AshehougAgency

The First Work

Georg Falkenberg and Jan Myren first cross paths during the war. Georg Falkenberg was a resistance man who was ordered to execute a Nazi sympathiser, Jan Myren’s father, Magne. Later Georg and Jan are to meet under quite different circumstances. One has become a powerful industrial strategist, the other a famous artist. The plot spans the fifty-year-period from 1943 – 1993, a fascinating segment of Norwegian history. Ethical and existential issues have always lain at the heart of Erland Kiøsterud’s writing, and The First Work raises the questions: Is violence the necessary result of taking a stand? Is it necessary to commit wrongdoing in order to establish justice? Kiøsterud guides us with empathy and linguistic precision into the conflict between giving life and taking life.

"Recommended!" (Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad)

"Perfectly timed about means and ends, actions and thoughts...highly readable"
(Dagbladet)

First published: 2005, Forlaget Oktober
Erland Kiøsterud: Biography and bibliography