‘We Are Five’ awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize
During today’s award ceremony at the House of Literature in Oslo, it was announced that Faldbakken’s We Are Five is the recipient of the 2019 Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature. The jury's motivation is as follows:
“This year’s winner has since his first publication continued to distinguish himself as a particularly uncompromising and unpredictable author, who in a unique way succeeds in mirroring our times. The exploration of how transcendence is closely linked to the power of creativity and identity is a frequently recurring theme in his authorship. In his latest novel, this is merged into in a story that captivates from the very first page, and continues to transform as the story progresses. /…/ In this year’s winning novel, We Are Five, the aggressive, extreme and arbitrary have been replaced with playfulness with a capital P. The novel is full of richness. The satire is still edgy, but the mocking gaze has been replaced with an honed humor. The characters have a warmth to them, and the narrative a great momentum. /…/ With his supreme sense of pop-cultural and historical literary references, Faldbakken has crafted a novel that constantly remolds itself: from kitchen sink realism and adventures, to Frankenstein’s, no sorry, Blystad’s monster.”
