Grandma's Got Cable TV / Video Boy
Renberg, Tore: Farmor har kabel-TV / Videogutten
- What’s that, asks Grandmother, sensing it again, that the present time is suddenly here, right in front of her.
- They’re music videos, says Jonas, and Arve can’t help feeling a bit embarrassed.
- Oh, says Grandmother, so that’s what it is.
Grandma’s Got Cable TV takes place in Norway in the mid eighties, before commercial TV was widely available. For the two youngsters Arve and Jonas, the major problem is that they can’t watch music videos, since they are only shown on cable TV. However, they suddenly realise that Arve’s grandmother has cable TV in her apartment. Arve’s parents haven’r t kept in touch with her, and Arve hasn’t met his grandmother since he was a small child. The friendship that evolves between the older woman and the two boys is carefully and tenderly conveyed. A moving story with spontaneous presence, portraying two youngsters’ fascination for the pop music of the eighties and an old woman who gets to know her grandchild and gains new knowledge of the times she is living in as the end of her life is drawing near.
Do you dare to watch, Hasse?
Hasse nods.
You’ll never be the same again, you realise that, right?
Hasse nods.
Video Boy is the mesmerizing story of Pål and Hasse, aged thirteen and fourteen, who venture into a realm of darkness. They’re tipped off about a by a boy called Video Boy, who seems to have every horror movie that was ever made. Video Boy is a frightening, weird, overweight and asthmatic teenager. Pål and Hasse can’t quite figure out if Video Boy and his sister actually live by themselves, cooped up in their dark house. Pål and Hasse start coming over, bringing gifts in hope of being invited to watch the scary movies. Their acquaintance with Video Boy and the others who hang out at his house becomes an introduction to the strange and frightful. Video Boy’s place also houses something far more uncontrollable than the gory movies. In Tore Renberg’s clean, yet suggestive prose the boys’ experiences come across like a meeting with pure evil.
Grandma’s Got Cable TV and Video Boy tell the tale of boys in the eighties, and of friendship, music, TV and innocence lost.
Praise from the Norwegian press:
”One’s youth is always tainted by the nagging feeling that something exciting is going one somewhere else. This dissatisfaction, so painful, is what Tore Renberg captures … People who were young in the eighties can now pick at the scab on their subconscious thanks to this bittersweet portrayal of their time growing up … Tore Renberg has surpassed all others to become the most accessible portrayer of growing up in the eighties. Of his generation, he is perhaps the closest to being Scandinavia’s poet laureate … There is a generosity to Renberg’s writing which is not diminished by his publishing two novels at the same time. For the author’s peers, reading his books will give them the same depressing feeling as being reminded suddenly of mullet haircuts and all the stupid things you thought were cool at school”
(Dagens Næringsliv)
”Tore Renberg’s double novel, Grandma’s Got Cable TV / Video Boy , consists of two simple yet effective novels about the passage from childhood to adulthood. Tore Renberg deserves praise for his durable literary examination of the rift between whom people once were and whom they become”
(Dagsavisen)
”In two simple yet effective short tales, Tore Renberg creates one light and one dark story … The two novels may be complementary, and demonstrate good insight into young people’s thoughts and needs”
(Aftenposten)
” Grandma’s Got Cable TV is a sweet story about how two generations encountering one another may benefit both. Video Boy is a more serious and weighty story about how the desire to see forbidden films can lead to crime. In other words, Tore Renberg has written two very uplifting novels ... All in all, two readable and well written short stories”
(Bergens Tidende)
”Beautiful and written with a keen eye. Tore Renberg is without a doubt one of the best of our young, contemporary novelists … He has an unusually well developed eye for people and milieux which he transforms into rich texts, often accompanied by an energetic storyline and a sting which burns your very soul. In this year’s book, Grandma’s Got Cable TV/ Video Boy, he presents two long novels … The first is bittersweet … written with an empathetic warmth and an accuracy of memory which is captivating … a taste of Tore Renberg’s genuine talent for writing”
(Tønsbergs blad)
”The portrayal of growing up in Norway in this book surpasses most others on the same theme published in this country”
(Stavanger Aftenblad)
”A lovely book about cross-generational friendship. This is simple, persuasive storytelling. Tore Renberg has combined two novels in one book, and challenges Lars Saabye Christensen’s status as arguably the best portrayer of tender youth. … Renberg who before has had success with his wide-ranging stories … here succeeds in creating profoundly credible portraits of young people using an extremely economical gallery of characters against a backdrop stripped nearly bare … Tore Renberg has created one of the greatest portrayals ever of budding friendship across generations that I think may be found in Norwegian literature”
(Adresseavisen)
”The novel Grandma’s Got Cable TV is splendid. The author writes objectively and unsentimentally – and yet conjures up feelings, thoughts and experiences which grip the reader. Rarely do we see the relationship between teenagers and grandparents being portrayed so simply and convincingly. This is a small novel with a great deal of content which both young and old will enjoy, and may be a wake-up call for a whole generation of parents”
(Nordlys)
Film option sold to Motlys.
First published: 2006, Forlaget Oktober
Tore Renberg: Biography and bibliography
