SOLSTAD, DAG

born July 16, 1941, Sandefjord, Nor. novelist, short-story writer, and dramatist, one of the most significant Norwegian writers to emerge during the 1960s. Solstad began his career as a writer of short experimental fictions that investigated the themes of identity and alienation: Spiraler (1965; Spirals) and Svingstol (1967; Swing Chair). His novel Irr! Grnt! (1969; Patina! Green!) described the efforts of a peasant student to escape his limited background. Solstad's fiction took a more directly political turn with the novel Arild Asnes, 1970 (1971), which traced the development of a young man to the point at which he perceived that political revolution was necessary and must be brought about by conflict. In 25 September Plassen (1974; September 25th Square) he showed the growing political awareness on the part of factory workers in the period following World War II. Svik. Frkrigsr (1977; Betrayal: Prewar Years) and Krig. 1940 (1978; War: 1940) were the first two in a series of novels that gave a minutely documented account of Norway in World War II.