On the very first page of this book is the following:

You say that the Big Story is dead?
You want small stories?
You’re bloody well going to get it.

Which, in it’s own way, pretty much sums it up. Norwegian writer Erlend, shameful that he’s not done anything to build up his country, suddenly gets a flash while skating across a frozen lake. Inspired by Thor Heyerdahl (I guess it helps knowing a little bit about scientist Heyerdahl and the Norwegian mentality towards this national icon to read this book. Most well known is his daring travel on the balsa raft Kon-Tiki from Chile to Polynesia, in order to prove that Oceania could have been colonized from South America) he gets a bold theory in his head: Perhaps the first human settlers in Polynesia didn’t come on rafts, but rather on skates? The fact that the Pacific Ocean has apparently never been frozen doesn’t deter Erlend – after all, just one or two really cold winters would be enough. He sets out to gather an expedition to look for traces of those skate-wearing settlers.

The first half of this book is absolutely hilarious. Loe’s gathering of his seven man strong group, trying to find the equivalents of Heyerdahl’s sturdy resistance men from WW2 among his slacker friends, his desperate hunt for funding, and the rickety reasoning around his big theory has me laughing out loud on almost every page. The parallels to Oreille Rouge that I read earlier this spring are obvious – but where that book poked a hole in the European Vagabond myth, this one deconstructs the classic tale of exploration and adventure. Loe’s style, where irony is hidden behind understated naivety and he never oversells his points, is just so much fun; from his decision to just include men in the expedition (Men are stronger and faster. Women apparently handle pain better. So wouldn’t including women risk sending the wrong signal: that this is going to be an extraordinarily painful expedition?) to his interviews with the members to get an idea how they might handle pressure and isolation.

Once they get to the atoll in the Cook Islands (and apparently they actually went, there are lots of photos included!) however, and it’s too hot to do much research, the book drops it’s momentum a bit. There are great parts here too, such as the experimenting with different forms of government, but it never quite lives up to the first half. In the end though, Loe manages to wrap it up nicely, even giving a feeling that he’s saying something semi-valid about his generation (sic!).

If you don’t find this book funny, there’s not much else to show for it. No plot or style or characters to redeem it. Me, I laughed a lot and smiled even more. ( )

Som sædvanligt med Loe's bøger meget underfundig historie, fyldt med skævt velskrevne betragtninger over lidt af hvert i livet - men her er bogen dog mindst en trediedel for lang. Den minder mest af alt om en række rejsebreve, der - i stedet for at blive bragt dagligt i en sommeravis - er blevet sammenskrevet til en roman.
Men ellers er bogen et billede på, hvordan man kan klistre seriøse etiketter på et temmelig hult liv og forsøgene på i det mindste at finde en eller anden form for indhold til det. ( )

Erlend Loe samler sammen en gjeng for å dra på ekspedisjon til en øde Stillehavsøy, hvor formålet bl.a. er å bevise at disse øyene ikke ble oppdaget med båt men med skøyter. Dessuten ønsker han som del av den generasjonen som definitivt ikke bygde Norge å sette Norge på kartet.

Selvsagt er hele ekspedisjonen bare et tulle-prosjekt, men med Loes umiskjennelige stil blir denne boka ganske enkelt hylende morsom. Han drodler og filosoferer over stort og smått, og det meste relateres til tidligere opplevelser fra O-fagtimene på grunnskolen.

For å få fullt utbytte av boka, må man nødvendigvis se forbi alt tullet og bare gi seg hen. ( )

Orkade inte igenom den. En sorts ganska grabbigt barnslig humor som jag kan tycka är tröttsam. - Men det finns uppenbart många som älskar den. Jättebra resentioner och priser. ( )

http://www2.unt.se/avd/1,,MC=5-AV_ID=298272,00.html ( )