Dag Johan Haugerud

In Sjelesorg (Pastoral Care, not translated into English), we meet Thomas, who works as a deacon in the Paulus parish in Oslo. Paradoxically, he is not a Christian – a fundamental tension that constantly gives rise to misunderstandings and inner conflict. When he meets Lars, to whom he feels a strong attraction, this tension is put to the test even more vociferously. The relationship awakens conflicting emotions and dilemmas, both in his role as a deacon and as a fellow human being. Through Lars, Thomas also encounters the seriously ill teenager Astrid, whose mysterious condition leads the novel towards an unexpected turning point.

Sjelesorg is a novel in which a restrained mode of expression carries a rare elegance. It poses fundamental and universal questions about relationships, desire, longing, faith and doubt. In many ways, the novel is about life’s basic loneliness – and about how the human need for close relationships, and the absence of them, can lead us astray in our own lives.

Thomas is both non-Christian and homosexual, and the novel dwells on the tension this creates: How can one be one thing without being able to be the other? How can one be a deacon without faith, a man, and homosexual in contexts that demand conformity? In his work as a deacon, he mirrors other people on a daily basis; he is like a blank canvas. These contrasts in Thomas’s life – his wish to be seen, while at the same time wanting to hide – constitute one of the novel’s great strengths. What can be said, and what must remain unsaid? Sjelesorg is in many ways a novel about masks: Who are we to one another when crisis strikes? How honest can we be in our search for love? And how much control do we really have over our inner emotional lives before they begin to unravel? Can you love someone without demanding to be loved in return? 

Thomas appears to be a gentle deacon, with an immense need to mean something to others – but what happens when he becomes meaningless to them? When it suddenly becomes dangerous, Thomas changes his mask. This insistent pursuit of intimacy and belonging is quiet, yet persistent – it grinds on, becomes both physical and emotional, and refuses to be silenced. The understated style is consistent throughout, carrying a distinct pressure that plays out in every relationship, in every sentence, and in every dialogue.

Dag Johan Haugerud (b. 1964) is both a filmmaker and an author. He achieved a major breakthrough with the film trilogy Sex, Love, and Dreams in 2024, the last of which won the Golden Bear in Berlin. He has also won the Nordic Council Film Prize twice, for the films Beware of Children and Sex. Haugerud made his literary debut with Noe med natur (Something about nature, not translated into English) in 1999. Sjelesorg is his fifth novel.