Norwegian / Norway
Hullet
(The hole)
Torseter, Øyvind
(text/illus.)
[Oslo]: Cappelen Damm, 2012. – [64] p.
ISBN 978-82-02-37576-8
Uncertainty | Hole | Picture book
Reading age: 9+
White Ravens issue: 2013
The special feature of “Hullet” is the hole drilled straight through its cover and pages. The book earns its name and its story from this hole. Øyvind Torseter develops these in interplay with and, quite literally, around the hole. The main character – a typical Torseter character with a human form and dog-like head – discovers a hole in his new apartment. Puzzled, he brings it to the lab after much reflection, so that it can be studied. There the hole undergoes many tests but without much result. Given its absurd characteristics, the story, illustrated with a swift ink stroke, can be read as a parable concerning the more or less latent and challenging presence of existential emptiness, which is best approached with prudence.