Books from Norway
Writing from Norway spans crime fiction, folk tales, drama, poetry and memoir. These books come from a country with a long storytelling tradition, and they move between the coast, the forest and the city.
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Contemporary Fiction
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Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
A novel that follows a young girl named Sophie as she receives a course in the history of philosophy.
- Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. A novel about an older man living alone in the countryside who looks back on a childhood incident and the losses that followed for him and his friend Jon.
- The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen. A novel that follows a boy named Barnum Nilsen as he grows up in Oslo in the decades after the Second World War.
Mystery & Thriller
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The Snowman by Jo Nesbø
A crime novel set in Oslo in which detective Harry Hole investigates the disappearances of women after the first snow, with a snowman left behind.
- The Bat by Jo Nesbø. A crime novel that introduces detective Harry Hole and is set partly in Australia.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
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Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
A dramatic poem that follows the travels and fortunes of its title character.
- Norwegian Folk Tales by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. A collection of traditional Norwegian folk tales gathered from oral storytelling and written down by two collectors.
Poetry
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The Dream We Carry by Olav H. Hauge
A selection of poems by a Norwegian poet known for short, spare verse about everyday life and nature.
Memoir & Nonfiction
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Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl
A memoir about his voyage across the Pacific on a raft.
- My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård. A memoir in several volumes in which the author writes about his own life, family and youth in Norway.
How we choose
These lists start from books Atlas Unread readers can stamp for Norway. Each title and author is confirmed against Wikidata, Wikipedia or library records before it is listed.