Natalie Clark, Books Editor, catches up with multi-award winning author, Norwegian TV personality and literary critic Tore Renberg, at the end of his UK Book Tour.
Tore Renberg’s novel, See You Tomorrow, is an addictive page turner, following three groups of disparate characters caught up in a mad mix of crime, isolation, love, and debt. Filled with unpredictable twists and turns, its subject matter is challenging and extremely powerful. It will stay with you long after you have turned the last page.
Despite his work having already been translated into 19 different languages, this is the first time Tore’s work will be published in English, allowing him to compete on a grander literary scale. In spite of the inevitable anxiety that is sure to come with this, Renberg is undeterred, and rather excited.
“I must say that after one week in the UK touring the country with See You Tomorrow, I am impressed. You have got some dedicated publishers, and you have got great booksellers who clearly know the worth of foreign fiction. They seem to be engaging in it with sincerity.”
The place of international literature in the English market is arguably undervalued by mainstream audiences. “It is no secret that if you are going to make it on the international market you have got to get your books translated into English. So it is of great importance to the evolution of world literature that British – and US – publishers have got their eyes on what´s going on outside of their own country.”
The translation process of his latest novel, however, was by no means an easy task. “[It’s] a collective novel with 11 main characters, changing perspective throughout. It’s got over 100 chapters, it’s 600 pages long and it’s got a fast pace to it. I was very curious as to how this would turn out. It is also full of quite quirky, snappy dialogue.”
Luckily Renberg was able to work closely with award-winning translator Séan Kinsella. “[He] is very picky about the language, he works hard and he’s got great literary sensibility. We were in touch all the way through the process, great man, Séan.”
Tore’s quiet excitement for See You Tomorrow is incredibly heart warming. “We’re working hard, both Arcadia, Faber Factory Plus and me, and we have belief in this book. But it´s the readers who are going to decide, which is as it should be. Literature is written for them. I’m just here to do my best.”
Having already received literary acclaim in Norway, Renberg is confident of the appeal for a British audience. The novel contains a great deal of recognisable culture, particularly the musical tastes of the characters, the good and the bad, the classics and the clichés.
“I cannot understand my own life without music or the enormous impression it has made, almost daily, in my life. For me this has been immensely inspiring since I was a kid, and if I were to mention artists who get me going I’d literally be going on for ages: Life without Morrissey? Noooooo. Without Dolly Parton, Nick Cave, Kate Bush? Ah, I just couldn’t take it.”
Music thus became a powerful tool for Renberg in the writing of this novel. Each individual character’s musical tastes evolved into one of their defining aspects.
“When writing, this became something of an obsession. I noticed that I was able to come close to them through my discovery of their musical taste. I saw them, they became hyper-real, which is of great importance to a realistic writer of my kind, in the Balzacian tradition that I write. The more details I know, the better.
“Jan Inge, the petty criminal leader with his country and western music, Rudi, the ADHD-stricken criminal with his classic metal, Chessi, the pregnant criminal with her power ballads, Tiril, the angry emo-kid with her Evanescence… Just great fun.”
The characters in the novel suffer immensely and make “a mess of their lives,” something which Tore believes is incredibly important for readers to relate to, and feel empathy towards.
“I believe that if there’s to be any chance of me writing a book with good characters who come across as real people that the reader can relate to, or even wonder at, this has to be the case. You know what actors often say: I go to the stage to defend my character. This is how I think. I write the book defending my characters.”
Whilst this is a hauntingly dark novel, following characters experiencing intense emotional turmoil, it is also funny. The comedic aspects add to Tore’s lively prose and break up this tragic exploration of the underbelly of Norwegian society.
“They tell funny jokes, they come alive, they do funny things, and tragic things, like me and you. And I suppose it´s essential to my way of looking at life. We wouldn´t survive without our laughter.” The Man Who Loved Yngve, another of Renberg’s novels, was turned into a major film. Could a film adaptation be on the cards for this one, too?
“Not any [plans] that I can speak of, haha… But let´s put it this way: it wouldn´t be entirely surprising if something happened down this road.”
Tore signs off with the following advice to students: “Stay clean, as Lemmy of Motörhead would put it. Work hard. Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Be humble, be proud.”
The sequel is published in Norway next month, and is available in the UK next year. It´s called Attack From All Sides.
Natalie Clark, Books Editor
(Originally published at exepose.com Sept 13, 2014)
Honestly, Natalie 