Kjell Askildsen (b. 1929) is an undisputed master of the modern Norwegian short story. His style is austere and his expression focused on the essential. "In this world full of noisy words, Askildsen gives silence back to people", wrote the Norwegian jury of the Nordic Council Prize for Literature in 1992. Askildsen himself has said that he draws inspiration from such representatives of the new French novel as Michel Butor, Alain Robbe-Grillet and Claude Simon. Et stort Æde landskap (1991, A Great Deserted Landscape) and Thomas F's siste nedtegnelser til almenheten (1983, Thomas F's Last Notes to The Public) were both awarded the prestigious Kritiker Prize in their year of publication. In the latter story, the main chracter and the narrator is the 90-year-old Thomas F., who has long ago lost all contact with his family and other people. All the encounters described in the stories seem to have something final. The human relationships in the next collection, Hundene i Tessaloniki (1996, The Dogs in Tessaloniki), are also enigmatic. A great deal is written between the lines, including a hint of power struggles and erotic feelings. The fifty-three short stories written by Askildsen during forty-eight years have been collected into one volume entitled Samlade noveller (1999). In addition to his short stories, Askildsen has published six novels. He has been translated into several languages, including English, German, Finnish, Swedish, French, Dutch, Italian and Spanish.
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