So, ever since the first of January I have been writing this story in Norwegian. I'm thinking of publishing it (or at least trying). It's called (roughly translated) Everything's grey behind the scenes. I realise that title sound horrible in English, but in Norwegian it's quite catchy. (Bak kulissene er alt grått).
It's a slightly satirical- metamodernistic- humour- love-triangle-less- romance-novel with a lot of social commentary about the Norwegian society and too many cultural references. I started writing it because I had a pretty interesting conversation with my dad one night.
Dad: We sure hate Polish people and muslims
Violeta: We sure do
That's it. That conversation (if you can call it that) sparked my interest in the refugee debate and immigrants.
So the story is about 18-year-old Arabella, who loves the 70's, doesn't have any friends, is a faux-punk, and loves homework and good grades. Born Anja Emilie Fleischer, she changed her name to Arabella out of her love for her favourite band.
When she is forces to join Ahmed's theatre group to make friends, she meets Kato, Miroslaw and a lot of other interesting people. And the story if mainly driven by the group's many antics.
Characters:
Kato Røneid hates everything, except writing, "important" literature, bands that no one has heard of. He tries to understand Franz Kafka and has an emotional connection to Albert Camus. Some of the things he hates are consumerism, organised sports, capitalism, popular crime writers, Norwegian Defence League and blockbuster movies. He's a rebel at heart. (Author's note: Kato is very much inspired by myself)
Miroslaw Kijek is a Polish 19-year-old from Zakopane. He is training to be a carpenter, like "all poles in Norway". He likes pop-music, working out, alcohol, cannabis, smoking and Aladdin Sane by David Bowie. He's Arabella's romantic interest. 1201Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwv41YyqeQh
Erica Karlsen is a graphic designer studying media and communication. Red hair, green eyes, beautiful. She loves smoking cheap cannabis and takes good care of her brother.
Dagfinn Karlsen is Erica's twin brother. He's a soft-spoken boy that tries to make everyone around him smile. He's also gay, but he doesn't really talk that much about it. 1201Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzLcoZ3B0T
It's November on the southern West-Coast of Norway. It takes place in an unnamed (and maybe fictional) town between Haugesund (south of Bergen, if you know anything about Norwegian geography) and Stavanger.
Just som politics at the end:
I'm not a supporter of the Norwegian refugee and immigrant politics (that basically says "we should restrict immigration as much as possible") Yes, I think that we should spend the money on helping Norwegians, but as it happens we are faced with a wave of elderly people. If my generation are going to pay for the 1950-generation, the tax-rise will be almost impossible to deal with. If we can integrate the immigrants, teach them Norwegian, give them an education instead of letting them live on the tax-payer's money, making them a valuable part of the Norwegian society. As a native Norwegian, I see no problem with having a multi-cultural society (as long as there is no extremism and radical thinking). And Norway should be the country to understand this, as 800.000 Norwegian emigrated to America in the 1800s. Rant over.
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