Authors of memoirs strive to remember and convey the truth of their experiences, facing challenges of factual accuracy, especially when memories fade or vanish. Linn Ullmann's novel, Girl, 1983, reframes these forgotten memories as pivotal, posing questions about how experiences persist as absences. The protagonist grapples with recalling a painful adolescence, reflecting Ullmann's own history through fictional storytelling. This intricate relationship between memoir and fiction underscores the difficulties of remembering while also allowing for a narrative distance, inviting readers to ponder the emotional remnants of lost memories.
"How do experiences live on, not as memories, but as absences?" asks the narrator of Girl, 1983, Ullmann's latest novel, now translated into English by Martin Aitken.
The book seeks to answer this query by recasting personal writing as a conversation between recollection and amnesia.
Ullmann's protagonist seeks to record a past experience that she struggles to fully remember, but the autobiographical elements she does provide tend to align with Ullmann's own history.
Ullmann challenges the idea that memoir is more intimate than fiction, positioning her work as a reflection on the complexities of memory and absence.
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