臺灣文學虛擬博物館-Cry of the Arctic Circle.

The End of Love, the Start of a Journey

Cry of the Arctic Circle.

The scenery of Norway is just as described in tourism magazines – authentic beautiful rivers and mountains cannot be more true. The problem is that the summer here is too short. Most people have to learn how to cope with the long lasting winter, as well as with the pressure of life caused by high prices. Norway is not really populated by the rich. And even if you are one of them, you cannot always buy happiness. In addition to bad climate and high prices, one other factor very likely causing depression among the Norwegians is an indescribable yet touchable sense of alienation, as well as the concern about two sides of the same coin, which haunts the Norwegian society from Munch's days till today.

Excerpt from “Norway in Depression” in Norway in Miniature: Oslo Observation Notes by Li Haozhong.

Su,

Besides healing my inner wound, learning more about arts and literature is another goal of this journey. So I visited the Munch Museum in Oslo to see how artists expressed feelings. People had to go through strict security check before entering the museum because someone had managed to steal the famous paintings ‘The Scream’ and ‘Madonna’.

Over half of Munch Museum’s works were exhibited here. Since there were too many collections that could not be all displayed at one time, they exhibited objects in turn by themes. Munch used strong colors in his paintings that gave people a sense of pressure, just like sunlight which was too strong to look at. The characters in the paintings all looked unhappy, with their faces reeking isolating solitude. When I looked at ‘The Scream’, my solitude was instantly enlarged. I had so much to tell you, but when I moved my lips, all the words became silent screams.

Munch said: “We should paint those alive. They breath, feel, suffer, and love.”

Pity is a breathing pain. Because of you, I became a character in Munch's paintings.

From today on, I will not play a minor role in your life anymore.

The leading star of my life　Bin

（Photo credit: Li Haozhong）

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