Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Doppler

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 2,224 ratings · 127 reviews

En ellevill, absurd og morsom roman av en forfatter som ikke nekter seg noe i en roman som også byr på alvorlige undertoner og kritikk av det moderne forbrukersamfunnet. Min far er død. Og i går tok jeg en elg av dage. Hva kan jeg si. Det var den eller meg. Jeg var utsultet. Jeg begynner sant å si å bli mager. Natten før var jeg nede i Maridalen og tok høy fra en av gården...more En ellevill, absurd og morsom roman av en forfatter som ikke nekter seg noe i en roman som også byr på alvorlige undertoner og kritikk av det moderne forbrukersamfunnet. Min far er død. Og i går tok jeg en elg av dage. Hva kan jeg si. Det var den eller meg. Jeg var utsultet. Jeg begynner sant å si å bli mager. Natten før var jeg nede i Maridalen og tok høy fra en av gårdene. Jeg åpnet en høyball med kniven min og fylte ryggsekken. Så sov jeg en stund, og i grålysningen tok jeg meg ned til juvet øst for leiren og la ut høyet som åte på et sted jeg lenge har tenkt på som perfekt for et bakhold. Deretter lå jeg på kanten av juvet og ventet i flere timer. Jeg vet at det fins elger her. Jeg har sett dem. De har til og med vært helt oppe i teltet. De trasker rundt her i åsen og følger sine egne mer eller mindre rasjonelle innskytelser. Alltid på vei, elgene. De ser ut til å tro at det er bedre andre steder. Og kanskje har de rett. Til slutt kom det uansett en. Med kalven diltende bak. Det satte meg litt ut at kalven var med. Jeg hadde foretrukket at den ikke var med. Men den var med. Og vindretningen var perfekt. Jeg tok kniven i munnen, ikke den lille, men den store, altså storkniven, og ventet. Elgene tuslet sakte mot meg. Småspiste litt i lyngen og på noen av ungbjørkene nede i juvet. Og til slutt sto den der. Rett under meg. Stor som faen.Doppler er en vellykket mann av sin tid. Familiefar med to barn og god jobb. En dag faller han av sykkelen på en tur i marka. Halvt svimeslått registrerer han en ro han ikke har kjent på lenge. Han slipper de trivielle tankene om nytt bad og valget om armatur og fliser. Borte er også den evinnelige surringen av barnesangene fra sønnens tallrike videoer, mens erkjennelsen om farens død blir tydeligere. Hendelsen får ham til å velge å flytte ut i marka. Han bosetter seg i telt, slakter en elg og får kalven som venn og adoptivsønn. Han prøver å leve som jeger og sanker, men må erkjenne at når det gjelder behovet for skummet melk, må han ta steget videre til bytteøkonomi.Og så kan leseren glede seg over at forfatteren avslutter denne romanen med to be continued(less)

paperback, 158 pages

Published 2005 by Cappelen (first published 2004)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

I am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson

Sherry and Narcotics by Nina-Marie Gardner

Best books about Solitude (fiction)

10th out of 19 books — 17 voters

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Best Scandinavian and Nordic Literature

285th out of 514 books — 501 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 04, 2013 Kirsty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: received-for-review, bookgeeks-and-nudge, read-2013, read-for-review, best-of-2013

My Nudge review of Doppler can be found here:
http://www.nudgemenow.com/article/dop...

Short review: Like many fans of Loe's gem of a novel Naive. Super, I have been waiting for more of his work to be translated into English for several years. Head of Zeus have finally done this, releasing Doppler at the end of 2012. I very much enjoyed this novel, but the edition, despite its beauty as an object (a beautiful cream hardback, dark red endpapers and lovely slipcover illustrations), could really have...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 19, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: translations

This short novel has been a bestseller in Scandinavia, and I quite enjoyed it. Doppler is a man who has had a sudden realization that he doesn't like people, and has gone to live in the woods. While he doesn't take money with him, he isn't above bartering for things he wants, or stealing them from other people. Doppler sometimes seems completely out of touch with the world, and other times seeing the world very clearly. The cover calls the book "an enchanting modern fable about one man and his m...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 18, 2013 Maria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Een bijzonder boekje. Het heeft iets sprookjesachtigs, iets van een avonturenverhaal, iets filosofisch en het heeft zeker ook humor.
Doppler houdt niet van mensen en dat realiseert hij zich nadat zijn 16-jarige dochter hem dat verwijt na het bekijken van de film The Lord of the Rings.
Met zijn elandkind Bongo heeft hij het goed in het bos, zijn voorraad elandvlees ruilt hij deels voor magere melk, voor fruit. Wanneer hij op verzoek van zijn vrouw een ouderavond bezoekt, vertelt hij één van de an...more

like · see review

Jan 11, 2013 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i liked this book a lot, i like erlend loe's writing a lot i think
i think he has only two books translated into english, but i'm not sure
i think i liked naive. super more maybe, but they are both similar i think
in 'doppler' his daughter likes 'lord of the rings' and they watch it together at the cinema and the dad says how it will be hard for saruman to rebuild his tower
it seems funny maybe

i liked this part
"my father's dead, too, by the way, I say. He died this spring. I'm sad to hear that, Dus...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 28, 2012 Olli rated it 3 of 5 stars

There are two creatures in the wildlife that I really am happy to know to exist. Owls and elks. These two species somehow prove to me the superiority of nature over mankind, both of them seem both wiser and more humorous to me than any of humanity.

As a side note, I also enjoy the existence of penguins and giraffes, but unfortunately don't live in the latitudes where either could be spotted. We still got elks and owls though, and I'm happy with those.

Doppler, to put it short, is about this exact...more There are two creatures in the wildlife that I really am happy to know to exist. Owls and elks. These two species somehow prove to me the superiority of nature over mankind, both of them seem both wiser and more humorous to me than any of humanity.

As a side note, I also enjoy the existence of penguins and giraffes, but unfortunately don't live in the latitudes where either could be spotted. We still got elks and owls though, and I'm happy with those.

Doppler, to put it short, is about this exact phenomena; the superior elk.

Andreas Doppler is a Norwegian guy who kind of seems to have the whole Norwegian package; a sweet job, passionate loving wife, some kids who are alright and a sweet house in a nice neighborhood in Oslo. This of course wouldn't do if you are Erlend Loe and wanted to write a book about Andreas, so we might as well make Doppler hit his head during his chic bike trip around the nearby forests, and make him feel like maybe he should move to live right there.

And move right there Doppler does. He leaves the whole deal, packs up his tent and whatever basic equipment you want to live in a forest, and to much of surprise to many, actually stays there. Turns out a man cannot be alone in a forest for too long, but unlike that prick in Naive. Super, this time Loe gives our hero a companion with some character: an elk, baby! Yes!

Doppler is underneath its light entertainment value a pretty heavily society criticizing book. You can expect the book to make you laugh just as much as any Loe piece, but reading Doppler actually makes you think is all this is a bit too much. This wouldn't happen when reading Naive. Super for instance, but Doppler goes on to think that all of humanity is actually quite rotten. For me this thinking goes too far. I can relate to the repulsion towards the human society to some extend, but at the end of the day the conclusion of this book made me feel a little bit of unrest.

If you are capable of not taking these things too seriously (as I would love to), Doppler seems just as good a read as any Loe piece.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 27, 2012 Masah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Worst $12 I've ever spent on a best seller/award winning book! Simply horrid!

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 19, 2012 Shirley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I chose to read Doppler as a recommendation and figured why not, it's a quick read? Yes, it is, and an entertaining one at that. It's like nothing I've ever read before.

A knock on the head following a cycling accident changes Andreas Doppler's view on his life. No longer will he work for his living, abide by the social norms, pay taxes, nor even live in his house with his wife and two children. Not for him any more, the socialization of society. Now he hates people! Oh, and his father died short...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 26, 2012 Elisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Veramente divertente questo libro di Erlend Loe, scrittore che ho conosciuto grazie a 'Tutto sulla Finlandia'.

E' la storia di Doppler, marito modello e padre di famiglia, che, un giorno, cade dalla bicicletta e batte la testa. Dopo questa botta la sua visione del mondo cambia drasticamente, e decide di vivere in una tenda, nel bosco. Il suo unico compagno, e amico, sarà un cucciolo di alce, Bongo.

Il suo esilio non darà però i frutti sperati, per via delle continue visite, di Gregus, il figliolet...more

like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Dóra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nyilvánvaló, hogy egy könyvnek nem kötelező olyan alakokról szólnia, akikkel könnyen/szívesen azonosul az ember. Sőt, az is lehet irtó érdekes, ha az olvasó konkrétan egy kanál vízben meg tudná fojtani a főhőst. Ami viszont talán valós probléma, ha a könyvből nem derül ki, hogy a seggfej seggfej.
Itt most nem teljesen arról van szó, hogy elvárnám, hogy mint a népmesékben, a gonosz megkapja a büntetését, a jó meg elnyeri jutalámát, de azért vannak határok. 200 oldalon keresztül arról olvasni, hogy...more Nyilvánvaló, hogy egy könyvnek nem kötelező olyan alakokról szólnia, akikkel könnyen/szívesen azonosul az ember. Sőt, az is lehet irtó érdekes, ha az olvasó konkrétan egy kanál vízben meg tudná fojtani a főhőst. Ami viszont talán valós probléma, ha a könyvből nem derül ki, hogy a seggfej seggfej.
Itt most nem teljesen arról van szó, hogy elvárnám, hogy mint a népmesékben, a gonosz megkapja a büntetését, a jó meg elnyeri jutalámát, de azért vannak határok. 200 oldalon keresztül arról olvasni, hogy valaki egyre felháborítóbban viselkedik, és senki _senki_ nem állítja meg ebben, sőt, tulajdonképp irigylik és felnéznek rá, és aztán a végén "folytatása következik", hm, dühítő.
(view spoiler)[És innét a még szigorúbban vehető spoiler rész.
Adott egy főhős, aki egy nap ráébred, hogy mennyire felszínes az élete, és beköltözik az erdőbe. Ja, van egy felesége, akit szeret (amennyire ilyesmire képes egy szociopata), és aki szereti őt, van egy kamasz lánya, aki épp kamasz, meg egy óvodás kisfia, akit szintén szeret. De mindegy. És beköltözik az erdőbe, nagyjából önellátó, kivéve, amikor lejár ezt-azt lopni a környékre, meg a felesége időnként felmegy hozzá szexelni, mert ez k*rva életszerű, főleg, hogy arról 200 oldalon keresztül nem esett szó, hogy az ürge fürdenék - Norvégiában járunk és tél is van -, na meg még inkább, hogy volt szíves ez a fazon otthagyni őt a két gyerekkel, útkeresés címén. Van valami indoklásra halványan emlékeztető maszlag, miszerint hogy hát az ember az esküvőn azt mondja, hogy jóban-rosszban, de van, hogy ami az egyik félnek jó, a másiknak rossz. Is it only me, vagy a jóban-rosszban azért alapvetően ezt az eshetőséget is magában foglalja?...
No mondjuk norvégok, mint mondtam, szóval a nő vígan megél a saját fizetéséből, hagyja a férjét játszódni, azért tessék-lássék hagy egy határidőt, hogy mire megszületik a legújabb gyerek (akit már az erdőben sikerült összehozni, naná), na addigra lesz szíves befejezni ezt a baromságot. (Spoiler alert: a nő megszül, a pasi elbeszélget az újszülöttel mint férfi a férfival, röviden megmondja az asszonynak, hogy ez a hazaköltözés még nem aktuális, mert ez még eltart neki egy ideig, és a nő jobb híján belenyugszik, meg hát be is van gyógyszerezve, mert frissen szült.)
Na de nem is ez a fő baj. Hanem, hogy szépen elmegy az erdőbe, mert akkor majd jobb lesz, de nyilván nem. Úgyhogy megy tovább. WTF?! Mint ahogy ZeFrank is megénekelte: "There are no geographical solutions to psychological problems." Én nem mondom, hogy az író feltétlen úgy gondolja, hogy a főhősnek igaza van, csak azért, mert nem bírta úgy megírni a sztorit, hogy valahogy rájöjjön a szerencsétlenje, hogy hülye, de azért hihetetlen, hogy mennyire mindenki úgy reagál a barom dolgaira, mintha ez egy teljesen valid attitűd lenne. Szóval a sztori nem furcsa emberekről szól, hanem hülyeség. Valahogy úgy, ahogy Sheldon is elmagyarázta Pennynek, hogy mi a baj a Superman jelenettel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PvwtS... (hide spoiler)]
Mindenesetre a könyv szórakoztató és elgondolkodtató és minden, ami kell, csak nem hús-vér emberekről szól, ami zavar. Nagyon.(less)

like · see review

Jan 15, 2013 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, ebook

This was, as has been mentioned before, pretty unlike anything I've read before. I picked it up on a whim, after wanting something a little more grounded in reality than the other things I've read recently. Doppler is about a man who abandons the trappings of modern-day society and his wife and children to live in the forest after his father dies, and after a bike accident left him probably concussed. Was it the head injury that brought this on, or the death of his father? Is Doppler crazy, or i...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 31, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction

This was an amazing book, I pretty much inhaled the book. The writing was extremely well done, the characters, particularly Doppler where fun to read about. I thought the character was incredible well written and established. Especially considering I was never sure exactly what was going on in his head, and how much that was happening around him was fact and how much was fiction.

In fact, one of my favourite aspects to this little novella was I was never quite sure if Doppler was just an eccentri...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 12, 2012 Book Reader rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Doppler is a nice man who falls off his bike and bangs his head. This combined with the death of his father leads him to see the error of his ways and he attempts to escape from a consumer lifestyle that he feels, and at times is quite literally beating him about the head. So he moves into the forest with an elk calf called Bongo for company.

The book itself is a lovely little hardback with striking cover art. Head of Zeus’ tagline about an elk being not just for Christmas doesn’t actually relate...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 28, 2012 Arlene rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Did a bonk on the head drive Doppler mad, or knock some sense into him? Is it madness or genius to leave behind a pedestrian life of niceness, family, money, work and Teletubbies to live in the woods with a moose calf?

Madness? Or genius? As I read about Doppler's adventures, I thought either, "He has lost his mind," or "What a brilliant insight."

Doppler believes a tumble from his bicycle and a blow to his head opened his eyes to a clear-eyed, inspired view of reality. He looks back on the life h...more Did a bonk on the head drive Doppler mad, or knock some sense into him? Is it madness or genius to leave behind a pedestrian life of niceness, family, money, work and Teletubbies to live in the woods with a moose calf?

Madness? Or genius? As I read about Doppler's adventures, I thought either, "He has lost his mind," or "What a brilliant insight."

Doppler believes a tumble from his bicycle and a blow to his head opened his eyes to a clear-eyed, inspired view of reality. He looks back on the life he used to live as madness: "For weeks it had irritated me that they couldn't wait to start bombing down there [Iraq] until we had finished doing up the bathroom." But his wife, his brother-in-law, and his teenaged daughter shake their heads at his lunacy. ". . . and what should I say to those who ask? my wife has said several times with desperation in her voice." His four-year-old son is the impartial observer.

The book begins with "My father is dead," and the tricky nature of father/child relationships runs as a theme through the book. In his mad/genius way, Doppler even names the moose calf after his father: "I'll call the calf Bongo after my father, I decide as I'm strolling back into the forest. Even though my father wasn't called Bongo I'll name the calf Bongo after him." His father was present, but absent. Does Doppler absent himself from his family to be more present for them?

Doppler sees "niceness" as a sickness and advocates a return to a barter economy. From his newly adopted home in the woods he looks down in Grinch style on the lives of people below: "One problem with people is that as soon as they fill a space it's them you see and not the space. Large, desolate landscapes stop being large, desolate landscapes once they have people in them. They define what the eye sees. . . . In this way an illusion is created that humans are more important than those things on earth which are not human. It's a sick illusion."

Once I began reading Erlend Loe's rebellious fable, I had to keep reading, mainly because I wanted to see what he would come up with next. Sometimes lightly humorous, and sometimes just plain light, sometimes darkly humorous, and sometimes just plain dark, this story entertains as it turns our perspectives on life upside-down.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 26, 2012 Artem Huletski rated it 5 of 5 stars

Андреас Допплер - обычный человек, похоронивший отца. Имеет жену и двоих детей (к концу книги - троих). Его крестовый поход выглядит так: уйти в лес от правильности и образцово-показательности этого мира и жить в палатке с ноября по май вместе с лосёнком Бонго и сыном Грегусом.

"Год за годом меня вела по жизни бескомпромиссная первоклассность. В ней я просыпался, в ней засыпал. Я дышал безупречностью. И как-то постепенно, незаметно упустил саму жизнь. Вот как обстоят дела, дошло до меня теперь. Г...more

like · see review

Jul 30, 2011 Ingrid Hansen added it · review of another edition

"Vi skal alle sammen lade være med at være så pokkers kompetente" og "Vi bliver født alene, og vi dør alene. Man kan lige så godt vænne sig til det først som sidst.".

Disse to synspunkter har Doppler i bogen og det er et opråb til folket om at værdsætte livets værdier.

Jeg skal ikke påstå at jeg forstår Erlend Loe, men jeg synes ikke denne her bog er hylende morsom.

En mand (Doppler) falder og slår hovedet og flygter ud i skoven til ensomheden, hvor han får en elg som følgesvend da han dræber dens...more

like · see review

Jan 02, 2013 Trish rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, animals, funny, fiction, one-for-the-ages, quirky, favorite

Some books just hit a nerve, as this did in Scandinavia where it became a bestseller when it was first published in 2004. Just republished in English by Anansi Press of Canada, this hilarious comic novel about a worthy man's mid-life crisis is destined to be a huge hit in North America. Just about everyone I know needs a copy of this--for its humor, insight, and recognition of our commonalities across national boundaries.

A Norwegian businessman and avid cyclist falls off his bike one day while i...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Reeka (BoundbyWords) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-2013

As seen on my blog:

This book happened at exactly the right time in my life. I've come to a point where the things, and moments, that had meant something for SO long, have now become frivolous, and unnecessary. I pretty much wanted to highlight every other sentence in this novel, and if I hadn't borrowed it from work, I probably would have. Also, I have not laughed out loud the way I did while reading this book in a very, very long time.

Doppler lived a life of man with a wife and two children, one teenaged girl, the other, a boy, still floating through a cloud of innocence at the precious age of 3. We don't meet their acquaintance initially though, as the book opens into an expanse of greenery, and open air-the forest, Doppler's new residence. We learn that after living a rather routine life, and upon hearing that his father has died, Doppler-with the help of a painful epiphany-has given it all up, packed it all in..or er..out, and set up house in the woods. He has also adopted a moose-calf, and is quite content with it all.

Such a simple joy this book was. I savoured Doppler's days of leisure, and commended him for turning his back on the conventional. Though I didn't exactly agree with this lack of responsibility for his family, I found myself wishing that we could all be so lucky-to find happiness in the less obvious things. It made me feel privileged in the worst way, sitting in my room, on my fancy leather couch, sipping from fancy mug of tea, reading the truths of truths.

"You're here and then you're not. From one day to the next. I saw it all in a flash and realised that the difference is so overwhelming that the mind has to acknowledge its limitations and pass. All the things you can be and have, a then at the drop of a hat all things you cannot be and have because you have been and had for the last time."

Doppler was an extremely funny character-I LOVED his musings, especially the ones that involved him speaking to Bongo, the moose-calf. I felt the love in that relationship more strongly than I feel with characters in a romantic situation-this was pure, and not one bit contrived. Just a simple love for someone/something that was only able to listen-no judgement, no awkward conversation. I also appreciated Doppler's ability to contradict his beliefs, and quite easily at that-in his quest to abandon society, he ended up unintentionally helping others in their own search for meaning. It's corny, but it gave me a new sort of hope for humanity-people can be good, even when they don't mean to be.

This book was short, and brimming with meaning. I recommend it to anyone who ever sought to think beyond the daily routines and obligations of life. Anyone who's ever just wanted to say, "No, I'm not doing that today. I think I'll go for a walk instead." Someone who's just wanted to keep on walking, see where it would take them. That person needs to read this book.(less)

like · see review

Feb 02, 2013 Ben Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-translation-challenge

Please excuse me whilst I get into the habit of writing reviews, in other words I can't comment on how well written this review will be.

Doppler is an interesting and different book to my usual fair of Fantasy/crime/Sci-fi reads as it's rooted in real life. Real life problems, society, consumerism and escapism. We've all dreamed (or at least I have) of getting away. Living on the road or a forest and Doppler is about one man (Andreas Doppler) who goes out and actually does this. He abandons what...more

like · see review

Nov 20, 2012 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: translated, literary

After a lifetime of being nice, Doppler realises he doesn’t like people that much and sets off to live in the forest by himself, leaving his life, and wife and children, behind. When he becomes desperate for food, he kills an elk. But the elk was a mother and leaves behind a calf. A calf that won’t go away. Doppler reluctantly takes the calf into his tent and soon names him Bongo. After his father, who wasn’t called Bongo but is dead.

I want to share with you what’s written on the back of the pro...more After a lifetime of being nice, Doppler realises he doesn’t like people that much and sets off to live in the forest by himself, leaving his life, and wife and children, behind. When he becomes desperate for food, he kills an elk. But the elk was a mother and leaves behind a calf. A calf that won’t go away. Doppler reluctantly takes the calf into his tent and soon names him Bongo. After his father, who wasn’t called Bongo but is dead.

I want to share with you what’s written on the back of the proof because it’s one of the best blurbs I’ve read this year (and I bet it won’t see the light of day otherwise).

Hello there.

My name is Bongo.

I live in the woods with a man called Doppler, who stabbed my mother with a hunting knife when I was very young. I am an elk btw. A Norwegian elk.

A writer called Erland has written a whole book about Doppler and me. It’s already sold a squillion copies in Norway, and lots of readers said it was a deeply subversive fable about the consumer society, middle-class angst and that sort of thing.

But I know better.

We are legion, our movement will triumph.

Inshallah.

And I guess that sets the tone for the book. Not that it’s written from Bongo’s point of view; that would be silly. He’s an elk and he can’t talk (despite Doppler’s efforts to teach him). The narrative is first person from Doppler’s perspective and it’s not really about Bongo. But I love Bongo! And their odd little relationship out there in the wild before their peace is shattered. I think I’d quite like an elk as a friend but then I’d have to live in the woods without my creature comforts.

There are moments when Doppler’s not a very likeable character; he is making a concerted effort to be selfish but there’s something charming about him. He doesn’t get to shake off his niceness that easily. Doppler goes to extreme lengths to escape the consumerism of his life but there’s a lot that rings true. He is plagued by the incessant and pointless noise of children’s TV shows, his son is practically addicted to them but somewhere along the way, modern life ceases to matter. Life can be good and fun without the mod-cons and sometimes the race to beat the Joneses gets in the way of living.

A charming, lovely, odd and thought-provoking book. It’s the perfect antidote to the madness of Christmas. Not that Doppler is a particularly festive read but it does span over the winter months and there is a Christmas scene of sorts.

Originally written in Norwegian by Erlend Loe, this edition has been translated into English by Don Bartlett (of Nesbo fame) and Don Shaw.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Nov 18, 2010 Marko Jevtić rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am absolutely satisfied with Loe's humor. I giggled like a moron on every page. Read it from one take. Could not leave the book. My friends recommended me this book since I spend three years in countryside isolation. So I have something in common with Doppler (not a lot... I like the people, for example). Doppler is antihero, so it was difficult for me to share his opinions and I felted as a passive observer, more than a participant as some novels can make me feel. At the same time it is so in...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 29, 2013 Juste rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first thing that struck me about Doppler was the fantastic job the people at Head Of Zeus had made of the presentation. It's an almost child sized hardback book with a bold and striking front cover printed on quality paper. I think in some circles it might be considered a gift edition, which may explain the confusing tag line 'An Elk is for life, not just for Christmas' which doesn't seem to relate to any specific event in the story.

Doppler made for a quick and entertaining read. The story p...more The first thing that struck me about Doppler was the fantastic job the people at Head Of Zeus had made of the presentation. It's an almost child sized hardback book with a bold and striking front cover printed on quality paper. I think in some circles it might be considered a gift edition, which may explain the confusing tag line 'An Elk is for life, not just for Christmas' which doesn't seem to relate to any specific event in the story.

Doppler made for a quick and entertaining read. The story primarily revolves around the title character Andreas 'Chopper' Doppler, who whilst cycling through the woods one day, falls off and takes a nasty knock to the head. Upon coming too he uses this near brush with death to re-evaluate his life and immediately enacts some drastic changes, the primary of which involves leaving his home to live full time in the forest. The events that follow deal primarily in the hows and whys of his new life style choices.

Most of Doppler's decisions and actions can be either viewed as inspired or crazy. I found myself constantly swaying between thinking his arguments were sound and the world was crazy to thinking his arguments were crazy and the world was sound. Doppler's main quest is to simply do as little as possible, however his old life of a home and family keep getting in the way of this ideal, not to mention having to put up with a newly enlightened rambler (who he shot in the leg with a handmade arrow) and an increasingly drunk, model enthusiast friend...... oh and did I mention he 'adopts' an elk calf named Bongo after he killed his mother for meat?

Because of Doppler's quirks, the books reads something like a Tom Sharpe comedy crossed with anti-capitalist manifesto and is both thought provoking and amusing all at the same time. One of the main themes running through the book deals with parental relationships. Doppler to his father, and his own children to him. He never really knew his father and he feels it may be too late to improve things between himself and his Elf obsessed older daughter, but in his younger son, he see's an opportunity to do things right and prevent him from falling into the same traps that have made him so unhappy his entire life.

Despite being enjoyable throughout, I felt the book never really reaches any particular conclusion but perhaps that's the whole point? Doppler never tries to sell his way of life as better or worse, it's simply what works best for him.

Favourite Quote:

"One problem with people is that as soon as they fill a space it'd them you see and not the space. Large, desolate landscapes stop being large, desolate landscapes once they have people in them. They define what the eye sees. And the human eye is almost always directed at other humans. In this way an illusion is created that humans are more important than those things on earth which are no human. It's a suck illusion. Perhaps elk are the most important creatures when it comes down to it, I say to Bongo. Perhaps you're the ones who know best but you're extremely patient. I doubt that, of course, but who knows? It's definitely not humans anyway. I refuse to believe that."

Disclaimer: A free proof of this book was provided to me by the publisher, Head Of Zeus for the purposes of review and feedback. This in no way affected the opinions and views expressed above.(less)

like · see review

May 17, 2010 Niklas Pivic rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Niklas by: Mia

Shelves: fiction, funny, humor, post-modern

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Christina Stind rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, fiction

So if a man decides to leave his family and move out in the forest, I immediately assume that there’s something wrong with him? What does that say about me? Yes, I know he just lost his father and then fell on his bike and hit his head, but still, when reading a book which is a critique of our modern consumer culture, it feels strange to realize that I buy so completely into that culture that I can’t even see it as a valuable life choice. And yes, I wrote ‘buy into’ deliberately.

Doppler leaves h...more So if a man decides to leave his family and move out in the forest, I immediately assume that there’s something wrong with him? What does that say about me? Yes, I know he just lost his father and then fell on his bike and hit his head, but still, when reading a book which is a critique of our modern consumer culture, it feels strange to realize that I buy so completely into that culture that I can’t even see it as a valuable life choice. And yes, I wrote ‘buy into’ deliberately.

Doppler leaves his wife and two children because he is sick and tired of being nice, he doesn’t want the only focus in his life to be how much money he makes. He want a simpler life. Or maybe he had a concussion and is having a breakdown because his father died. This is never clear. He feels lucky to have hit his head and realized the wrongness of his ways – but whether this is a sudden moral clearness or a brain damage, is up to the reader to decide. To be fair, it’s not really hinted that it could be something wrong with him, the author probably intends it as an awakening.

But the fact is, Doppler lives in a tent in a forrest just on the edge of Oslo and to sustain himself, he steals from the nearby houses – and he kills an elk. This elk turns out to be a mother to a young calf and so Doppler ends up adopting a calf which he names Bongo: ‘I’ll call the calf Bongo after my father, I decide as I’m strolling back into the forrest. Even though my father wasn’t called Bongo I’ll name the calf Bongo after him. Sometimes you’ve got to be open to associations of this kind.’ (p. 32-33).

Doppler and Bongo build a close relationship – at least that’s the way Doppler relates it to us. They play games, they have long talks, they pee together and just hang out. Even though Doppler thinks Bongo is a bit thick since he doesn’t quite understand even the simplest games, he still loves him. They build a sort of father-son relationship which is obvious since Doppler just lost his father – but strange, since he has a young son at home, missing him. This is not the only father-son relationship. His son eventually joins him in the forrest and Doppler also meets a man who spends his time recreating the part of World War II where his father lost his life. And inspired by this, Doppler decides to build a totem pole to honor his father; a pole, which seems more to honor the idea of a father and fatherhood than the man who was Doppler’s father. Maybe because Doppler didn’t really know him.

This novel focuses on one man’s struggle to find himself in a world that doesn’t focus all that much on introspection. It is difficult for him to find peace in the forest since he gets company soon, both from other people and from his young son. Maybe also because he didn’t really leave civilization all that far behind. Maybe the novel is more intended to show us that we are really not capable of living this way anymore?

It is quirky in a lot of ways and there were parts of it I really liked. For instance, his annoyance with children shows’ theme songs. He actually ends up giving his son’s DVDs away to a robber one night – what parent haven’t imagined that? Maybe even dreamed of that?

Another part shows him being annoyed with the Iraq war because it comes at a time where he is focused on redecorating the bath room: ‘I remember being irritated when I discovered that now we would also have to take a stance on this war. It was very distracting. As if it wasn’t enough to have to decide on all this bathroom stuff. Now we would have to take sides in Iraq. I didn’t like things going on in the world which in effect reduced what I used my brainpower on to trivia. Not only did I not have my perspectives clarified, but I didn’t want them to be. For weeks it had irritated me that they couldn’t wait to start the bombing down there until we had finished doing up the bathroom.’ (p. 22). I love this quote and it shows something very true about our way of life, I think. That we are fine thinking about the troubles other places in the world as long as it doesn’t interfere with our own daily lives.

But with all that being said, I was a little disappointed in this book. I had expected something funnier and quirkier. Quirky in particular. With that cover, that subject, I had expected something that would leave me with a lot of food for thoughts and ideas for other ways to see the world and our society, our materialistic culture. But I didn’t feel like I got it and in the end, I felt I was kind of left hanging, like what you get is a short series of impressions with a rather clear beginning but not so much of a clear ending. I’m not sure how I would have liked it to end – but what I got, wasn’t enough.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 22, 2013 Michael Bafford rated it 4 of 5 stars

I suspect that weighed down with familial responsibilities - wife, children, house, mortgage, lawn, nekghors - Loe retreated to a cabin in the woods and sat back and thought: I need to get away. But being a writer he just threaded a clean sjeet of paper in his Mac and went humting moose in his mind. And being a brilliant wjriter the trip took him farther and fartber away from his original yearning just to be alone for awhile.

And who hasn't wanted to chuck it all and go live in the woods? But wh...more

like · see review

Dec 30, 2012 Cow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A cute, short, strange read. The cover refers to the book as a 'modern fable', and I'll go with that.

Standard modern suburban guy has a bike accident on his way to work, then lies in the forest wondering what his life (specifically, house maintenance, children's TV, and his daughter who's such a Tolkien fan she dresses up for the movie premiers (IS THAT SO WEIRD? :D (not that I did that (but I have my own such things)))) is all about. Then he rejects it all, moves into a forest, befriends a moos...more

like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Tulpesh Patel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction

Doppler is the second novel I have read in Norwegian, and happens to be the second novel I’ve read by Erlend Loe. It’s also the second time I have tried to read this book. The first time round, my Norwegian was nowhere near good enough and it was just an exercise in frustration.

As I’ll come to later, the humour in the story may not be for everyone, but for those learning Norwegian, I can’t recommend this book enough. Short, snappy sentences make it easy to read, even for a novice, and there’s th...more Doppler is the second novel I have read in Norwegian, and happens to be the second novel I’ve read by Erlend Loe. It’s also the second time I have tried to read this book. The first time round, my Norwegian was nowhere near good enough and it was just an exercise in frustration.

As I’ll come to later, the humour in the story may not be for everyone, but for those learning Norwegian, I can’t recommend this book enough. Short, snappy sentences make it easy to read, even for a novice, and there’s the added bonus of learning lots of new and creative swearing along the way, too.

Falling off his bike one day, shortly after this father’s death, Doppler has a revelation that leads to him denouncing modern life to go live in a tent in a forest on the outskirts of Oslo. The story follows Doppler, told through his dry, black-as-the-countryside-night humour, as he survives in the forest and eventually survives the burdensome company of others.

There is something of Forrest Gump to Doppler, in that he is a man-child whose simple outlook hones in on some deep truths. Doppler is relatable in a way that Gump’s cloying naivety (both in the books, and especially in the film) sometimes isn’t, but Doppler’s selfish qualities, which he hides behind the excuse that ‘people don’t like him and he doesn’t like people’, make him an uncomfortably sympathetic character.

A love of nature and comfort with his own company may lie behind Doppler’s self-imposed exile, but it’s clear that the real motivation is quite simply that he has come to hate the responsibility that comes with having a job and a mortgage and a wife and children that are obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Bob the Builder, something we’ve all felt at some time. It isn’t true that he doesn’t get on with people, because Doppler makes friends easily enough, including the man who catches him trying to steal a giant Toblerone, and later the man trying to rob his house in middle of the night. Early on in his exile, he befriends an elk calf, orphaned after Doppler puts a knife through its mother’s throat, using the meat to trade for milk in the local supermarket. He and the calf, whom he christens Bongo (after his father, except his father wasn’t called Bongo), become the best of friends, sleeping and eating together, and putting the world to rights in decidedly one-sided conversations (just the way Doppler likes it).

Loe uses Doppler to cock a snook at modern consumerism, but the book is also about absent fathers (dead or in self-imposed exile). Dusseldorf, the owner of the over-sized chocolate, distracts himself from reality by burying himself in making a model recreation of his German father’s death in Ardennes during the Second World War. Doppler does the same by fixing his attention over many months on building a totem pole as a monument to his father. Gregus, Doppler’s young son, misses having his father around and chooses to join him the forest, riding around on Bongo and annoying Doppler with inconvenient questions.

I finished reading the book whilst staying at my in-laws cabin near Sjusjøen, where there actually lived a recluse, Lambert Olestadengen, better known as Ludden. He moved up to the mountains and lived as a hermit from 1915 to 1955, living off the plentiful berries and what he could fish and hunt, trading the surplus in the nearest town for everything else. His hut still stands as a tourist attraction, maintained by the Brøttum History Society, as does his fish hut, which stands on a small island in the middle of the lake near our cabin, Kroksjøen.

As I read Doppler, I couldn’t help but draw parallels with Ludden. Then I came across this quote from Ludden, which I think sums up Doppler’s philosophy too: “What people call civilisation is creeping ever further into the mountains… So be it – I don’t want to shut the mountains off to anybody. I just move further into the mountains as modern times approach.”

Both Ludden and Doppler, for similar reasons at very different times, indulged in an escapism that many may occasionally dream of, but few have the guts or the selfishness to follow through. Ludden’s hermit adventure ended with his death in 1955, Doppler’s (along with Bongo’s and Gregus’) continues in the sequel, Volvo lastvagnar, which I am very much looking forward to reading.(less)

like · see review

Dec 15, 2012 Sian Lile-Pastore rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I felt quite a connection with Naive. Super, one of Loe's earlier books, but sadly, didn't feel that connection with Doppler. As it says on the cover, this book is like a fable, and is quite unrealistic (purposely so) and i found it difficult to become completely involved with it, as if there was a barrier between me and the book - also probably on purpose, but still.

but!! that elk! wow - what a cutie!! and it also had lots of things i liked about it and i do really like Erlend Loe's writing st...more

like · see review

Mar 29, 2009 Isakree rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: q3

I think this was a funny book, different from other books I have read. It had no quotation marks or spaces between paragraphs so it just kept on going, funnnn...

The book is about this guy named Doppler who decides to go out and live in the woods because he has stopped liking people. He leaves his wife and two children in the city and lives peacefully in the forest with his pet moose that is the child of a big moose he killed in the start of the book and eats throughout the book.
I think it was a...more

like · see review

Feb 22, 2013 Marcella rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh...what a book... bleak, funny, smart, perfectly formed social commentary.
Norwegian societal norms, the things done in the name of 'niceness', the Hobbesian agreement but with consumerism as King held up for our consideration by Doppler holding forth to a baby moose he names Bongo after his recently deceased father, whose name was not Bongo but 'sometimes you've got to be open to associations of this kind." (I was reminded a few times of Schmidt holding forth about the meaning of his life in...more

like · see review

Jan 07, 2013 Lindsey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a running commentary inside the mind of a man who has decided to give up his life in Oslo, Norway (which includes a job, a house, a pregnant wife and two kids) to live in the forest year round just outside the city. He kills a moose for food and accidentally adopts her calf whom he names Bongo. He erects a large totem pole in memory of his recently deceased father and tries to resist when he finds other people wanting to join him in the forest. An interesting look at someone who has who...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Andreas Doppler: enlightened philosopher or prick?	2	9	Mar 07, 2013 01:12pm
English translation?	3	29	Oct 23, 2012 10:28am

combine
Other Editions (21)

More editions...

Genres

Contemporary

11 users

Novels

10 users

European Literature > Scandinavian Literature

9 users

Humor

8 users

Literature

5 users

Adult Fiction

3 users

Humor > Funny

3 users

Drama

3 users

Book Club

2 users

Animals

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Erlend Loe

Erlend Loe is a Norwegian novelist. He worked at a psychiatric clinic, and was later a freelance journalist for Norwegian newspaper Adresseavisen. Loe now lives and works in Oslo where in 1998 he co-founded Screenwriters Oslo - an office community for screenwriters.

In 1993 he debuted with the book Tatt av kvinnen, and a year later published a children's book, Fisken, about a forklift operator name...more

More about Erlend Loe...

Books by Erlend Loe

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Doppler

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Doppler

“…I don’t wish to meet people. They disgust me. Increasingly so. But I must have milk.” — 4 people liked it

“One problem with people is that as soon as they fill a space it's them you see and not the space. Large, desolate landscapes stop being large, desolate landscapes once they have people in them. They define what the eye sees. And the human eye is almost always directed at other humans. In this way an illusion is created that humans are more important than those things on earth which are not human. It's a sick illusion.” — 2 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Doppler
avg rating	preview: Doppler Goodreads rating: 3.89 (2224 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1156439.Doppler?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364079264l/1156439.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1156439.Doppler?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Doppler by Erlend Loe[/url]

Doppler

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website