I Call You Pyotr
By Hanne Ramsdal
Lone and Paul are both in their mid-thirties. They meet at a party, and begin a playful flirtation in which they take on the roles of Olga and Pyotr, communicating in broken…
By Hanne Ramsdal
Lone and Paul are both in their mid-thirties. They meet at a party, and begin a playful flirtation in which they take on the roles of Olga and Pyotr, communicating in broken…
Lone and Paul are both in their mid-thirties. They meet at a party, and begin a playful flirtation in which they take on the roles of Olga and Pyotr, communicating in broken English. But the flirting soon becomes a kind of erotic game – with no promises. Everything is free and alluring – but who is really meeting whom? And what about when the game encroaches on reality, erasing vast swathes of real life in favour of an obsessive desire for something that may not exist?
The novel explores the fragile line between roleplay, delusions and reality – along with the consequences of pretending to be more reckless and tough than you really are.
Praise
6 stars out of 6 “In language raw and direct, Hanne Ramsdal writes about being so in love, almost to the point of madness. [...] Ramsdal shows us painfully well how far it is possible to go in justifying one’s own choices in the name of love, and how willing one can be to excuse the one you love.”Ida Vågsether, Stavanger Aftenblad
5 stars out 6 “The novel is a sensuous, sensitive and painful story in which Ramsdal captivates the reader – all the way to the end. This has turned the book into a favourite this autumn in Norway.”Maya Troberg Djuve, Dagbladet
“The author mercilessly describes how far a person can be willing to go once they’re infatuated, obsessively interpreting everything, cutting themselves off from friends who are only trying to give advice, growing unfocussed and repetitive and losing the ability to handle what life throws at them, and always waiting around once they are the amygdala’s prisoner. Infatuation’s wicked dynamics are laid out for the reader in a masterful way.”Sissel Gran
“Hanne Ramsdal writes painfully and precisely about losing herself in others.”Klassekampen
“I Call You Pyotr ??is a well written and well composed novel with a surge towards the end, and her daughter Kajsa is portrayed with insight and empathy into the anxiety and loneliness she feels when her mother simply leaves to meet her lover or forgets to pick her up from kindergarten.”Dag og Tid
“I Call You Pyotr ??is a strong narrative about playing the game – until everything falls apart.”Universitas
