Beatles

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Beatles

• By Lars Saabye Christensen

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Facts about the novel

• Written by Lars Saabye Christensen.
• One of the most popular Norwegian authors.
• Published in 1984.
• Read by more than 200 000 people.
• Transelated into several languages.
• Among them German.

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Summary of the plot

• We want to introduce the book with a short
  summary

Lars Saabye Christensen, one of Norways most
popular writers, has written a gripping tale of
four boys and the complications they face growing
up in Oslo in the 1960s. We especially get a good
view of Kim Karlsens life, which he lives as a
lonely child, but together with his strict but
loving mother and father and a constantly drunk
upstairs-neighbor. However, his father
experiences a robbery in the bank in which he
works and never really seems to pull himself
together after that, so he spends rest of the
story solving crosswords and talking to a bird.
These four boys share a passion for the
Beatles, as well as music in general. They even
plan on starting a band to make music of their
own. Another passion they have is collecting
car-marks, something which leads them into
exciting adventures involving a suicide. Kim
Karlsen is torn between two girls. He loves them
both, but cant seem to decide which one he loves
more. Somehow they always seem to catch him with
the other which, naturally, causes both of them
to leave him. Kims friend gets lost to drugs and
disappears, so the remaining three chooses to go
to France to look for him as that was the place
he was supposed to be. A hopeless search maybe,
but the friendship between the four is proven
once again. When Kim Karlsen reaches his
mid-twenties, his life gets a bit out of control,
his thoughts are blurry and he is sent to a
hospital. He realizes how his friends are who he
wants to be with and manages an escape.
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Slottsparken
This picture is taken in Slottsparken, a park
where several important episodes took place.
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Paintings of central happenings
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Why do so many people find this novel enjoyable?
As you are already told, Lars Saabye Christensen
is one of the most read Norwegian authors. The
novel Beatles was his breakthrough, and it is
still one of his most popular books. It is read
by about 200 000 Norwegians in addition to many
people in other countries, and it is translated
into several languages, among them German.
Beatles is considered to be one of the
masterpieces of the Norwegian literature. Based
on my impression of the book, I have some
thoughts about why Christensen is so popular
among the young people. Beatles discusses how
it is to grow up in Oslo during the 1960s and the
early 1970s. Despite the fact that a lot of
historical events took place during this period,
the youth today might not find it very attractive
and tempting to read more than 500 pages about
that. I doubted myself whether I really wanted to
read the novel, but after reading it, I have
never regretted it. This is a magnificent peace
of literature. First of all, Christensens unique
way of writing makes this novel extraordinary
easy to read. He has a successful sense of
humour, which will entertain you throughout the
entire book. In addition, the problems and themes
he discusses are absolutely relevant also today.
As a youth, I really recognize a lot of the
dilemmas and issues the characters had to deal
with, and the arguments and statements presented
made me thinking. Moreover, it is difficult to
foresee what is going to happen, and in
Beatles, like the majority of Christensens
novels, the plot takes place in the part of Oslo
where he grew up himself. Actually, it seems like
he has used a number of his own experiences while
he was writing this book, and his knowledge about
the environment and circumstances makes the book
definitely credible.
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(No Transcript)
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Description

• This is a description of the main character, Kim.

Kim, the I-person in the book, is known for his
mischiefs. He may appear as one of the though
guys as he several times does audacious and
daring stunts. He fights badgers, walks on
roofs and even dances with a skeleton, but in
other situations, the though guy seems to be
gone. Of some odd reason, does he never possess
the courage to distribute the leaflets he
receives from Gunnar. You get a feeling that the
truth is that hes afraid and full of anxiety. He
has difficulties with taking decisions. He
switches back and forth between Nina and Cecilie,
without coming to a final decision. He gives
expression to what he holds precious in life,
which is Cecilie, Nina, The Beatles, Seb, Gunnar
and Ola. His life is full of fortuity and events
just happen - he has no explanation why. Its
like a chaos where he fools around without
reason, and in the introduction we get the
feeling that he will have a need of getting his
life back on track after many years of chaos and
unrest. Memories of his past are swirling around
in his head in confusion. He dreams and thinks a
lot, especially about Henny, Cecilie and Nina.
Like the other members of the Beatles-gang he
likes beer, but takes distance from drugs. Much
because of his friend Sebs abuse of narcotics,
and perhaps a little because of his mothers
concerns on the matter. Hes thinking about
studying philosophy and geology on Iceland, but
nothing of this seems to fit him. Hes a confused
soul who has difficulties with finding his track
in life.
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Pictures of central places in the book.
This photo is taken from the part of Oslo where
the main character Kim lived.
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About the author

• He is born 21. September 1953.
• He was raised at Frogner in Oslo.
• He often use the environment he grew up in to
  describe the environment in his books.
• Allready in his schooldays Lars showed interest
  in lyrical poetry.
• What probably made him famous was his original,
  entertaining formulations. In addition he writes
  in a way where people can recognize themselves.

• In 1976 he debutated with the book the history
  about Gly.
• In his novels he often focus on feeling lonely,
  and some of the books have sertain similarities.
• The fourth novel he wrote was called Beatles,
  it was published in 1984.
• In addition to write books, he also writes poetry
  and lyrics. His poems are often based on his own
  experiences.

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• He use many details when he explains the everyday
  activities.
• He often have a very serious massage in his
  novels, but he write with humour.