The latest addition to my website is Dag Solstad‘s Ellevte roman, bok atten (Novel 11, Book 18). This book tells the story of Bjørn Hansen, a man with a successful civil service career and married with a son. He meets and falls for another woman, Turid Lammers. He abruptly leaves his wife and family and his life in Oslo to join her in Kongsberg. When she sees a job for city treasurer advertised he applies for it and gets it, to avoid the long commute. They join the drama society – she is a drama teacher – and all goes well till they try Ibsen. Gradually he loses interest in her, both because of what happened with the Ibsen and because she is losing her charms as she gets older. Feeling his life is bereft of menaing he plans on what he calls The Great Negation but is interrupted in his plans when his son reappears in his life, going to university in Kongsberg. He is somewhat disappointed in his son and goes ahead with The Great Negation, a life-changing action. Solstad gets under the skin of Hansen, as we see life through his eyes but perhaps question some of his actions.