BORGEN, JOHAN (COLLET MLLER)

born April 28, 1902, Kristiania [now Oslo], Nor. died Oct. 16, 1979, Hvaler Norwegian novelist, short-story writer, dramatist, and essayist, one of 20th-century Norway's most important and versatile writers. His principal work was a novel trilogy: Lillelord (1955; Lillelord), De mrke kilder (1956; The Dark Springs), and Vi har ham n (1957; Now We Have Him), all three translated into English under the title Lillelord (1982). In these novels Borgen gives a picture of upper-middle-class life in Norway from 1917 through World War II; and in the figure of the protagonist, Wilfred Sagen, he draws a profound portrait of the kind of alienated and disaffected individual who, during the war, collaborated with the Nazis. The novel is equally valuable as a period study, with vignettes of the artist life in Copenhagen and Paris, and as a psychological study. Borgen began his career as a short-story writer with the collection Mot mrket (1925; Toward the Dark) and continued to do some of his best work in that genre. Noveller om kjaerlighet (1952; Love Stories) was a great success both critically and with the general public, as was also the collection Noveller i utvalg (1961; Selected Short Stories). In his later, more experimental novels, Borgen continued to create fictions that posed questions concerning alienation and identity: Jeg (1959; I); Bltind (1964; Blue Mountain); and Den rde tken (1967; The Red Fog). Borgen also wrote plays and over a long career developed a mastery of the short, witty essay. He won the Nordic Council's literary prize for a collection of short stories, Nye noveller. Frydenberg (1965; New Stories. Frydenberg). From 1954 to 1959, he was editor of the literary journal Vinduet. He was also a great critic, in the sense of being able to transmit his enthusiasm for books in lucid analyses. In this role he introduced many foreign writers to Norwegian readers.