2005: I read [b:The Half Brother|125523|The Half Brother|Lars Saabye Christensen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348710478s/125523.jpg|120888], winner of the Nordisk råds litteraturpris (Nordic Council Literature Prize). Should be good, right? Not to me. I can't believe the levels of boredom I reached with that book. When I finished, I gifted a copy to the person who had recommended it. As a revenge.

2017: I read "Grisen" (The Pig), a short novella, as part of my Norwegian class. Despite my misgivings, it surprises me quite positively. Good prose, entertaining story, interesting ending.

2018: [b:Modellen|2358849|Modellen|Lars Saabye Christensen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1293465567s/2358849.jpg|2365615] is included in my syllabus. So what's it gonna be? The please-kill-me-now Half Brother, or the it-got-me-thinking Grisen?

Unfortunately, it's the what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you-,-people kind of story, with pompous characters, empty pseudointellectual conversations, emptier lifes, and nothing-happens-yet-I-keep-writing-because-I'm-enamored-of-my-own-voice prose.

I'm dying here. And still two thirds to go.

The story of an writer told he will lose his sight. The profound implications of this for his work and the choices he and his family have to make. Has a quite different feel from the authors other books available in English translation, which are muchly about growing up. ( )