''Naïve. Super.'' (Original title: ''Naiv.Super.'') is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

author

Erlend Loe Erlend Loe (24 May 1969, Trondheim) is a Norwegian novelist, screenwriter and film critic. Loe writes both children's and adult literature. He has gained popularity in Scandinavia with his humorous and sometimes naïve novels, although his stori ...

. It was first published in 1996 in

, and proved to be very popular. In 2006, it was on the newspaper ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

''s list of the best Norwegian novels 1981–2006. The novel has since been translated into more than 30 other languages. Tor Ketil Solberg translated the novel into English.

Plot synopsis

The story is narrated by a man in his mid-twenties who suddenly becomes disillusioned and confused by life and therefore quits university. The narrator becomes fascinated by both modern scientific theories of time and relativity. He reads a book by

Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute ...

, exchanges faxes with his meteorologist friend Kim, and also engages in repetitive childish activities such as playing with wooden BRIO children's toys and repeatedly throwing a ball against a wall. In the end, the narrator visits his brother in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and returns to Norway with a renewed sense of meaning in life. While the narrator's name remains unknown throughout the novel, the author uses his own name at the end of the book, raising questions about the true narrative standpoint throughout the text.

Chapters

The novel is broken up into 45 chapters, each approximately 4-5 pages in length.

References

1996 Norwegian novels 20th-century Norwegian novels Books by Erlend Loe Novels set in Norway Philosophical novels {{1990s-philos-novel-stub