ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Half Brother’s protagonist, Barnum Nilsen, has a peculiar father; a short, fat, dreamer from the far north who ran away and joined the circus because he was tired of being the laughing stock of his small fishing village in the Lofoten islands. Is it any wonder then, that Arnold Nilsen names his son “Barnum” after the famous American circus impresario? Barnum spends his youth defending both his odd name and his preternaturally short stature. Barnum’s tough half-brother Fred, who was conceived during a mysterious rape on the first day of the peace in Nazi-occupied , has bouts of muteness brought on by trauma and guilt. Dyslexic and angry, he hates his stepfather, Arnold Nilsen, but is fiercely devoted to his mother Vera, grandmother Publication Information: Boletta and great-grandmother, The Old One, who is a former star of the silent movies. Each of the three has given birth out of wedlock and been abandoned by the Arcade Publishing, New York father of her child; these missing fathers -- I-55970-715-1 the family calls them “night men” -- may $27.00 have physically vanished but they continue (Norwegian title: Halvbroren) to loom large in the pages of the unspoken family history. INTRODUCTION: The book’s narrator, Barnum, has a lot to compensate for, growing up as he does Lars Saabye Christensen’s The Half Brother with three women who are married to their is an international bestseller not only painful pasts, with a father whose tendency because it illuminates the complex and to vanish resembles that of the “night men” compelling themes of post World War II so prevalent in the family line, and with his Norway, sibling rivalry, family secrets, and tough, troubled half-brother, who alternately the mystery of identity, but also because it is protects and tyrannizes him. But Barnum compulsively readable and irresistibly ultimately survives the gauntlet of his discussable. Norwegian chat-lists have been painful youth with the help of two friends avidly dissecting this oceanic book’s many whose family lives are as troubled and mysteries since Halvbroren’s debut in 2001, twisted as his own. The overweight Peder perhaps because Christensen’s four- has a crippled mother who paints naked generational family saga generates more men, and Vivian’s mother wears a veil to questions than answers. Book groups hide the damage inflicted on her by a terrible selecting The Half Brother will not be able car accident. Refugees from the wreckage to stop talking about this accomplished and of their families, the three fast friends, who beautifully written Norwegian novel. met when they were all thrown out of dancing school, are addicted to the movies, that magical world that allows them to 1 forget their outcast status and stunted family lives. What is the significance of Arnold Nilsen’s While Fred becomes first a boxer mysterious accident with his hand? and then a world wanderer, Barnum channels his anxieties and fears into Why is the Greenland letter from Fred’s precocious film scripts that replay his great-grandfather so important to him? troubled past. Although the brothers appear to be polar opposites, one dyslexic and the How does Barnum feel about his half- other unusually facile with words, it brother Fred and how does Fred feel about eventually becomes apparent that Barnum Barnum? Discuss the complicated, shares his brother’s frustrated rage and self- ambivalent relationship between the two destructive urges, and that Fred just might half-brothers. be a more imaginative storyteller than his literate younger brother. What is the symbolic significance of the Among the novel’s many themes are mysterious suitcase full of laughter, the complexity of family life, the sufferings Barnum’s only paternal inheritance, and of those who are physically different, the what light does it shed on Arnold Nilsen’s strength of women, the vulnerability of character? children, the power of the past, the difficulties and challenges of the creative How do the book’s circus metaphors help us life, and the ambivalent but enduring bond understand the novel’s themes and plot? between siblings. Blocked creativity, self- destructiveness, alcohol addiction, rage, and Fred’s name means “peace” in Norwegian abandonment, as well as fierce but flawed and yet he seems genetically prone to rage love plague these tormented characters, and violence. Is the name purely ironic or whose desire for connection seems thwarted does Christensen intend to suggest that Fred as much by their shared history as by their does, in some ways, bring a measure of own actions and impulses. peace to his troubled family at long last? In sum, this tour de force, while wildly inventive and hilariously funny, is What goes wrong between Barnum and simultaneously steeped in a palpable grief Vivian, and who is the real father of born of loneliness, loss and failed Vivian’s child? What evidence do you find connections. The author creates a fully to support your theories about the child’s realized world that will keep readers paternity? Is it Barnum? Peder? Fred? Other speculating about the fate of the book’s suspects? central characters, Barnum and Fred, long after they finish reading it. The Half Brother How would you characterize the relationship is a very moving, fully human story that will between Peder and Barnum? resonate with your own life. In fact, you are apt to find yourself rereading parts of it, Alcoholism is a persistent theme in the avidly, as you continue to puzzle out the book. The Old One keeps a bottle of tantalizingly elusive details of this strange Malaga hidden behind her books; her yet familiar family drama. daughter, Boletta, frequents a bar called the North Pole, and Barnum often drinks FOR DISCUSSION: himself into oblivion at great sacrifice to his artistic career and to his relationships with Why does Barnum’s half-brother, Fred, hate those who are closest to him. Why do his stepfather, Arnold Nilsen so much? Barnum, his grandmother, and his great grandmother struggle with addiction while Who is Fred’s father? Is there any evidence Barnum’s mother and his destructive half- in the book to suggest the answer? 2 brother mostly appear to resist this page novel with its eccentric and mysterious temptation? characters and its sophisticated structure studded with numerous flashbacks. In What accounts for the fact that Barnum Steven’s rendition, The Half Brother’s repeatedly sabotages himself as a lover, a quirky narrator tells the same complex, husband, a friend and a writer? nuanced story laced with the same brilliant blend of humor and pathos found in the Consider the book’s last two sentences, original novel, Halvbroren. Perhaps the spoken by the narrator, Barnum: ” ‘Why translation succeeds so well because Steven have you come back?’ I ask him. And I mastered both official Norwegian languages, don’t know if it’s me or mom Fred is Bokmål and Nynorsk, while a university looking at when he says, ‘To tell you all student in Norway. Steven himself writes this.’ ” All what? The quote implies that novels, poems, and children’s books, some this is Fred’s story as much as it is of which have been nominated for British Barnum’s. Discuss the implications of this and Scottish literary prizes. surprising and mysterious ending. OTHER BOOKS AVAILABLE IN ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY THIS AUTHOR: Lars Saabye Christensen is one of Scandinavia’s leading contemporary writers. The Half Brother is the first of Christensen’s In 2001, he celebrated his twenty-fifth year books to be widely distributed in English. of authorship with the release of the original Others have had small press runs in English Norwegian version of The Half Brother, translation but are, unfortunately, difficult to entitled Halvbroren. Christensen has won locate. According to his publisher, many prizes for his work, which includes a Christensen’s latest book, The Figwort dozen novels, numerous books of poetry, Family (2003), has not yet been translated to short fiction, and film scripts. Over the years English. he has won many literary prizes. These include The Prize for First SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER Fiction, The Norwegian Critics’ Prize, the READING: Brage Award, the Bookseller’s Prize, The Riverton Prize and the Cappelen Prize. If you enjoyed this book, we suggest the Most recently he won the prestigious Nordic following other Nordic writers available in Council Literature Prize (2002) for English: ’s Before You Sleep, Halvbroren. Although his books have been Peter Hoeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow, and translated into more than a dozen languages, Herbjorg Wassmo’s Dina’s Book. The Half Brother is the first of his books to attract broad international acclaim. His LINKS TO REVIEWS IN ENGLISH: latest novel, The Figwort Family (2003), has been judged by some Norwegian critics as http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/ his best novel to date, high praise indeed 0,12084,961313,00.html when one considers the literary and critical sensation generated by The Half Brother. http://mostlyfiction.com/contemp/christen sen.htm ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR AND THE TRANSLATION: This NORTANA Study guide was prepared by Elizabeth Blair, Associate Professor of Scottish writer Kenneth C. Steven has been English, Southwest Minnesota State widely praised by reviewers, and deservedly University so, for his translation of this volcanic, 682- 3 NORTANA READING GROUP GUIDES

NORTANA Reading Group Guides present works of to an English- reading public. By presenting these introductory materials, questions for discussion, and other suggested readings we wish to enhance your reading experience, as well as to share our enthusiasm for Norwegian literature and encourage you to explore further what Norwegian literature has to offer.

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The Norwegian Researchers and Teachers Association of North America (NORTANA) is a non-profit organization for researchers, teachers, and independent scholars involved in Norwegian language, literature, and area studies. NORTANA promotes the dissemination of information about Norway and the study of Norwegian and Norway at all levels, and works to facilitate cooperation between scholars and the public engaged in these fields.

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