni lisäämällä väliin valokuvan, ja nyt minua jännitää, onko lopputulos sellainen kuin Ingunn Økland olisi toivonut. Kaikki ne, jotka eivät ole Ingunn Øklandeja, voivat hypätä sivun yli tai halutessaan tutkia kuvaa kaikessa rauhassa. Se on hieno pieni kuva hienosta pienestä linnusta.)

And I can tell you a secret... it's a different picture in Finnish version of the book... No idea why...

So if you want to read about something wise and profound you shouldn't read these books but if you want to read something that irritates you but also makes you laugh you should.

 

(But one thing I have to tell you. In "Volvo lastvagnar" Doppler and one crazy old swedish hash-smoking grandmother have a competition which country is better, Sweden or Norway. (See, they maybe have oil in Norway, but there's Hennes & Mauritz in Sweden...) This grandmother also says that Fiskars comes from Sweden, but sorry Erlend Loe, it actually comes from Finland. You should know that.)