"Jesus Christ!" "Jarle..." "Shit, you..." "Shit." "She's a ninth-grader at SoIa." "Shit!" "A ninth-grader?" "!" "Oh shit." "But..." "Did I use a rubber?" "How the hell should I know?" "But..." "What are you doing?" "I have to see if..." "I have to check!" "Jesus!" "Give me a hand." "What are we looking for?" "What do you think?" "See anything?" "No, I can't tell." "Oh my god." "7 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS LATER" "There's an article on Bergman." "Comparative analysis of "silence"   and "The Seventh seal"." ""Who are you?" -"I am Death."" "How's your article coming along?" "Okay, I guess." "Finish it." "I know they'II print it." "Wow." "You look bright and eager." "Everyone in shape?" "Sober?" "Or what?" "What does our scholar say?" "carnival, guys." "Bakhtin writes that RabeIais transposes   the structure of the carnival, turning everything upside down." "Reason just disappears." "The body takes over." "Can you feel it, Norwegian bastards, can you sense the smell of genius?" "The mind sparkle, the body tingle?" "And what, in reality, are we witnessing?" "We are here." "We are there." "We are participants." "Participating in the celebration   of the huge, bewildering plurality of organic life." "And we..." "We become children." "We become children again." "At the carnival,   we are all equal." "For we are newborn." "THE PROUSTIAN BODY IS FAMOUS..." "Can't I just pop a pill or something?" "No, I'm afraid we need your blood." "Klepp." "So what do you do, Mr. Klepp?" "I'm a literary science student." "I'm writing my graduate thesis on Proustian onomastics." "Uh, marcel Proust." "I'm writing on him." "will I know the result immediately?" "Sure." "congratulations." "Let's see... "Name of mother:" "Anette Hansen, Skien."" ""Name of father:" "Jarle Klepp, Bergen."" "bloody hell!" "Fuck!" "This can't be right!" "Jeez, I've had sex countless times." "I don't even remember that time!" "How many kids do I have out there?" "Can she do that?" "Is it legal?" "Just turn up after seven years?" "I don't want anything to do with that kid." "Forget it." "Klepp, Klepp, Klepp." "It'II be okay." "Take that off." "It won't!" "welcome to the prime of Iife." "You're one of us." "Look." "Birte, Beate." "little Trine with her pacifier." "Huh?" "Think I've had a vacation the past eight years?" "Been to the movies?" "Read a novel?" "Partied with my old buddies?" "No!" "Does it bother me?" "No!" "This is what life's about." "It's what being a dad is like." "A daughter?" "Right, a daughter." "Seven years old?" "Oh, jelly roll." "Thank you." "Jesus." "One day you sealed the tomb of a ninth-grader." "He means her pussy." "Anette SoIa." "No, Hansen." "She's from SoIa." "Whatever." "You're seventeen, drink, read Bukowski, dig rock." "You've got no idea who you are." "Hasse, please?" "please?" "So you fuck Anette Hansen from SoIa's brains out while she's asleep..." "So to speak..." "You don't know what you've left her, but know you've been a bad boy..." "Okay, Hasse!" "I'm just trying say that there's some logic to your life, Jarle Klepp." "Yes. "For all is different from what you believe."" ""What I believe." "The banner waves." "Tiny secrets conceal themselves."" ""Secrets conceal themselves," Jarle." "It'II be okay, buddy." "I have to get back home." "You should reconsider." "Jesus!" "Look at him." "Jeez!" "He's..." "He's a fucking dad!" "We're going out to celebrate your life!" "Come on!" "You're frigging children." "You're the elite." "Creme de Ia creme." "Top of the line." "And you..." "Jarle." "More than anyone." "I'm serious." "Hey, Gothenburg..." "A man of your talent, get it?" "How far can you go?" "I'm serious." "Listen to me." "You have to work." "Get it?" "Work your ass off." "Write, write, write!" "Give it all to your talent." "I've got a kid in Skien." "Skien, MaImo, Costa del sol, " " Stamsund, Gothenburg, Berlin, Faro." "It's you and I. And Ingmar Bergman." "Shit, Jarle." "bloody hell, don't you get it?" "This whole fucked-up planet is like one..." "Hi, Jarle." "It's time for you to stand up and be a man." "I've looked after Charlotte Isabel for seven years. I need a vacation." "And it's time you met your daughter." "She'll arrive in Bergen at 1 1 :45 a.m. on 6 September." "The ticket's bought and paid for, so there." "Yours, Anette." "PS:" "She likes white bread and whey cheese." "Her birthday's on Thursday." "Hi, Jarle!" "Hi." "feelings are so global." "I don't know." "Even though it's far away, it touches me." "And I really loved what he said." "Look." "Mom, I can't find my Pokemon cards." "Take a look in here." "Did you hear the ruckus in the block last night?" "You didn't throw a party?" "No, no." "No, not without inviting me?" "No." "That's global." "Hey, are you heading out to the airport as well?" "I'm picking up my grandchild." "children." "The essence of Iife." "Life is meaningless until you have children." "children are such a blessing." "Isn't the world crowded enough?" "I'm a student." "Have no time for kids." "really?" "How exciting!" "I'm writing about Proust." "Suddenly some loony bitch in Skien   decides I'm a father and dumps her brat into my lap." "Look." ""I've taken care of our daughter for seven years." "I need a vacation."" ""She'II arrive in Bergen at 2:45 p.m. on 8 September."" "That's today!" "I know, dammit." "Hence the trip." "That's the problem." "Her birthday's on Tuesday." "How nice!" "And her name..." "It couldn't be uglier!" "Will the following passengers please proceed to Gate 22:" "Torger Johanson and Martin Kristiansen." "You must be Charlotte IsabeI?" "well, here's your father." "Enjoy your stay in Bergen." "Darling, I can't follow you all the way home to daddy." "Right." "I'm like... your dad." "So how was your flight?" "Charlotte IsabeI?" "And what do you have in this huge suitcase?" "BIoodthirsty crocodiles?" "My presents." "Right." "Your birthday's coming up." "Is it Thursday or Friday?" "Thursday." "Thursday." "That's right." "Exactly." "Right now I'm writing my graduate thesis on Proustian onomastics." "Which means I'm writing sort of an article on a new biography   about the great French poet and writer MarceI Proust." "marcel Proust." "marcel Proust." "Good." "Now this   is where daddy works." "The university." "The university." "But what do they do here?" "Do they make anything?" "well, what they do..." "Do they fix stuff?" "Jeez, you don't have to nag." "They, Iike..." "They think, Charlotte IsabeI." "They think." "Now come here." "Daddy!" "Daddy!" "Come!" "What's the matter?" "We forgot the funeral!" "The funer...?" "Can't you even turn on the TV by yourself?" "well, there you go." "There's Prince william." "And there's Charles." "But mom says he's a jerk, because he loves someone called camilla." "Look at that guy." "Tony blair." "He's the one who calls the shots." "It's really sad that she died." "It's the media pressure, Charlotte IsabeI." "The paparazzi." "Hey, look!" "There's Steven spielberg." "He made "E.T."" "Have you seen it?" ""E.T. phone home!"" "Why do they call her the people's princess?" "Because people like her, I guess." "But are there any princesses people don't like?" "well, that's a good question." "So what does your mom do, Charlotte IsabeI?" "You can call me Lotte if you Iike." "What does your mom do, Lotte?" "She's on vacation." "I mean..." "What does she do for a living?" "Works at the supermarket." "Like a checkout clerk?" "She's really good at it." "Now stop nagging." "Is this my room?" "Yeah." "You can sleep here." "I'II tidy up a bit." "Take out the ashtray." "Look!" "There's MarceI Proust, on the desk." "I want to go home." "No..." "I want my mommy." "No, you don't." "Come on." "You know what?" "We can buy some sweets, seeing it's Saturday." "Come on, Iet's go." "Don't you want your Saturday treat?" "How long do I have to be here, anyway?" "A whole week, Lotte." "A whole week." "Just you and me..." "Hernan?" "Hi." "Hi, Morning Post!" "well, this is my daughter." "Morning Post has a daughter?" ""Morning Post"?" "Never mind." "Are you going to start stocking the Morning Post?" "Look, a Tamagotchi." "Mom never lets me have one." "But all my friends have them." "You can't always get what you want." "Here." "You can have this if you Iike." "Thank you very much." "You're welcome." "What about some sweets?" "Bye." "Don't you have any dance music?" "Don't you ever let up?" "Hey?" "You've got to do one thing at a time." "You've got the TV on." "You can't start dancing around as well." "Sure I've got music." "Have you got any Madonna?" "Knudsen  Ludvigsen?" ""Cause I get dumber daily, juba, juba,"   "dancing in the mirror..."" "When do you usually go to bed?" "When I want." "You wish." "So, Iike,   after you go to bed, does mom have her friends come by for some beer?" "She doesn't like beer." "We buy cheap booze in Sweden." "We're smugglers." "Can I put the sticker on the mirror?" "No." "I don't want that sticker on the mirror." "There." "all set for a good night's sleep." "There." "Go to sleep." "Shit." "There." "Good night." "HumpelfinkeI!" "Hush!" "My comfort toy." "Who is it?" "Go back to bed." "But I need my comfort toy!" "Come on." "Where is it?" "Dammit!" "There." "Listen, I'm not Iike other dads." "I don't work at the supermarket." "Now go to bed." "hello?" "Hey?" "You can't sit here." "Mommy!" "hello?" "Hey?" "Hi." "I heard this noise." "I was putting daniel to bed." "No easy feat, he's..." "I didn't invite her." "well, she was shouting your name." "Hey?" "Don't spit in the stairway." "I mean, I know her..." "Mommy!" "I'II be right there, daniel." "Drink your milk and go to the bathroom." "Jarle..." "Herdis' little fucker." "Sorry about all this." "Good night, Grete." "Here." "Come on." "Not so fast." "Not so fast." "Let me help you out of this." "I'II take it." "Who is it?" "Lotte, go back to bed." "Have you been to the bathroom and had your milk?" "Or vice versa?" "I can't get to sleep." "Right." "shall I read something for you?" "Who the hell is she?" "Come on, Iet's find you a book." "Don't you have any children's books?" "No." "You know what?" "I'II make up a story for you." "Come on, Iet's go." "That's right." "Okay, Iet's see..." "Once upon a time..." "Once upon a time, there was a princess   who didn't want to be a princess." "One day she was out riding her horse on the plains." "She fell off the horse and died." "But daddy..." "I know." "Just listen." "Because..." "So there was a funeral." "But then..." "In the middle of the night." "There was nobody left in the church." "Suddenly there was a sound." "A sound?" "A creaking sound." "The coffin lid opened." "The princess crawled out." "She ran out into the forest - and was free." "She didn't want to be a princess any more." "So she'd just   faked her own death, Iike." "Good night." "But daddy, I didn't like that she didn't want to be a princess." "You'II discover that you won't like a Iot of things about life." "Daddy?" "Is it huge?" "Yeah, it's really enormous!" "Have you seen penguins before?" "Yes, but only on TV." "Right." "But these penguins are real." "They eat fish and stuff." "Morning." "Daddy!" "We're going to a great big aquarium!" "And they've got..." "P..." "Yeah, they've got penguins there." "You've got a really sweet daughter." "Were you planning to let me know?" "I tried to tell you yesterday." "Right." "That may well be true." "Have you got any more secrets?" "It may come as a bit of a surprise." "It's not real gold." "I'm just a student, after all." "I'II take a shower, then we'II see the aquarium." "Is she your girlfriend, daddy?" "Penguins!" "But are penguins birds or fish?" "They're birds." "But they can't fly." "How can they be birds?" "They have to be fish." "They're still birds." "No, I don't feel like it." "What's eating you?" "Yeah, what's eating you?" "We're seeing the aquarium." "That'II have to do." "Smoking can kill you, you know." "well, I'm not gonna die today." "One, two, three!" "Look at me, Herdis." "I'm not cut out for this." "I'm not cut out to be a father." "One week, then I'm done." "I don't want a daughter." "No." "Hey..." "Last night, yesterday evening, " " I went out with Robert." "Gothenburg." "Robert..." "Has strong feelings for me." "And I..." "I've grown very fond of him." "I told him about us last night, yesterday evening." "And he..." "well, I don't know how to put it." "But I think I   want to be with him." "You've been awesome, really." "You're so..." "Jarle, you're so sweet." "So intense and..." "Stop it." "walk like this, daddy!" "walk like this!" "Daddy says you're his girlfriend." "Are you?" "You're just a feminist slut!" "Hey, I've had a..." "I know this is sort of short notice." "But a friend of mine has suddenly fallen seriously ill." "I wondered if you could babysit my daughter for a few hours?" "Yeah, I have a daughter." "She's really sweet." "Okay, Lotte." "Daddy has to go to a meeting." "Have a nice time here." "Okay, I won't be late." "No problem." "Like, what can I say?" "It's what happens when you're a teenager." "I mean, I was like standing there, reading the letter." "The world just fell apart before my eyes." "So I went to the airport." "She arrived with a sign saying:" ""I travel alone"." "We all do." "Poetic, Hasse." "Just trying to get through." "She's got the most innocent look in her eyes, a tiny rucksack   and a soft toy named HumpelfinkeI." "Does she wet her bed?" "No, she's almost eight." "It's still fairly common." "No problem, just make sure you have extra sheets." "Yeah, it's actually quite common." "It's easy to..." "What does Herdis think?" "Is she happy about being a mom?" "Oh, Herdis just loves kids." "Jesus." "Jarle, I..." "Holy shit, I'm sorry." "Hey, where are you going?" "bloody hell." "Fuck, Jarle!" "Oh, shit!" "Let's go home." "Forget it." "Herdis!" "Come out, dammit." "Robert!" "Be a man." "You're a fucking professor of literature!" "Jarle?" "What are you doing?" "Me?" "Look who's talking." "What's he doing here?" "Don't ask me." "Ask him." "I'm not the big issue here." "What the hell are you playing at?" "You..." "You goddamn Swedish cocksucker!" "He doesn't mean it." "We're leaving." "Fucking neutral deconstructive cunt!" "Find an old hag your own age!" "Take it easy, Jarle." "I understand..." "You don't understand shit!" "You need to rub your prick on our women to come?" "You could've been her grandfather!" "You're biking around with your chick." "This is intense." "Then Bjorn Borg turns up!" "Are you done now?" "Are you?" "Jarle, Grete called." "Lotte can't sleep." "She's called everyone..." "Right." "So you can't even have a beer without everyone going apeshit." "well, this is just peachy." "Of course you drive a Volvo, Robert." "Great family car." "I take it you're having kids soon?" "Like, union kids." "Imagine, Herdis..." "If you get pregnant now,   and the kid has red hair, it might be mine." "Herdis?" "Hey..." "Oh god." "Where have you been?" "I was worried last night." "I had to do some cleaning." "helps clear the mind." "When I think about it,   it was one of the most brilliant things I've seen in my entire life." "You were a man last night, Jarle." "A pathetic man, but still a man." "That scene with Herdis and Robert, it had real italian flair, get it?" "absolutely brilliant." "Don't be ashamed." "Don't regret it." "It's a whole new era, Jarle." "And I've met Charlotte IsabeI." "Great kid." "We sat here, drank milk, had a talk." "all she cared about was how you were feeling." "I'm an uncle." "It just dropped out of her." ""Uncle Hasse"." "The only thing that bothers me now, is this Anette Hansen." "From SoIa." "Sends her kid to a virtual stranger and goes on vacation." "She's a supermarket clerk." "This is fucking proletarian, Jarle." "It's the goddamn call of the wild reaching into our lives!" "Where's Lotte?" "Grete took her along to work." "should I go and fetch her?" "You certainly should." "Hi!" "There you are." "Did you have fun?" "Go to your daddy." "Hi, Lotte." "Go to daddy." "I don't know what your twisted brain's been up to." "But never pull a stunt like that on me or your daughter again!" "Okay, come on." "It's not the end of the world." "Mommy!" "Sorry." "Sorry, Lotte." "Here." "She made a drawing for dad at the office." "Sorry, Lotte." "Thanks for helping out, Grete." "Tasty?" "So what did you do today, Lotte?" "You should answer when I ask you." "We were at an office." "An office, huh?" "cool." "One day you might find yourself working in one." "But what's wrong with you, daddy?" "You know what, Lotte?" "There's nothing wrong with me." "But are you always sick like that?" "FaIIing down, stumbling, throwing up?" "That was just because I was drunk." "You get drunk if you drink too much alcohol." "You know, beer and so on." "Anyway, Lotte, the reason why I came home that late last night,   is because I was drunk." "It's something I need to do." "I had a life before you arrived." "I want to keep living it." "With my friends, at the university, out on the town." "And aunt Herdis." "well, aunt Herdis has got a new boyfriend now." "His name is Robert." "An old fart." "Aren't you friends anymore?" "Listen." "The point is that this isn't a good time for you to come and visit me." "But..." "I don't have anywhere else to stay." "You want me to go home?" "No." "Try to eat something, okay?" "would you Iike to come and see where daddy works?" "Okay, but you're not supposed to bring kids to where I work." "So you have to be quiet as a mouse." "Quiet as a mouse." "Yourjob is to be invisible." "deal." "I've never said so, and if I did..." "Uncle Hasse!" "Hi!" "Wow!" "Hi!" "Sweet Lotte at the university?" "How nice to see you." "Who's he?" "This is uncle AriId." "Hi there." "Do I have even more uncles?" "Yes." "We're just picking up some articles." "On her first day at the university?" "This is the real deal." "The people you see here,   spend all their time thinking." "Isn't that something?" "Daddy, may I have some ice cream?" "Ice cream?" "You think I'm rich?" "The cafe's open." "Sun Ice?" "Hurry up." "We can't hang around here all day." "Boat Ice?" "No." "Hi, my little darling!" "Kind of dense in here." "So you're here?" "How you doing?" "Fine." "Even though you're dating an old fart." "Hi." "hello?" "Are you there?" "Yeah." "Hi." "It's me." "I just called to say I'm sorry." "It's been too much for me." "Jarle, you don't have to say it." "You really do need help." "And not from me." "Hi." "Hi." "Who are you?" "Hi." "How old are you?" "I'II be seven on Thursday." "But who are you?" "Seems I'm your grandma." "My grandma?" "But I had no idea you were such a big, beautiful girl." "I thought you were just a little baby." "I'm the third tallest girl in my class." "well, shall we go inside?" "Hi, my boy." "Right." "Let's get inside." "When did you come?" "So who's Herdis?" "She called and told me about Charlotte IsabeI." "Aunt Herdis, of course." "Okay." "This is the best day so far." "Much better than the day daddy was sick." "Sick?" "Yeah." "Had a cold." "He was drunk." "Okay." "Anette Hansen." "Do I know her?" "It was at a party in 1989." "And?" "So you were only together once?" "A one night stand?" "Yeah." "Sorry, was it the first time you...?" "Mom..." "Yes?" "Right, do we have to talk about it?" "No, not at all." "You're a father now." "Where's your mom, Charlotte?" "She's on vacation with my father." "I've got a note with a phone number." "Whose phone number?" "It's my aunt and uncle's." "Can we call them?" "Yeah, if I faII iII or break a leg or something." "Have you always known about your daddy in Bergen?" "No, they only told me last Monday." "If I'd known, I'd have come here sooner." "She's completely exhausted." "fell asleep at once." "Did you reach her aunt and uncle?" "No." "Look at this." "Touching." "MetaphoricaIly touching, you might say." "Sorrow and projection." "You just transfer whatever ails you, unable to face your own tragedy." "The human need to cry, the Nietzschian..." "Jarle, cut out the crap." ""metaphorically touching"." "Jesus." "Jarle!" "Jarle, please listen to what I'm saying." "You're a grown man of twenty-five!" "You have to pull yourself together." "You hear me?" "Tomorrow you spend real time with her, the two of you alone!" "Can you babysit him?" "Can you babysit him?" "Yeah, sure." "So we'II see you at the museum this afternoon, Jarle?" "What?" "See you this afternoon?" "Sure." "So that's settled, then?" "Yeah, yeah." "Good." "Right." "Bye." "Goodbye." "shall we sit down?" "Here." "There's something I want to say to you." "You know, I'm really pleased to be your grandma." "And I'd Iike you to know that it's perfectly okay if you're sad." "And you don't have to talk about it." "But if there's anything you'd Iike to know or talk about,   you can tell me." "Yeah." "DEAR DIANA." "YOU'RE AN ANGEL IN HEAVEN NOW." "LOTTE." "THE PROUSTIAN BODY IS FAMOUS, IT'S SENSES..." "Hi." "We're late." "Yeah, you sure are." "Hi." "I'm Liv Tone." "Charlotte IsabeI." "Okay, time to see the Museum of Geography." "natural History." "Just kidding." "Bye, mom." "Come on, Lotte!" "I got a Iot done today, Iike." "I'm trying to restructure the whole thing." "You need to trust that others will find the pattern interesting." "But I have to get through to people who know less about Proust than I do." "Well, I don't know. I'm sort of my own editor, you know." "Well, you already have a target group for your paper in..." "But..." "Daddy?" "I need to go to the toilet." "But if you get it published, we have to celebrate." "She's been gone for ages." "Lotte?" "Lotte, open up." "Come out, Lotte." "Lotte?" "Lotte!" "Attention all passengers:" "The train to Oslo is expected to arrive on Track 2 shortly." "There you are, Lotte." "I've been searching for you all over town." "Go away, daddy." "Stop kidding." "You don't want me here." "Just go home." "I'II go home as well." "Hey..." "I'm not kidding!" "No, no!" "I don't want to!" "No!" "I don't want to!" "I don't want to!" "Stop it." "No!" "I don't want to!" "Stop it!" "Come on." "Let go of me!" "No, I don't want to!" "Let go." "You're at home now." "Stop misbehaving!" "What on earth is going on?" "My little darling." "Don't cry." "Want to join me, Lotte?" "Pretty big puzzle." "Where do you think that piece fits?" "There." "You saw it immediately." "And there..." "There's a whole lot of green here." "I have a friend called Kathrine." "She..." "Her parents are divorced." "And I think mom and dad might be getting divorced." "Okay." "That one goes there." "Not bad." "You've got far." "Yeah." "We work together." "I don't know if I'm any good at this." "Like this one." "Where does it go?" "Right." "Know what I used to sing for dad?" "What?" "At bedtime, I'd sing:" ""I know a wondrous garden, where pretty roses burst."" ""God made it as a present"   "for every child on earth."" "He was just like you are." "He was?" "Anybody want rolls?" "Yes please." "Hey?" "I'm sorry." "I was so worried about you." "But you were stupid." "really stupid." "Stupid as shit." "Yeah." "I just can't finish my stupid article   for the Morning Post." "You know what day it is tomorrow?" "No." "You do." "I've got a surprise for you." "Promise you won't tell anyone." "Or nag about what it is." "Hi, Jarle." "It's been a while." "What..." "So it's you?" "Yeah." "well, we're laying a jigsaw puzzle." "May I come in?" "Come in." "Where is she?" "How did it go?" "Hey..." "Darling." "Like..." "I've been worried sick about you." "I've tried to call you a thousand times." "I had to get back in time for your birthday." "Go away." "I don't want you here." "Lotte?" "Darling." "Hey?" "You're not mad cause mom's here?" "Want more stories about the princess who didn't want to be a princess?" "I want mommy to come." "Anette, she..." "What shall we do, Jarle?" "I mean, is she on drugs?" "Mother..." "What do you do?" "should we contact the child welfare services?" "well, I really mean it." "You know how unhappy she's been?" "You could have asked for help before." "Seven years you kept her from us." "I'm sorry." "My marriage fell apart." "I didn't know what to do." "So that's your excuse for sending her off to a complete stranger?" "I had to send Lotte away." "Why didn't you say anything?" "It's been seven years!" "Excuse me, but you have no idea." "I was fifteen." "I woke up." "Jarle was gone." "would he have kept the child?" "Of course he'd have kept the child." "What do you think?" "WouIdn't you, Jarle?" "Hi." "May I come in?" "This isn't a good time." "Are you busy?" "Hey, Jarle?" "I've been thinking..." "Jarle?" "Have you seen my bag?" "Yeah, it's here." "Sorry." "No problem." "This is Herdis." "This is..." "Lotte's mom." "Herdis is one of my friends from the university." "cool." "I'II go and check on Lotte." "Okay." "Herdis?" "Herdis!" "We're having a birthday party tomorrow." "For Lotte." "And?" "I'd really like you to come." "Deep in the forest, in a glen between tall trees,   there was a big, black, horrible..." "HumpelfinkeI!" "HumpelfinkeI isn't that scary." "No." "Everyone who'd seen HumpelfinkeI so far had been so scared, their eyes   rolled all the way down to their toes!" "Yes." "That's funny." "But the princess didn't think he was scary at all." "She played with him all evening." "She even let him borrow her crown!" "A real princess." "Lotte?" "Forgive me." "I don't know, Lotte." "I just wanted to fetch HumpelfinkeI." "He's lying there." "What are you writing, anyway?" "I'm trying to describe what's so great about MarceI Proust." "Why not just write that he's your friend?" "Sure." "That's what I'm trying to do, but it sounds silly." "It's the Morning Post, you know." "They only publish the very best." "Are you scared of the Morning Post?" "Mom says that as long as I'm myself,   nobody can tell me I'm stupid." "She's right." "You think I should just send it now?" "Yes." "Come here." "You do it." "I think I'm a bit too scared." "Up there." "That's it." "Right." "There." "Now hurry off to bed." "Good night!" "Hi." "Hi!" "How good to see you." "Likewise." "Have you been out jogging?" "congratulations." "She's really sweet." "Hi, Jarle." "Sorry I slapped you." "I'm really a pacifist." "No problem." "But you have to realize   that you can't hand your child to a stranger the day after she arrives." "Then get drunk, fight with your ex and turn up like that." "It won't do." "No, you're right." "well, I didn't know what to come up with." "I was completely blank." "Then I came home one evening, and found a book by Bakhtin." "really?" "Yeah." "Have you heard about him?" "The guy with the polyphonic novel." "Polyphony, right?" "Know what "poly" means?" "It means "several"." "Like in music." "Poly means several, mono..." "I know." "Mono." "One." "Mom?" "Leaving her to go get drunk the day she arrived..." "well..." "How could you?" "Isn't a carnival a good idea?" "Bakhtin..." "You think I couId have done such a thing to you?" "Right, but it was thanks to Bakhtin that I cooked it up." "He demonstrated how the carnival is liberating." "It exults the Iow and dethrones the high." "Perfectly ordinary people hold birthday parties for their kids." "They don't need to study philosophy to dress up and amuse them." "Look at this." "They've never heard about Bakhtin." "Jarle..." "Happy birthday!" "Happy birthday." "It's beautiful!" "Thanks a Iot!" "Even more guests?" "See who it is." "hello." "What are you dressed up as?" "well, I don't know..." "You don't know?" "I found this wig..." "You're the world's greatest sorcerers." "This is mindbogglingly pathetic." "It is." "What's wrong with my costume?" "Look who's here!" "Very well." "This must be the mother." "Oh, what lineage." "Mother, mom, mother of all things, earth mother, Moomin mother..." "Hi, I'm Robert Gothenburg." "If I may?" "Your son." "He's a rabid hound." "But brilliant." "Thanks." "Grete Strandvang." "I've taken a dip in the Sea of Eros myself at times." "We met in the stairs." "I'd cleaned them, you see." "1 ,2,3,4,5,8,7,8,9,10, 1 1 ,12,13,14,15,18,17,18,19... 90, 91 , 92, 93..." "Oops, sorry." "Yeah, but..." "Anette, over here!" "99, 100!" "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" "Hush." "Great spot." "Hey, sorry about yesterday." "I must be the worst mother ever." "No, I'm the one who should apologize." "You call that hiding?" "I haven't been on any vacation." "But you probably figured that out?" "Yeah." "Hush." "Hey, Iet's forget about all that and be mature about it." "Yeah." "And this is from uncle Hasse." "You know what?" "I think we have to wait a minute before... because..." "Jesus." "I feel I have to say a few words." "Because..." "This hasn't been just any week, right?" "Dear Lotte..." "One day Charlotte IsabeI Hansen turns up here, in our little world." "She lands like a grain of pollen." "And what happens?" "We glide into a cove we never knew about, right?" "I, and many others here besides me, " " live a life that seems incomprehensible to many." "Let me ask you, Anette, for instance   what you think about my Iife?" "Mostly literary theory, no kids." "You don't have to answer, because I know what you think." "You pity me." "You think I'm a lonely whale in deep darkness, right?" "And that's all right." "Because it may be true." "Saturday night, when I brought a wrecked, noisy Jarle home,   before that evening, these thoughts I'm talking about now   had never even entered my mind." "The point is that everything that's happened this past week,   is perfectly okay." "Because we know you." "We know Jarle Klepp, right?" "A great talent who immerses himself in what he loves." "A freight train." "UnstoppabIe." "Others think he thinks, but he just goes on, making himself   and us all believe he thinks." "It's greatness." "For this   is what defines humanity." "Jarle Klepp is   a human being." "And so am I." "Lotte." "The only thing uncle Hasse   is really trying to say here,   is happy birthday." "A magic wand!" "That's right." "Thanks a Iot!" "Here you go, Lotte." "This used to be my favourite present." "chocolate!" "Okay, you've got to open both these at the same time." "Three, two, one..." "Happy birthday." "Two Tamagotchies!" "well, honey." "There's one left." "Who's it from?" "You know who it's from." "You got it before we left." "It's from your father." "Lotte?" "Come out to mommy." "Hey?" "l want to talk to daddy." "Right." "Are you there, Lotte?" "Hey, you..." "Don't you want to open your present?" "No." "shall I open it for you?" "Yes." "really?" "Let's see what he's given you." "Isn't it nice?" "It says "Lotte"." "I'm afraid daddy's going to leave us." "well, he might." "But you can still visit him." "You'II see him again." "But doesn't mommy love daddy anymore?" "No, I guess she doesn't, but..." "She's still fond of him." "But I Iove him." "Yeah." "You know what?" "I'm sure he loves you a Iot as well." "So you'II get to see him again." "He won't disappear completely." "It'II be okay." "Hey?" "shall we put that sticker in the middle of the mirror?" "There." "One, two, three, four..." "I can feel a tingle spreading from my tummy" "Think I've had too much to eat" "Every day's another dream, cause this will be so yummy" "Knutsen has got jitters in his feet" "Now the stage is set, I walk up to the mike stand, thousand faces gazing at me" "Cause I get dumber daily, juba, juba" "Dancing in the mirror Dumber daily, but it's okay" "Juba, juba" "should we do something about the Tamagotchies?" "Yeah, they'II die without attention." "I'II take the blue one." "I don't get it." "Like, what's the point?" "I guess they're   supposed to grow old or something before they die." "will I kill it if I feed it too much?" "You'd better not." "Lotte would never forgive you." "This is a bit..." "This is sort of odd, in a way." "Last time I saw you was in 1989." "I was shitfaced." "Now we're sitting here." "It was some night." "Oh?" "You remember anything?" "Cause I don't." "I've always remembered your face." "You have?" "It was nice." "You had that hungry look." "Hush." "Lotte might hear us." "Got a rubber?" "Uh..." "Try to pull out?" "Okay, stand still." "Okay, say "cheese"." "There." "Oh, I'm so pleased to have met you!" "And we'II meet again, cause I'm your grandma." "Right?" "You're my little girl!" "Bye, grandma." "Lotte!" "well, I guess this is goodbye." "So what happens next?" "I don't know." "We'II have to keep in touch." "I don't know how much of a father you think you can be, but..." "No, neither do I." "would you Iike to have one of my Tamagotchies?" "I'd Iike that very much." "Which one?" "Charlotte or IsabeI?" "You decide." "isabel." "Thanks a Iot." "We'II talk later." "Yeah." "I Iove you, daddy!" "I Iove you too, Lotte!"