Naja Marie Aidt

This collection of short, wild, disturbing and often deeply ambiguous stories won Aidt the 2008 Nordic Council Prize. She plays around with the boundaries of reality and fantasy, so that characters often find themselves living out their darkest fears or most perverted desires in a frighteningly realistic setting. The mostly very short forms allow her to keep us guessing until the last page (sometimes beyond it) about the characters - is the narrator supposed to be male or female? which show more country are we in? are they married to each other or to someone else? whose are the children? is it all just a nightmare?

Very interesting, powerful and original writing, but not a book you would want to read just before going to bed. And it might well put you off blackcurrant jam for a long time... show less

Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare. When you have a baby, you do everything in your power to keep them happy and healthy, never imagining that you'll outlive them, this beautiful gift the world bestowed on you and you on it. And yet parents face the devastation of losing children everyday, whether through disease or accident or some other tragedy, and their entire existence is changed by their horrible loss. When Naja Marie Aidt lost her 25 year old son Carl, she wrote this show more slim book to keep him alive, to mourn his death, and to process his unthinkable absence.

This memoir is a primal scream and a whispered sob. It is choppy and fragmented and broken, just as Aidt is by her loss. Interlayering quotes from others who have written about the death of a child, poetry, a repeated refrain, one that slowly builds in each repetition, about the night that they got the devastating call, and classical Greek and Roman writings on loss, this is a heartbreaking and moving account of the gaping hole that Carl's death left in Aidt's life. A lament in poetic snippets, this is not elegiac or depressing but a truthful and loving examination of the insurmountable fact of death by a mother adrift and longing. It is unconventionally written, a little chaotic, and non-linear and won't be for everyone but it holds emotion and truth, pain and understanding, absence and life in its pages. show less

Rock, Paper, Scissors reads like Ravel’s, Bolero. It slowly and evenly builds in intensity. To what end, one does not know. But it will not - it cannot - be good. With great skill Aidt creates a powerful atmosphere of impending doom. The reader watches as her protagonist carelessly spins out of control while exacting revenge against his dead father, a criminal. Yet, revenge is not as sweet as he anticipates. It comes with its own complexities, difficulties and demons. If let loose, it can show more lead to a storm of dysfunction, deception and violence - and it does. Set aside a few good hours to read this novel as it is impossible to put down. show less

What comprises the key which unlocks the door to our darkest selves? What is the trigger which can start a downward spiral into fear, shame, and despair? Perhaps the key, the trigger are different for each person? Perhaps, it is a unpredictable as a game of rock, paper, scissors. This debut novel explores the process in a profound and evocative manner. I felt dread from early on in the story, and it mounted throughout the book, until the very last sentence. Make no mistake, this is not a show more lighthearted novel in any way! A random discovery leads the protagonist down a steep slope into suspicion, distrust, horror, shame, and loss. The final scene leaves the reader with uncertainty, to say the least! So, read this amazing piece of literature, but only if you can tolerate the emotions it evokes! show less