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Winter 2009/2010: Remarkable attention for KB’s novel To Music (Til Musikken) in England. In The Independent, Tone Sutterud writes: “This is an enchanting tale of love and death, desire and loss, about how parents and mentors manipulate and ultimately fail the young people entrusted to them. Above all, it’s a story of music written by a master in the field.” In the Financial Times, the author Henry Hitchings writes: “Bjørnstad diligently maps out a plot that’s charged with Gothic intensity, as the creepy adults repeatedly forsake their sensitive dependants. The main strength of the novel is its evocation of the pathology of adolescent rivalry ... there are moments of wiry drama and of psychological acuity.”

 

Summer 2009: More remarkable attention for KB's novel Der Fluss in Germany: In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Anja Hirsch writes that “Vindings Spiel was exciting, full of atmosphere and instructive… In Der Fluss, KB consequently gives attention to the deepest conflicts … And telling about the close connection between sorrow and desire, he is also this time able to seduce his reader.” In Kölner Stadtanzeiger, the author Peter Henning writes that Der Fluss is “a great and upsetting novel.” And in Sachsische Zeitung, Ulrich Steinmetzger writes that Der Fluss is a novel about deep passion, and that it is KB's achievement to find the right words for it.”

 

17 March 2009. Elke Heidenreich talks for the third time about one of KBs books in her famous Lesen!-program (litColony.de). She presents Bjørnstads novel Der Fluss (Elven) and says it is “a brilliant, quiet, intense and profound melancholic story.”

 

17 March 2009. Elke Heidenreich talks for the third time about one of KBs books in her famous Lesen!-program (litColony.de). She presents Bjørnstads novel Der Fluss (Elven) and says it is “a brilliant, quiet, intense and profound melancholic story.”

 

March/April 2009. KBs novel Damen I Dalen is reviewed in Norways major newspapers. Jan Askelund of Stavanger Aftenblad says that the novel is “thrilling Ketil Bjørnstad at his very best. His best book ever.” Svein Johs Ottesen of Aftenposten writes that the book is “a reading experience on the highest level” and that “KB writes about music in a way that few other authors are able to do.” Ole Jacob Hoel of Adresseavisen calls the novel “a very good read”. In VG, Sindre Hovdenak praise the book as “a full-blooded artist novel”. And in Dagbladet, Cathrine Krøger says that “KB is professional. He knows how to create a story.”

 

7 March 2009 in Dagsavisen, Damen I Dalen gets an excellent review by Kjell Olaf Jensen. He writes that the last volume of the Vinding-trilogy is both “thrilling, vivid and entertaining.” Jensen specially values Bjørnstad's attempt to describe life, love and self-analysis through music. More reviews of this novel are expected to come.

 

Friday 13 March 2009 KB will attend the Leipzig Bookfair, in Blüthner Klavierschule. He will read from the novel Der Fluss and also play solo piano. The day before, he gives a solo-concert at Schloss Landestrost outside Hannover. He is also performing with Anneli Drecker and Lill Lindfors on different concerts in Norway this spring. He will visit Germany and Austria in April (Frankfurt 22, Oberursel 23, together with Moritz Stoepel, and Innsbruck 25), playing solo-piano.

 

6 March 2009 the third novel about Aksel Vinding, Damen I Dalen is published in Norway by Aschehoug. The publishing house also invites to a release concert in Store Studio, NRK, with KORK (The Norwegian Radio Orchestra) Friday 20 March, presenting music from the trilogy. Jie Zhang will play Chopin and Ravel, Gunilla Süssmann will play Debussy, Beethoven and Rachmaninov. Christian Eggen is the conductor. He will also play Mozart. KB will read and tell from the books. Both radio and television will record the concert.

 

Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel The River (Aschehoug 2007) is currently being published in Denmark to glowing reviews. The River was given a full-page review in Politiken, one of Denmark’s major daily newspapers, 25 October 2008. Mette Winge writes, “It is not without good reason that Ketil Bjørnstad has been awarded the Prix des Lecteurs for To Music.” She calls The River “a worthy successor”, and writes, “Like To Music, The River is great literature – sombre and uplifting at the same time.” Henriette Bacher Lind of Jyllands-Posten, Denmark’s largest-selling daily newspaper, writes: “As the musician he is, Ketil Bjørnstad constructs his story very elegantly, like a musical composition, repeating the same passages again and again in new ways.” She concludes that the reader is “once again captivated by Ketil Bjørnstad’s musical and expressive language”. And Eva Pohl of Berlingske Tidende opens her review by commenting, “Waves of drama sweep over the characters in Ketil Bjørnstad’s compelling and psychologically insightful novel The River.” The third volume of the trilogy about Aksel Vinding, The Lady of the Valley, will be published in Norwegian in February 2009.

 

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has a very favourable review of KB's "Oda" by Matthias Hannemann October 25. 2008. Hannemann writes that the novel is very elegantly written, and that KB shows all his musical talent in his work with the text. He also praises KB for being trustworthy with all the biographical elements.

 

In Norwegian Dagbladet, Tom Stalsberg writes that KB's book "Kolbein Falkeid - Et nærbilde" is a wonderful book about poetry, life and cosmos. Gro Jørstad Nilsen of Bergens Tidende says that KB gives a brilliant portrait of a wise poet. 

 

23 September 2008,

Ketil Bjørnstad was announced as the winner of the prestigious French readers’ award "Prix des Lecteurs" for his novel Til Musikken (La Société des Jeunes Pianistes). This prize is awarded by a large jury composed of readers all over France, who have read four books each month for an entire year. They select one candidate every month as a finalist, and then one of the twelve finalists is chosen as the winner. Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel Til Musikken, competing with novels by writers such as Paul Auster and Truman Capote, was the favourite of the French readers. Previous winners include Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Isabel Allende.

  

KBs novel ”Oda” is getting great attention in German newspapers. In his review for Züddeutsche Zeitung, Joseph Hanimann writes: “We are happy to believe that this woman anticipated the liberal masquerade between honesty and new pretence – a masquerade which the author’s generation would enjoy to its fullest extent – by almost a hundred years.” In Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Peter Urban-Halle writes that KBs novel reminds him of the writing of Per-Olov Enquist, but more sober, and without hysteria. In Rheinischer Merkur, KB is praised by Ulrich Steinmetzger, who writes that KBs novel is a sovereign piece of art.

  

 August 2008

KB was given the honour of writing the prologue for Bjørnsonfestivalen – The Norwegian festival of international literature – in Molde,

 

KB has delivered the third part of his trilogy about Axel Vinding, starting with “Til Musikken” (2004) and “Elven” (2007) to his publishing house Aschehoug. The novel, “Damen i dalen”, will be published in Spring 2009.

  

 21 September 2008.

Bokklubben (The norwegian Book-of-the-Month-club) makes a re-launch of KBs novel “Oda!” from 1983, due to it’s 25th anniversary, together with a re-release of his tripple-album “Leve Patagonia” from 1978. The book and the cd’s will be offered in October 2008, and KB

will perform “Sommernatt ved fjorden” at the “Bokfest” at the new Norwegian Opera.

  

22 September 2008

KBs portrait of the Norwegian poet Kolbein Falkeid “Kolbein Falkeid – et nærbilde. Den som ser i brønnen stirrer nedenfra.”, will be released by CappelenDamm. The book is a result of several interviews KB made with the 75 year old poet in his hometown Haugesund during

 

2008

Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel "La Société des Jeunes Pianistes" (Til Musikken) is nominated to the French "Prix des Lecteurs" 2008.

19 December 2007
KB’s novel "Elven" (The River) was regarded as one of the best books in 2007 by Norway's biggest newspaper VG. Gabriel Michael Vosgraff Moro called the novel "a thrilling experience". (VG)

February 2008
KB’s Novel ODA was published by Insel/Suhrkamp.

 

22 October 2007
KB’s new novel "Elven" (The River) is the sequel to "Til Musikken" and was released by Aschehoug. It is also "book-of-the-month" in Bokklubben’s Nye Bøker. The author Unni Lindell recommends the book strongly for the BnB-magazine and says it is a book with an extraordinary literary quality. It reminds her of her favourite novel "Juleoratoriet" by Göran Tunström. In Adresseavisen Ole Jacob Hoel writes that the novel is "highly recommendable" and even asks for a third book about Aksel Vinding. In Dagsavisen, Gerd Elin Stava Sandve calls the novel "a deep river - a dark stream of desire and passion". In Aftenposten, the critic Svein Johs Ottesen regards the book as one of KB’s best novels ever. 

 

KB's latest novel "Til Musikken" (Vindings Spiel, etc) was sold to the English publishers MAIA-press during the London Book-Fair in April 2007. A GB-release of the book, which is also a pocket-book at Suhrkamp Verlag in September 2007, is planned for spring 2009.

 

19 March 2007
Ketil Bjørnstad participated in Elke Heidenreich's Literatur-Gala in Cologne, reading from "Vindings Spiel"

 

18 October 2006
The French translation of Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel Til Musikken (La Société des Jeunes Pianistes) has received excellent reviews in France. In Le Point, the former Goncourt-prize-winner Jacques-Pierre Amette writes that the novel is "Tout simplement superbe!" The novel has also received a very good review in Die Zeit.

 

2007
Together with his journalist-wife Catharina Jacobsen, Ketil Bjørnstad wrote a book about the nerve sanatorium Modum Bad outside Oslo. The book was released by Dinamo Forlag.

 

Autumn 2006
Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel Til Musikken (La Société des jeunes pianistes) was released in France on Editions JC LATTÈS in September. It has been selected by Virgin and FNAC stores as a star book.

 

April 2006
Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel "Vindings Spiel" ("Til Musikken) got a strong recommendation from the book critic Elke Heidenreich in Germany. In her "Lesen!"-program for ZDF She called the novel: "... ein rundherum gut erzähltes, spannend erzähltes, einfühlsames, perfektes Buch. Das könnte Ihr Frühjahrsbuch werden." The novel reached the bestselling-list of both Stern and Der Spiegel shortly afterwards.

 

Ketil Bjørnstad’s book on Liv Ullmann ”Livslinjer (Lifelines)” is regarded one of the best books of the year (2005) by Aftenposten’s film critic Per Haddal. The book is so far sold to Germany (btb - Random House), Denmark, Russia, Hungary, Czeck Republic and Estonia.

 

October 2005
Ketil Bjørnstad's non-fiction novel "Flammeslukeren" (Ole Bull - en livshistorie) about the Norwegian fiddler Ole Bull (1810-1880) got an excellent review by the historian Yngvar Ustvedt in Norway's biggest daily newspaper VG.

17 October 2005
KETIL BJØRNSTAD released his biographical novel FLAMMESLUKEREN (The Fire- Eater) about the fiddler Ole Bull (1810-1880) in Bergen together with the Norwegian violinist Arve Tellefsen.

19 November 2005
KETIL BJØRNSTAD gave a lecture on Edvard Munch at the Royal Academy in London. Arcadia Books is also publishing their B format edition of The Story of Edvard Munch at the same time.

November 2005
KETIL BJØRNSTAD wrote a biography on the Norwegian actress and director LIV ULLMANN for Aschehoug & co, called LIVSLINJER (Lifelines).

August 2004 
KETIL BJØRNSTAD’s latest novel "Til Musikken" (An die Musik/To the music) was released in Norway in, and is so far sold in Denmark, Holland and France.

 

 

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