What happens when a writer turns silence, fear, grief—and love?—into novels that are barely a couple hundred pages but echo for days? Whether it’s love withheld, misplaced, or mourned, Ørstavik’s novels speak to each other through unspoken longing and the disorienting nature of grief—with a quiet, cumulative power that’s hard to shake. In this episode, we explore the devastating brilliance of Hanne Ørstavik, the Norwegian author whose emotionally precise novels—Love, The Pastor, Ti Amo, and Stay with Me (neither of us has read The Blue Room, but we have it on order)—have deeply moved and unsettled us.

We dig into what makes Ørstavik’s emotional landscapes so haunting, and why these books, though spare on the surface, feel endlessly deep. From unspoken longing to the disorienting nature of grief, these novels speak to each other in unexpected and beautiful ways.

We’d love to hear your thoughts: Have you read any of Ørstavik’s work? Which novel struck you most—or which are you most curious to read?

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Shownotes

Books

* Love, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken

* The Pastor, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken

* Ti Amo, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken

* Stay with Me, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken

* The Ice-Shirt, by William T. Vollmann

* The Bear, by Andrew Krivak

* The Sojourn, by Andrew Krivak

* The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

* The Blue Room, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Deborah Dawkin

* Lesser Ruins, by Mark Haber

* First Love, by Ivan Turgenev

* Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin

* The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark

* Within a Budding Grove, by Marcel Proust

Other

* Reading in Translation: Narrating and Translating Love and Grief in “TI AMO”: Norwegian Author Hanne Ørstavik and English Translator Martin Aitken in Conversation with Nataliya Deleva

The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a bookish conversation hosted by Paul and Trevor. Every other week, we explore a bookish topic and celebrate our love of reading. We’re glad you’re here, and we hope you’ll continue to join us on this literary journey!

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