Annotated List of Jens Bjørneboe's Works

CONTENTS

Poetry

Novels

Trilogy and Sharks

Plays

Essays

POETRY

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Atle Evje: JB: "...After All, I'm Basically a Poet."

Part I: the 1950s

Part II: the 1960s

Dikt (Poems). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1951.

Excerpts

Ariadne. Oslo: Aschehoug, 1953.

Excerpts

Den Store By (The Great City). Oslo: Cappelen, 1958.

Excerpts

Aske, Vind og Jord (Ashes, Wind and Earth). Oslo, Gyldendals Lanterne-bøker, 1968.

Selected poems, including lyrics from his first two musicals.

Excerpts

NOVELS

Hertug Hans (Duke Hans). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1972.

Historical novella written in 1948, refused by every major Norwegian publisher at that time.

Bibliography

Før Hanen Galer (Ere the Cock Crows). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1952.

The relationship between a doctor performing medical experiments in a Nazi concentration camp and the commandant of the camp is used to unmask the so-called "ethical neutrality of science."

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Sigurd Aa. Aarnes: "The Problem of Evil"—Nazism in Jens Bjørneboe's writing.

Jonas (Jonas / The Least of These). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1955.

A dyslexic boy is brutalized by the Norwegian school system and finds a haven in a Steiner school.

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Jens Bjørneboe: from When I wrote Jonas

Esther Greenleaf Mürer: The Least of These:

Critique of the 1959 English translation of Jonas

Jahn Thon: from Bjørneboe's Social Critique

Under en Hårdere Himmel (Under a Sterner Heaven / Harder Heaven /Harsher Sky). Oslo: Cappelen, 1957.

Follows the members of one small-town Norwegian family who collaborate with the occupying Germans for emotionally honest if misguided reasons, while other characters seek to turn the occupation to political advantage. For Norwegians this may still be Bjørneboe's most controversial work.

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Sigurd Aa. Aarnes: "The Problem of Evil"—Nazism in Jens Bjørneboe's writing.

Vinter i Bellapalma ( Winter in Bellapalma). Oslo: Cappelen, 1958.

Comic novel about relations between natives and tourists in an Italian fishing village. Contains elements prefiguring The Bird-Lovers and Moment of Freedom.

Excerpt  |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Esther Greenleaf Mürer: Winter in Bellapalma: Harbinger of Works to Come

Blåmann (Darkman / Little Boy Blue). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1959.

In this bildungsroman about a painter, Bjørneboe may be imagining "the road not taken."

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Mark Mussari:. Color: the Material of Immateriality in JB's Blåmann

Jahn Thon: from Bjørneboe's Social Critique

Den Onde Hyrde (The Evil Shepherd). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1960.

A young man is released from prison, finds no help or support for his efforts to go straight and ends up back inside.

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Jens Bjørneboe: (Alone with the paper).

Drømmen og Hjulet (The Dream and the Wheel). Oslo: Aschehoug, 1964.

Fictionalized biography of the the turn-of-the-century woman novelist Ragnhild Jølsen and her idealistic entrepreneur father.

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Jahn Thon: from Bjørneboe's Social Critique

Uten en Tråd (Without a Stitch). Oslo, Scala, 1966 (published anonymously).

pornographic novel, subject of 1967 obscenity trial. Long banned in Norway.

Bibliography

Uten en Trævl II (Without a Stitch II). Copenhagen, Stig Vendelkaers forlag, 1968.

Sequel to the foregoing, published in Denmark with drawings by the author. Dedicated to the Norwegian Supreme Court.

Bibliography

Trilogy popularly known as "The History of Bestiality."

More information   |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Gary Kern: Bjørneboe's great failure: The History of Bestiality    (2003, Excerpt)

Frihetens Øyeblikk (Moment of Freedom) Oslo: Gyldendal, 1966.

First volume of trilogy "The History of Bestiality", generally regarded as Bjørneboe's masterpiece.

Excerpts  |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Sigurd Aa. Aarnes: fromThe Problem of Evil:Nazism in Jens Bjørneboe's Writing

Miljenko Cemeljic: A Croatian Response to the Trilogy   (2001)

Gary Kern: Bjørneboe's great failure: The History of Bestiality    (2003, Excerpt)

Halfdan Kierulf: The Vision of Sickness in Jens Bjørneboe's Writings

Inge S. Kristiansen: Toward the End Times

Leif Longum: Moment of Freedom

Esther Greenleaf Mürer: Winter in Bellapalma: Harbinger of works to come

Jahn Thon: from Bjørneboe's Social Critique

Kruttårnet (Powderhouse / The Powder Magazine). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1969.

Second volume of trilogy.

Excerpts  |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Miljenko Cemeljic: A Croatian Response to the Trilogy   (2001)

Øyvind Gulliksen: Bjørneboe and America

Gary Kern: Bjørneboe's great failure: The History of Bestiality    (2003, Excerpt)

Halfdan Kierulf: The Vision of Sickness in Jens Bjørneboe's Writings

Joe Martin: Bjørneboe on the Death Penalty

Esther Greenleaf Mürer: Notes on the Genesis of Powderhouse

Stillheten (The Silence). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1973.

Third volume of trilogy.

Excerpts  |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Øyvind Gulliksen: Bjørneboe and America

Gary Kern: Bjørneboe's great failure: The History of Bestiality    (2003, Excerpt)

Esther Greenleaf Mürer: Translator's Introduction to The Silence

Jahn Thon: "Something New Must Be Created"

Haiene (The Sharks). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1974.

Allegorical sea novel in the tradition of Melville and Conrad follows the voyage of the bark Neptune across the Pacific in the year 1899.

Excerpts:   The Mate  |  The Dutchman

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Inge S. Kristiansen: Toward the End Times

Elizabeth A. Schultz: The Trembling Balance in JB's The Sharks

Review by Alison Lewis

Review by Hans Christian Andersen (University of Northumbria)

PLAYS

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Oddbjørn Johannessen: Jens Bjørneboe and the Norwegian Theater

Til Lykke med Dagen (Many Happy Returns!) Oslo: Pax forlag, 1965.

Brechtian musical has the same plot as The Bad Shepherd, but with added satirical social commentary.

Song lyrics  |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Atle Evje: "After All, I'm Basically a Poet"—Part II: The 1960's

Fugleelskerne (The Bird Lovers). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1966.

A group of Germans, some of them former Nazis, want to turn an Italian village into a tourist resort for birdwatchers, and come up against the local hunting club, which includes former partisans victimized by the same Nazis. A black-comedy musical about economic imperialism.

Song lyrics   |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Sigurd Aa. Aarnes: from The Problem of Evil:  Nazism in Jens Bjørneboe's Writing

Atle Evje: "After All, I'm Basically a Poet"—Part II: The 1960's

Leif Longum: The Bird Lovers: Timelessness and Contemporary Problematic

Esther Greenleaf Mürer: Winter in Bellapalma: Harbinger of Works to Come

Semmelweis (Semmelweis). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1968.

Epic play about the discoverer of antisepsis and his battle to get his methods adopted.

Excerpt  |   Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Fredrik Engelstad: Knowledge and Society: Holberg, Ibsen, Bjørneboe

Oddbjørn Johannessen: The authoritarian and the "traitors"

Joe Martin: Translator's Introduction to Semmelweis

Amputasjon (Amputation). Oslo: Gyldendal, 1970.

Surrealistic dystopian play set in a futuristic mental hospital.

Excerpt   |   Bibliography

Tilfellet Torgersen (The Torgersen Case). Oslo: Pax forlag, 1973.

Written on behalf of Fredrik Fasting Torgersen, a man whom Bjørneboe was convinced had been wrongfully convicted of murder.

Bibliography

Dongery (Blue Jeans). Oslo: Pax forlag, 1976.

Cabaret satire on advertising.

Bibliography

Rød Emma (Red Emma). Oslo: Forlaget Bjørnsons grav, 1976. (Fragment)

Unfinished play about Emma Goldman.

Bibliography

ESSAYS

Bibliography

Commentary on this site:

Øyvind Gulliksen: Bjørneboe and America

Kaj Skagen: Bjørneboe's Social Individualism

Fredrik Wandrup: The Little Children    (Steiner School Essays)

Fredrik Wandrup: Storming the Bastille  (prison essays)

Norge, Mitt Norge (Norway, my Norway). Oslo: Pax Forlag, 1968.

"Essays on the Authoritarian Type."

Excerpts

Vi Som Elsket Amerika (We Who Loved America). Oslo: Pax Forlag, 1970.

"Essays on the Madness of Superpowers, the Desire to Punish, Art and Morals."

Excerpts

Politi og Anarki (Police and Anarchy). Oslo: Pax Forlag, 1972.

"Essays on Cats, Courts, and People."

Excerpts

Under en Mykere Himmel (Under a Gentler Heaven). Ed. André Bjerke. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1976.

Essays from Bjørneboe's days as a teacher at the Rudolf Steiner School in the 1950s, with two short plays he wrote for his classes.

Excerpts

Lanterner (Lanterns). Ed. André Bjerke. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1977.

Early travel pieces, epistles, and short stories, with illustrations by the author.

Excerpts

Om Brecht (On Brecht). Ed. Tone Bjørneboe and K. F. Engelstad. Oslo: Pax forlag, 1977.

Excerpts

Om Teater (On Theater). Ed. Tone Bjørneboe and K. F. Engelstad. Oslo: Pax forlag, 1978.

Excerpts

Bøker og Mennesker (Books and People). Ed. Aud Gulbransen and Jadwige T. Kvadsheim. Oslo: Gyldendals fakkelbøker, 1979.

Book reviews and articles, mostly on literary subjects.

Excerpts

UNFINISHED MEMOIR

Med Horn og Hale (With Horns and a Tail)

COLLECTED WORKS

Issued jointly in hardcover by Gyldendal and Pax, 1995-96. 21 volumes (unnumbered) as follows: 13 novels (exclusive of Uten en Trævl II, which has never been published in Norway); Samlede Dikt (Collected Poems); Samlede Skuespill (Collected Plays); Samlede Essays (Collected Essays) in 6 volumes: Politikk, Kultur (2 v), Teater, Pedagogikk, Epistler.