One of Us

[RichardX]

With all the talk about the recent Charleston murders, this is a great book on the horrific mass shooting in Norway a few years ago. In understanding why there seem to be so many of these events in the US as opposed to other places one thing stands out. The access to mental health care for younger people and assistance for families with troubled children. The individual responsible for this crime was diagnosed with issues from age 4. His single mother had access to such assistance. Unfortunately due to a domestic situation and her own mental issues she did not follow through with available treatment. Many potentially violent individuals, however, receive early treatment in these countries that they need to reduce the potential for such violence later on in life.

'One Of Us' Is A Difficult, Unforgettable Look At Tragedy : NPR

 

[Kurben]

I'm sure it is good, Seierstad is a good journalist, but i won't read it. I'm still kinda shocked about it and don't feel ready for such a book. I'm not a norwegian but it is our neighbour country and we have had close relations always. I even have relatives in Norway. All these youths that died on that island where they didn't have a place to run to while he methodically searched through the island and shot them dead. Some tried to swim away from the mad man, some made it, some didn't and drowned. This was clearly a political hatecrime. He despised the labor party that was for immigration and helping other people in need. He didn't know any of his victim beforehand. 77 lives wasted. It actually makes you cry.

 

[RichardX]

A good New Yorker article on the book. This situation was probably closer to the Timothy McVeigh bombing in OK City, but provides some insight into more recent events. The most chilling part of this book is likely the methodical preparation. He had to rent a farm in some remote area to prepare the bomb. It took him several weeks of painstaking work which he documented step-by-step. The kind of calculated evil that you sometimes read in fiction but it comes off as unreal:

Anders Breivik’s Inexplicable Crime - The New Yorker

 

[Kurben]

A good New Yorker article on the book. This situation was probably closer to the Timothy McVeigh bombing in OK City, but provides some insight into more recent events. The most chilling part of this book is likely the methodical preparation. He had to rent a farm in some remote area to prepare the bomb. It took him several weeks of painstaking work which he documented step-by-step. The kind of calculated evil that you sometimes read in fiction but it comes off as unreal:

Anders Breivik’s Inexplicable Crime - The New Yorker

I noticed, rather typical of Knausgard (the Writer of the article), that he writes more of his reactions and theories than of the book One of Us and its author. He has always been too selfcentered for my taste.

 

[RichardX]

Couple of more links on this. The first is about the differences between the legal system in Norway and the US. This guy murdered 69 teenagers in cold blood and received only 21 years (although it can be extended). That would be considered outrageous in the US. He also has a fairly decent standard of living in prison and apparently complains a great deal about minor inconveniences: A Different Justice: Why Anders Breivik Only Got 21 Years for Killing 77 People - The Atlantic

More about the book: One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad – review | Books | The Guardian

 

[Kurben]

Couple of more links on this. The first is about the differences between the legal system in Norway and the US. This guy murdered 69 teenagers in cold blood and received only 21 years (although it can be extended). That would be considered outrageous in the US. He also has a fairly decent standard of living in prison and apparently complains a great deal about minor inconveniences: A Different Justice: Why Anders Breivik Only Got 21 Years for Killing 77 People - The Atlantic

More about the book: One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad – review | Books | The Guardian

It is the maximum penalty in Norway. Just as Sweden they don't have death penalty and life usually means about 20 years in prison. This thing with extending the penalty, as will probably be the case in Breiviks case, is almost never used. For myself i think that really heinous crimes should be felt more. I'm not for deathpenalty but i do think our courts could deal out harsher penalties for murder and rape and such.

 

[@PM]

Here in the Netherlands there is involuntary commitment. A serious case might end up being institutionalized for the rest of his life, after serving his time in prison (although there's also the option of simply locking a convict away for life, which I think would've happened to Breivik had he committed his crimes here). Doesn't something similar exist in Norway?

 

[Kurben]

Here in the Netherlands there is involuntary commitment. A serious case might end up being institutionalized for the rest of his life, after serving his time in prison (although there's also the option of simply locking a convict away for life, which I think would've happened to Breivik had he committed his crimes here). Doesn't something similar exist in Norway?

If he had been deemed crazy he could have been locked away until he was cosidered healthy again in a secure mentalhospital but since he was considered sane he does his time but he will, almost certainly, get his punishment extended and stay behind bars for the rest of his life. A life sentence does not mean until you die. it is measured and means approximately 20 years in Norway i think. In Sweden we have the lifepenalty but after a certain time the prisoners have the right to ask to get the sentence dealt out in years instead of just life. It is not always granted. Some of our most abominable murderers have tried to get their punishment measured in years but they have been denied. I don't know as much of norways system but know breivik got the harshest possible penalty.