AshehougAgency

The Meaning of Me

A middle-aged librarian reluctantly agrees to film a wedding. She has never before held a video camera in her hands, and experiences for the first time how the camera gives her a whole new perspective on the world. And her film turns out surprisingly good – she is excited to have discovered a hidden talent and starts dreaming of developing it further.

But her son, who has ambitions of his own, feels threatened by his mother’s intrusion into what he considers his area. His jealousy creates a conflict between the two greater than any of them could envisage.

An agonizing and deeply absorbing novel about ambitions, self-respect, motherly love and selflessness, The Meaning of Me raises the question:  Who is entitled to artistic self-fulfillment?

First published: 2011, Forlaget Oktober

 Praise for The Meaning of Me:

“It is surprisingly uplifting to read Dag Johan Haugerud’s eminently uncomfortable story about a mother in competition with her own son…a description of an environment that elegantly balances between the realistic and the amiably exaggerated…a page turner.”

 (Dagens Næringsliv)

“Already on the first page of Dag Johan Haugerud’s book we can see that this is a writer who can delve beneath the surface. One who has an eye for vulnerability, ready to expose pretense and lies in the big and small meetings of our lives.(…) It is quite uncomfortable. But it is good literature, too."

(NRK)



“Stripped of all tricks and devices, besides insight into both the female and the male main characters, along with a linguistic confidence that renders tricks unnecessary. (…) one is left with the impression of a writer that has spent his life observing the participants of an average Norwegian family, and found them to be immensely exciting. This excitement is contagious.”

(Adresseavisen)

“Dag Johan Haugerud has – like his main character – an eye for details. He has the ability to expose characteristics and personality traits that is reminiscent of Carl Frode Tiller at his best. Sometimes this novel is like watching an episode of the TV-series The Office. The same ingredients are present: both humor and penetrating honesty. Sometimes you have to hold a pillow in front of your face, while continuing to read with one eye, in order to avoid getting too embarrassed. (…) The language in the novel is good, and never too cumbersome. The story and character development are exciting in themselves, but it is the carefully planned details and pictures Haugerud draws that drive us through the text. (…) The Meaning of Me is a novel that says something about the reader. Sometimes we are undressed by Haugerud’s insight.”

(Universitas)

“Haugerud has written a novel from the point of view of a middle-aged woman that is very convincing. And this is no small feat by a younger man. The book is an easy read, and is engaging right from the first page. His style is consistent throughout, and it reads like a psychological thriller.(…)I highly recommend this novel – it truly is a gem.”

(Smaalenenes Avis)

“The language is pictorial and direct. The mother’s narrative voice is very convincing, both in the description of meetings with secondary characters, and in her reflections on her own reality and longing for affection. The author leaves it up to the reader to decide who is to blame in this quietly electric relationship-tragedy.”

(VG)