http://www.amazon.com/In-Valley-Clich%C3%A9s-ebook/dp/B00BWM4C9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364924120&sr=8-1&keywords=in+the+valley+of+cliches
Authors often claim that they start out by fantasizing about a character, but when they start writing this character pops out of the bubbles of their minds, and takes over the whole project, leaving the author standing there as a helpless bystander.
I've never believed this. Until now.
Agnete, my fictional main character, simply took charge of "my" novel. She alone is responsible for the action, the setting, the language - not to speak of all the diabolic thoughts. Not only did she take charge of her own character, but she also took charge of all the other characters who exist, possibly exist or don't exist in the book.So here I am, the wannabe author of In the Valley of Cliches, non-plussed and tongue-tied, watching Agnete wandering around Oslo, doing all sorts of dodgy things and thinking all sorts of unmentionable thoughts. Looking at her little son, Alex, I wonder what he thinks and feels, and I definitely share Agnete's anxiety about what the social services would make of it all.
My only contribution now can be to show you around Agnete's territory, perhaps both you and I will start to understand her, to condone her strangeness, and maybe grow to care for her, just a little bit?
These girls are Agnete's best friends. Like them, she walks on this bridge every single day. They are her lifeline.
These statues are called Fabrikkjentene - The Factory Girls, sculpted in 1986 by Ellen Jacobsen. The bridge they are standing on is the Beier Bridge, it connects east and west Oslo. In the late 1900s the factory girls would walk over the bridge to their 12-hour working days in the weaving and spinning mills. In Oskar Braaten's book about them they say: "We walk back and forth over the bridge, that's as far as we get in this life, and when we've worked enough, it's just a short trip up to the Nordre Cemetery." They came out in the evenings covered in dust, fluff and chemical waste, crossed the bridge and shuffled home to tiny rooms they shared with 10-12 people, and washed in water they had to carry from the water post in the street. The ladies in the west end attributed their ill health to lack of personal hygiene and immoral living. The bridge was where everything happened: Walking to work, walking back, meeting friends, meeting and parting with sweethearts, telling boyfriends about pregnancies, and the sad endings of lives unlived.
Agnete, herself, lives on the 13th floor of this apartment block.
This is No 5, Thorvald Meyer's Street, 0555 Oslo. Agnete's White Citadel of Angels. It was built in 1966, has 19 floors and was the tallest apartment block in Oslo at the time. Getting a 1-2- or 3-roomed apartment here was a miracle in a time of acute housing shortage. In the background you can see the old Ringnes Brewery. Right up to the late 1970s we used to see frothy beer bubbling up from the drains, and trickling down the street. Agnete is not too pleased with what they've done with the Ringnes Brewery now.
Despite living on the 13th floor, Agnete can no longer see the suburb of Romsås. She'd like to, but she can't. There's too much in the way.
GRAAH SPINNERI AND HJULA VEVERI
If you look closely, you might catch a glimpse of Agnete's good friend standing in the window. Give her a wave. She needs it.
The Beier Bridge is hidden behind the trees. Agnete usually walks down this path with and without her little boy, Alex, and with and without her many, many friends.
DRAMATIC WATERFALL IN THE AKER RIVER
This is the view if you look down from the Beier Bridge. When the river is running high, people sitting on their balconies in Agnete's apartment block are showered with water. Luckily, she lives on the street side.If your heart falls into this waterfall, Agnete doubts that you can get it back. There is so much water......such.....a lot of.....water....
HØNSE-LOVISAS HUS
(HEN-LOVISA'S HOUSE)
(This is now a cosy little cafe, serving waffles with jam and sour cream. Agnete and I had our book-launching party here.)
Hønse-Lovisa is a fictional character in Oskar Braaten's play "Ungen" (The Child). She looked after the factory girls' children while they worked. The childless ladies in the west end were always on the lookout for chldren to adopt, and used to send the doctor to put pressure on the girls to give up their babies. Hønse-Lovisa protected the children, claiming that they were deeply loved and in good hands, in spite of their mother's poverty.
Agnete appreciates Hønse-Lovisa's work, but feels a bit threatened when passing it. Pre-schools and kindergartens have taken over Hønse-Lovisa's work, and in Agnete's opinion, they're not so compassionate as she was.
?
AGNETE'S SECRET TUNNEL
THE TUNNEL OF ARTISTS' MISTAKES
If you're standing on the Sanner Bridge, you can dive into the path that will take you into Agnete's secret tunnel. There you can see the intricate iron circles, the ones Agnete believes must be artists' mistakes. She grew very fond of these iron circles, after all, there are so many mistakes around, aren't there?
This is Aamodt Bru - a poor homeless creature, just like.....well....just like.....a lot of people.... feel.....a lot of people....
Something happens to Agnete here. She's not too sure what it is.
This is Aamodt Bru - a poor homeless creature, just like.....well....just like.....a lot of people.... feel.....a lot of people....
Something happens to Agnete here. She's not too sure what it is.
It's a terrible thing, Agnete thinks, a really terrible thing, to look forward to an exciting visit to the big city, and finding yourself stuck here among hostile trees, warring ducks and a frothing, foreign river.
TRANEN RESTAURANT
Agnete had an earth-shattering experience here.
The old "brown" restaurant Tranen is a longtime icon in Oslo, serving beer and old-fashioned dinners, like kjøttkaker med ertestuing, fårikål, røkte kjøttpølser - and beer. For many years the arena of Arnie "Skiffle-Joe" Norse and his wife, Nippa Porn, who used to play and sing their own songs (not suitable for a cultured audience....??...), while people would dance on the tiny dancefloor. Now, in his early 80s he's not too sure if he wants to continue in the restaurant which has now opened in a modernized version.
Some of my favorite laughs are his songs "Have you seen my sweet little wife?" and "Bært-bært!" (Tut-tut!) which you can hear if you press the links below.
rhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAprE4XYuoE&feature=related
At the bottom of the page you'll find a hand-drawn map so you can follow in Agnete's footsteps. Have a lovely walk!
In the meantime I'm going to lie here in the grass and read a book.
AGNETE'S WANDERINGS:
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