Bitches & Hoes

Had some time to kill today - both on the bus home and in Gothenburg. So I spent a good two hours stacking up on new books @ Pocket & Bok above Lagerhaus. The list came down to the following 4 titles
(Buy 4 - Pay for 3) :

(listed in planned reading order)

1. Ronnie Sandahl - Vi som aldrig sa hora
   ("For us who never called them bitches")
   
2. Knut Hamsun - Pan
3. Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club
4. Christopher Hitchens - God is not great

Read through the first one one the bus back and it was a wonderful read. (Review further down).

The second one is a work by Norwegian writer Hamsun and supposebly a classic and a must read about the individualist Thomas Glahn and his affairs in northern Norway. (Translated to Swedish).

Third title doesn't need any further presentation, and the language was chosen to be that of the author to not miss a single syllable.

Fourth one is a chance and might be left unread for a while. Topic is to promote the writers anti-religion case and his quest to fight organized religion.

---

Well Sandahl's debut novel is a masterpiece. I love it from index page to back cover, I take notes and fold pages to remember some extracts. The major one is of course the one giving it its title:

Nu satt han med ryggen mot sängkanten och önskade att också han kunde bete sig iskallt och oberört. Hårdare på ytan, svårare att tränga igenom. Vassare i kanterna. Godhet lönar sig inte.
Om detta visste femtonåringen ingenting.
Han fick lära sig.
Han som trodde att kärlek blott var ett resultat av två personer som tycker om varandra. Han som trodde att tjejer ville ha killar som bryr sig.
Han tvingades inse att tjejer vill ha killer som ...
Färdigpaketerade. Mördarkön och hustrumisshandlargener. ...
Så mycket som femtonåringen ännu inte visste, så mycket kvar att tvingas inse:
Vi som höll deras hår när de kräktes.
Vi som aldrig sa hora
Vi är också de som aldrig blir deras.
...
So much the boy was yet to know , so much more to have to face
We who held their hair when they threw up
We who never called bitches
We are also those who will never be theirs

To me, it's my Fucking Åmål. It is American Beauty revisited. It is every visit at a club. Every No I didn't get because I didn't even ask. It is my story told. My case has a defender.

-Jag är inte hård.
-Spela hård.
Och om jag inte vill spela?
-Då har du gjort ditt val.

It just stuns me with its straightforward descriptions. Like reading up to a sentence like this with pencil in hand:

Han satt uppkrupen i ett trång säte med Per Hagmans senaste i knät. Med en blyertspenna strök han under alla ord av betydelse.
He sat there crawled up in a tight seat with P.H.'s latest in his lap. Underlining every word of importance.

-Busted ;)

And here's another boot to the face:

Hannes drar sig längre in i lokalen. Måste tänka. ... Tänker på de små fåniga dikterna han skrev i sin anonyma, obesökta blogg. De handlade om stora vackra drömmar. Sällan eller aldrig om att stå ensam på Utestället när klockan slagit två och lamporna tänds;
Hannes goes further in to the room. Needed to think ... Thinking of the small silly poems he wrote in his anonymous, unvisited blogg. They were about grand beautiful dreams. Seldom or never about standing alone at The Club when the clock has struck two and the lights go on;

The gray heavy hometown is described in very Kent-ish manners and with great credibility. Especially since you have walked the same streets yourself, the only thing different is the names of the streets:

Falköping doftar ingenting, gatorna hinner inte.
Regnet sköljer bort varje ansats.
F. doesn't have a scent, the streets don't have time
The rain washes away every try

The romance and love is also described and written about in very fine and rich language. Not much more to say there, trembling neck kissing and skin on skin is what it is ;)

And what I like about it is the depth, there isn't a very large difference between the characters. It's neither black nor white. The ones not calling them bitches aren't all innocent and saintly either. There are some secrets beneath the surface on every one of the characters.

What surprises me and puts me in a little shame is that the very same Mr Sandahl is a columnist @ Aftonbladet. The paper I have come to despise and the boycott is now up in some 4-5 years. But well, the columns where one of few things I found readable in there ... and Puls of course before they changed it into the gossipy Klick!.
But that is a c o m p l e t e l y different subject.