A note from Oslo Book Festival 2011
This weekend I went to the Oslo Book Festival. It was mainly held in the downtown Karl Johan with two main stage, one in Spikkersuppa and the other in the Opera building. After doing the saturday chores in the morning, I went downtown without any particular goal about the festival. I had read the programs, and didn’t find anything particularly
interesting. I just wanted to be around books and people who loved them. I must also admit that my urge to buy print books has decreased a bit after owning an iPad. Books that are not particularly good or important or timeless, I’d rather buy the digital version.
I arrived past midday, dropped by the information booth and picked up the complete programs. Browsed it quickly and a program caught my eyes: Black Metal-Bussen (The Black Metal Bus). A two hour program subtitled “The True Norwegian Black Metal Sightseeing”. (Has there been any fake sig
Anders Odden, the musician from, among others, the band Satyricon, was going to introduce his book titled “Piratliv” (Pirate Live), to be launched in November. The presentation was about one chapter in his book about his life and adventures in the Black Metal world. A clever way to talk about bus-touring musician life in an actual bus.
He talked about the early days of his involvement with the music at the age of 13 and his relationship with the band Mayhem. How the musical communities turns into something rebellious with the church burnings and other extreme doings.
We went circling the small chapel, passing by a group of people celebrating a wedding, rather awkwardly exchanging looks. At the back of the church there was a placate with an upside-down cross painted in black, another historical trace. The visit ended there and Odden said that the next stop was Helvete (Hell). Again, I wondered what it was.
This is certainly not a usual book fair experience!