“Paul has always been a hard working artist”

Amid the activity and excitement around the recent release of the English translation of Drømmer om storhet, Pål H. Christiansen was kind enough to answer some of our questions about the book.

In a recent book review by Bent Bindings, Hobo Highbrow is described as the kind of character you love to read about, but not necessarily the kind of person you’d like to hang out with. Do you agree with this assessment? What would a conversation be like between Pål H. Christiansen and Hobo Highbrow at the Four Hens after work one day?

Pål: Oh, that would be a very interesting one, I think. I would be happy to know a little more about the importance of drinking sufficient liquid and try out some of the beer from Monrovia with him. And I would ask him if Hemingway really sharpened as many as 133 pencils every morning and if Tolstoy really was such a horny guy as Hobo maintains in the book. When an author creates a character he will always put something of himself in that character, but this “something” is usually exaggerated a lot.

So I think Hobo and I could have a pleasant time, at least until he starts quarreling about some small issue. Then I would finish my beer and leave the Four Hens. And I would certainly not agree to play any Scrabble with him. I really can’t stand playing Scrabble!

In the same review, The Scoundrel Days of Hobo Highbrow was favorably compared to A Confederacy of Dunces. What other comparisons have there been with your books? What has been the most flattering comparison anyone has made to The Scoundrel Days of Hobo Highbrow?

Pål: There are three language version of the book now which makes the comparisons differ from language to language.

The comparison with John Kennedy Tool’s book for the English version was both surprising and flattering. I read it years back and loved it, and I see a certain resemblance between Ignatius and Hobo. There have also been some comments about resemblances to some characters in Nick Hornby’s novels.

But the most interesting I think is the comparison of the German version Die Ordnung der Worte with the German novel Herr Lehmann (English title: Berlin Blues). When “Die Ordnung der Worte” was published last year, a review titled “Herr Lehmann auf Norwegisch”. Herr Lehmann is a bestseller in Germany written by the musician and writer Sven Regener.

The funny thing is that just after the original Norwegian version of my novel, Drømmer om storhet, had been published in late 2002 I had bought the Norwegian translation of that same book for my nephew as a Christmas present. It looked interesting, but I decided to give it away instead of reading it myself. I read it for the first time last year and liked it a lot. Regener’s writing style is different from mine, but the feeling, characters and humour is all there.

Another interesting fact when it comes to comparing books is the following: The other year I read a Norwegian translation of one of John Fante’s work, a book that had been waiting for many years in my bookshelf, and since I knew Paul Waaktar-Savoy was an eager reader of Fante, I mailed him and told him that I liked Fante’s style. Paul said I should try the trilogy Ask the Dust, and then I started reading the novel about the struggling writer Arturo Bandini trying to survive in Los Angeles in the nineteen thirties. The ressemblance with Hobo was so shocking that it made me laugh. Hobo and Arturo are soul mates!

From early on in the book, it is clear that Hobo lacks focus as an author and seeks – and finds – a compass point for his creativity in Paul Waaktaar-Savoy’s career as a songwriter. What we never really know is whether Hobo is actually a good writer or not. Is the acclaim he seeks ever really possible?

Pål: I doubt he will ever get the Nobel Prize. But that doesn’t mean he is without talent. I think the sonett about his girlfriend Helle shows that.

Some readers have discussed the possibility that Hobo might have been following someone around who was not actually Paul Waaktaar-Savoy; that in his obsession he was able to make himself believe that he’d really spoken with the songwriter in a shop and had seen his family at home. Should we take these ‘sightings’ at face value or is there an intended ambiguity there?

Pål: No, this is meant to be pure facts within the fiction. The point is that Paul represents something dreamlike Hobo is reaching for, but at the same time their encounters shows him that Paul is a man of flesh and blood that lives a ordinary family life that includes buying diapers for his son at the supermarket.

In a recent interview with Paul Waaktaar-Savoy about the book, Paul was asked whether he ever wanted to be a writer. He said, “I thought I could become a writer when I was 20 or so, but I know better now. Only with writing music (and sometimes lyrics) do I get these moments where it all seems so easy, as if no work is involved.” If Hobo heard that writing was so ‘easy’ for his idol, would it change his approach to writing?

Pål: Paul said “moments where it all seems so easy.” Creating art is about doing a lot of hard work, and then suddenly there comes a flow like Paul is describing. So what I think Paul is saying here is that only with writing music (and sometimes lyrics) he really feels a sort of creative lifting. But what Hobo really needs to learn from Paul is the “hard work” bit. Paul has always been a hard working artist.

Hobo has a few quirky dependencies when it comes to being able to write – his smoking jacket and his desk, for example – which seem to have a life of their own in that they move apparently without Hobo’s knowledge or consent. Is Paul Waaktaaar-Savoy yet another ‘misplaced’ dependency for Hobo’s craft? Or are we to see Paul entirely as inspiration, and the one thing that doesn’t change for Hobo?

Pål: The whole story is much about Hobo fleeing his responsibilities in the real world. Actually he has some sort of crisis because he shall move in with Helle, and he later even learns that he shall become a father. He starts dreaming himself away and meeting Paul makes him dream even more. Paul is a great and true inspiration for him, yes, but the most important is that Hobo in the end discovers that a man like Paul is quite down to earth and can both create and be a family man present in the real world. That’s when Hobo starts getting back on track again.

Jon Buscall, who translated Drømmer om storhet into English, said that Hobo “has a liking for obscure words and that took some time to get my head around.” Translating this text must have been difficult! At the time of writing Drømmer om storhet, did you already hope or imagine that you would be publishing translations for a wider audience outside Norway?

Pål: Not really. In the back of my head I had some thoughts that some people in Norway could find the a-ha and Paul Waaktar-Savoy theme interesting. The great interest among the fans abroad was very surprising, however.

Knowing what you know now about the broader appeal of Drømmer om storhet outside Norway, would you have approached the task of writing any differently? What were the main challenges you faced in making the book available to the German and English audiences?

Pål: I don’t think I would have written it differently, no. When it comes to making the novel available abroad, the main challenge from the start was that Drømmer om storhet is a literary work that has a potential audience both among the ordinary readers of fiction and among the music interested and especially the fans of a-ha. The use of the a-ha reference can easily exclude the broader audience, and without using it one is competing with thousands of other novels on the market.

For Germany I was lucky to get in touch with Rockbuch, a publisher that publishes books about bands and musicians, but also novels that have some sort of music reference. This kind of publisher is hard to find. That’s why I decided to publish the book with my own company Fabula, in order to reach the readers that already know about the book.

As a result of this fall’s promotion of the book, there are a number of new channels for readers to connect with you and with each other to discuss the book and characters. Can you tell us a bit about these channels? Has it been a rewarding experience interacting with your readers in these new ways?

Pål: My contact with a-ha fans started through mails and internet after a-ha.com and Norwegian papers had written about the book in 2002. Later, when it was clear that a German edition was to be published, I got myself a MySpace site and received many friend requests from all over the world, including Annette Schwindt who has helped me a lot since then.

I try to communicate as well as I can through my MySpace, my regular website and recently I went on Facebook and established a group for Drømmer om storhet where people can discuss the book and other topics and ask questions. I have even started my own YouTube channel! I find it all rewarding and interesting, and I hope to be able to continue this sort of communication in the time to come.

Above: Pål reading an excerpt from The Scoundrel Days of Hobo Highbrow via his new video channel on Youtube.

Many thanks to Pål H. Christiansen for this interview, and to Annette Schwindt for her assistance.