Finn Alnæs

Finn Ildfesten Alnæs (born January 20, 1932 in Bærum , † November 3, 1991 in Lillehammer ) was a Norwegian writer in the romantic tradition. He rejected both realistic and avant-garde literature. Despite a sensational debut (with the novel Koloss , 1963), he increasingly fell into isolation and finally into oblivion.

Life

Alnæs came from an educated family: his grandfather Eyvind Alnæs was an organist and composer, his father a lawyer. After attending a private high school, he went to London to study temporarily (1951/52) at the Webber-Douglas School for Music and Performing Arts. He had fallen out with his parents, both of whom were active in the resistance during fascism. When he returned to Oslo, he found it difficult to stay afloat with small roles in the theater; he also worked as a teacher, truck driver, stevedore, and soon also a journalist. In addition to articles and stories, Alnæs also tried dramas, although neither Ibsenthe illusionary still lured the fashionable absurd theater. In 1968 he married the doctor's daughter and social worker Kirsten Rohme; the marriage was only to last until 1977.

Alnæs adored nature - critics complained that he glorified it. As a narrator, he cultivated a passionate and exuberant style, alternating between poetry, contemplation and polemics (against contemporary conditions). His debut novel Koloss from 1963 - with which he won a competition - soon blossomed into a “cult book”, which (until 2001) sold at least 130,000 copies. The hero of the novel is an enthusiastic athlete who ends up as a murderer (against his will) and in mental disorder. The story was filmed in 1993 by Witold Leszczyński from Poland , but received little response. Two German editions of the novel appeared in 1968 and 1970 under the disconcerting title Red Lantern and White Snow .

Alnæs continued to write large-scale novels, as well as ecological manifestos. The 1968 rebels scolded him as a reactionary, even though he sympathized with them. He withdrew to a remote and run-down farm (in Vågå-traktene). At the age of 60, Alnæs died in 1991 "sick and forgotten". On Kjell Askildsen hinting, perhaps it could be said, was Alnæs Norway Ernst Kreuder been.

Awards

• Two nominations for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize : 1964 with Colossus , 1969 Gemini
• Critics' prizes 1968, (for Gemini )
• Bokhandler prizes 1969

Works

Fiction

• Colossus; Brage Bragesson's sketch , novel, 1963, revised in 1969.
• Gemini , novel. 1968.
• Festningen faller , novel. 1971.
• På frihetens pinebenk: en prosess , Roman. 1972.
• Musica , novel. 1978.
• Dynamis , novel. 1982.
• Restdjevelens karneval , Roman 1992 (posthumous).

Non-fiction

• Nature Cathedral. En opplevelse i ord and pictures . 1976.
• Svart snø eller samvern. Documentary fra en brytningstid . 1976.

German editions

• Red lantern and white snow. Novel, translated from Norwegian by Gerhard Matthäus, Droemer / Knaur 1968 (licensed edition 1970)

literature

• Leif Longum: Et speil for oss selv . Aschehoug, Oslo 1968.
• Otto Hageberg: Gemini . In: VinduetGyldendals tidsskrift for literature , vol. 23 (1969), issue 1, ISSN  0042-6288 .
• Kaj Skagen: I opplysningens slagskygge. Dialogue med en hovedlinje i Finn Alnæs' forfatterskap . In: Arken , Vol. 5 (1982), Vol. 3-4, pp. 10-35.
• Truls Gjefsen : Finn Alnæs. Titan and sisyfos . Aschehoug, Oslo 1995, ISBN 82-03-26096-9 .
• Øystein Rottem: Et spyd i sanden. Om masculine utopian hos Agnar Mykle and Finn Alnæs . In: Lystlesninger. Åtte essays on kjønn and identity in norsk literature . Cappelen, Oslo 1996, ISBN 82-456-0034-2 , pp. 127-168.

Web links

• Literature by and about Finn Alnæs in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} see Øyvind S. Bruland: his website , accessed December 25, 2010.