Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth

 

TL;DR: Long Live the Post Horn! is just like Albert Camus' the Stranger, except instead of doing a racism and being condemned to death in order to discover the interconnectedness of all things and the value of life, the protagonist simply receives a letter. 

Though it may not seem like it, Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth is actually a call to arms. Set in Norway, the novel follows a deadened PR exec named Ellinor. Hjorth seems to dwell in that wonderful Scandanavian tradition of being able to write absolutely depressingly dry internal monologues, and the skill lends itself well to imparting just how bleak Ellinor's life is. 

The interesting thing about Norweigan bleakness is that Ellinor's life is not materially downtrodden in any way. While poverty is certainly in the wings, Ellinor has brushes with homeless refugees, for example, the bleakness is more of a spiritual nature. We first meet Ellinor as she stumbles across an old diary she used to keep. Disgusted at what she's read, we are quickly embraced by the idea that Ellinor lives a passive life, one devoid of any meaning. Spending her time working and drifting through everything else. This becomes increasingly evident as we watch Ellinor joylessly interact with her family, lover, and co-workers as well as the world around her. She can barely write, she lacks focus. 

Meanwhile, Ellinor's PR firm has been tasked by the postal workers union to try and defeat a  bit of famous EU bureaucracy; something known as the Postal Directive. While the directive is a looming threat, all we really know is that it's an effort to force the post office to complete, cost cut, privatize etc. After the mysterious disappearance of her co-worker Dag, who was previously tasked with the work, Ellinor is forced to take the project on herself.  

What follows is a journey not just of self-discovery but the value of universality. Hjorth writes movingly about the post office; how its commitment to deliver an essential service to all regardless of any is an affirmation of human dignity. A socialist spin on the existentialist call to live an awakened, active life. Ellinor plunges into a bitter struggle with the forces of Neo-Liberalism because what is more existentially liberating than fighting for the *literal* interconnectedness of all.