AshehougAgency

The Irreplaceable Parts of the Machine

Hans Erik lives in a place where it always rains. He writes letters to a girl he has met somewhere far south, constantly reliving their most intimate moments together. He wants her to come, but he doesn’t have the money to buy her a ticket. He doesn’t even have a job - in fact, his social worker is threatening to cut off his social security money. Then his Playstation-addict friend Lasse moves in. And a girl he calls Fatty and for whom he feels nothing but contempt keeps showing up, demanding that he have sex with her. So the three of them come up with an idea of making money, involving a video camera, a wrestler’s mask and the internet.

THE IRREPLACEABLE PARTS OF THE MACHINE is a story of strong yearnings in a degenerate world, where dreams of a more beautiful existence still can be maintained.

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Praise for THE IRREPLACEABLE PARTS OF THE MACHINE:

"Ugly and beautiful … Everything works in this brief novel of great dreams and small lives … In its brief, skewed way this book is perfect."
(Dagbladet)

"Blushing and ashamed, this reader has to report that THE IRREPLACEABLE PARTS OF THE MACHINE is a horribly amusing book, a book which in a terrifying manner confirms the old saying that schadenfreude is our one true joy in life."
(Dagens Næringsliv)

"Miserable and poetic … In THE IRREPLACEABLE PARTS OF THE MACHINE the world is a living hell, people are degenerate and disillusioned, this is a world without real hope of improvement. Hans Erik has strong longings and dreams, but there is no hope that his situation will improve. But Bård Torgersen depicts the misery and the existential loneliness in a poetic way."
(Nationen)

"It’s a hard hitting book, devoid of warmth and love for one’s neighbour. The discomfort is often acute, other times you don’t know whether the right reaction is nausea or laughter … It’s a strong piece of writing."
(Dagsavisen)

"a confidently written novel about decay, poverty and deprivation of liberty that all politicians, social workers and others with a hint of compassion for the weakest in our society should read."
(raseri.nu)

First published: 2009, Forlaget Oktober
Bård Torgersen: Biography and bibliography