An Oslo under German occupation must reckon with itself

An Oslo under German occupation must reckon with itself

Roy Jacobsen’s depiction of Nazi-occupied Norway is informed and particular, a view of ordinary lives in extraordinary times. The war looms over the city of Oslo and the gates and courts of its working-class districts. Trams and horse-drawn carriages traverse the streets in snow and ice while aeroplanes circle overhead. The miseries of rationing are suffered in the cellars, stairways and attics of the public housing flats where we are shown ston…