End Of A Voyage

This latest collection of poetry and short prose by Jan Oskar Hansen exemplifies immense personal and artistic maturity. I have elsewhere written about Hansen's genius as regards the art of storytelling, and this work is no exception. Hansen seems to re-set the bar with each book he writes ? much like good whiskey .. improving with age and experience. Hansen has successfully managed to combine poetic economy and succinctness with prosaic boundlessness; at the same time retaining his innate sense of literary rebelliousness, social and political commentary and overall evenness of quality. Jan Oskar Hansen has what is referred to in Norwegian (the land of his birth and youth) as ?bakkekontakt? (a sense of reality). Hansen's work often leaves an almost bittersweet chocolate aftertaste, with the effect that the reader is invariably left with a craving for more. Perhaps the most striking and enticing aspect of these short stories in poetic prose form is also that which makes them somewhat ?uncomfortable?: Hansen ingeniously presents contemporary issues and personal experience in a way that is immediately digestible, both honest and humorous in its portrayal of humanity; and which cleverly pulls the reader so easily into the reasoning of the stories told that one cannot help but to question one's own personal values upon reflection. His experiences and his viewpoints suddenly become those of the reader, and in order to satisfy the yearning to learn more about oneself one simply has to continue slavishly from poem to poem.