Novel
Fra Kristiania Bohemen
Not translated into English
Hans Jæger · 1885
Opening lines
I det lille aflange soveværelse med sine mørke møbler, vægger og gardiner hersked et døsigt, skumrende halvlys.
In the small oblong bedroom with its dark furniture, walls and curtains, a drowsy, dusky half-light reigned.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from bokselskap.no
Synopsis
Two friends, Herman Ek and the graduate Jarmann, lead the bohemian life in Kristiania: they live in furnished rooms, spend their evenings in cafés, and drink and discuss philosophy, literature and social reform without end. The book attacks traditional morality and Christianity, and argues, like its author, for sexual freedom. The novel, a roman à clef, makes Herman Ek a double of its author and follows the two young men in their drifting.
Context
The book appeared in 1885 and was immediately seized on the order of the Ministry of Justice: it is the first literary work censored by an authority of the Norwegian state. Its author was sentenced to sixty days in prison and a fine for offences against morals and blasphemy, then to one hundred and fifty days for having had it printed in Sweden. The trial divided the literary world. Britannica judges the novel to be of little value, but sees its influence in Hamsun and Kinck; it reappeared in 1950.
Who it is for
A novel in Norwegian of the period, translated neither into French nor into English, whose story hinges on the scandal it caused.
Prizes and reception
The first book censored by the Norwegian state, and a famous cause in the debate on press freedom in 1886.