Vicenarian Stew (1 Viewer)

Greetings from Oslo.

I've been sneaking around on this site for a couple of months now, but I still haven't had time to post an introduction yet... so here goes.

I'm turning 30 in January; I continually shit away my money on grass and poker. I work for an online gambling site and expect to be fired pretty soon... and I probably deserve it. By the way; If you read "ribaij" with a Norwegian accent it sounds like "Re-buy".

My father used to read those Hardy Boys books for me when I was a kid. When I moved from my hometown (the northernmost city in the world) to the capital at the age of 12, the schools pretty much killed the joy for books. They forced us to read parts from Hamsun, Ibsen and a bunch of mediocre local writers. We had to analyse them and pick them apart. The magic was gone. I didn't pick up a book again until I was 20, when I read American Psycho in the Army. I meet this guy in there who passed along his BSP copy of Septuagenarian Stew. To be honest it didn't quite hit me then, but I continued reading simply because I thought that army-friend was the only cool guy in that depressing dump. After a couple of books, the old guy in those books became a friend. Now, approximately 30 titles later, it's sad to think there soon won't be any new adventures to read about.

I don't have any hard copies, just BSP secondary prints. I do however have an unread first print paperback of Ham on Rye... which have been standing on my shelf foe a year now.... I've decided to read it last.

One more thing, for all of you regular posters here: thx
 
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welcome.
my wife's sister and her husband life in Bergen.
christ, booze is expensive in Norway, but I guess that's not your fault. ha.
anyhow, welcome.
 
Welcome.

Too bad the schools didn't teach Hamsun's Hunger,
a work I believe that both Bukowski and Henry Miller were
familiar with and held in high regard. Hamsun ends up gnawing
on his own flesh out of starvation. That's probably exactly
why Hamsun's greatest work wasn't taught...too embarrassing
this devastating and honest portrayal of a man who was
not only starving for food, but for creative inspiration and
human dignity. He's practically driven to madness throughout
the entire length of this agonizing book.

Poptop
 
Thx guys!

Yea, that's right hoochmonkey9; you have to be rich to be an alcoholic here.

Some more rambling 2:00am in the morning to clarify my reference to Hamsun:

When I was a kid my father forced me to take piano lessons. Apparently my grandfather had forced him to take piano lessons as well. They have you play these boring classical pieces or old-school children songs over and over.... and eventually you flunk out some way or another... (at least that what's happened to both my father and my self).
What strikes my about children is that they all love music. And somehow the profession never manages to use this as a tool in their schooling. If I was asked what music I liked, and that was used as a foundation to teach me music, I'm positive I would have gone further with that instrument.

I have the same problem with "literature" in the schools.

Too bad the schools didn't teach Hamsun's Hunger...

They did in fact teach us Hamsun. Bringing out passages, concentrating on how unique he was, how Norwegian he was, main character, theme, drawing parallels to Munch's paintings; how they both described the inner life of an individual, various analysis... blab la bla. But the bottom line, is that your not ready for "Hunger" when your 15-18. How the hell can you relate to that brilliant shit when you still haven't LIVED. Impossible.

Don't get me wrong, I love classical music (especially solo piano) and Hamsun. My point is that the schools kill the joy of reading. Why not give the kids books (realities, characters and emotions) they can relate to. If you do that, they'll get around to Hamsun if and when they are ready for it. Some might argue that there is a cultural and scientific foundation to be thought in schools, but when I look back, I just remember names of authors I will never approach again. Only reason I went back to Hamsun, was because Buk told me so.
I'm so eternally grateful that Bukowski isn't Norwegian... If he was, there's a big chance I would never have read him... or Hamsun. ;)
 
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My point is that the schools kill the joy of reading.

When I first started university (years ago) I was an English major. That lasted a year. So I agree with you here.
Though some of those classes introduced me to Calvino, Kundera and Joyce. So I guess I got something from it.
 
When I first started university (years ago) I was an English major. That lasted a year. So I agree with you here.
Though some of those classes introduced me to Calvino, Kundera and Joyce. So I guess I got something from it.

and Kafka. I can't forget Kafka.
is it really vain to be quoting yourself?
ah, whaddya know.
anyway, Kafka.
 
For centuries it was illegal in Norway NOT to brew beer. That's my kind of place!

Save me a 'brewing stick'.
 
Yes, welcome. Ditch the card games and stick with the reefer. Keep an eye on the Northern Lights, and give us slugs an update now and then.

Vicarious X
 

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