"Áðrenn tú sovnar" snýr seg um truplan kærleika og kynstrið at liva við eini familju, sum er eins ør og skroypilig sum flest allar aðrar familjur.
Bókin er um eitt húski og eina ætt. Linn Ullmann heldur tað vera heilt sjálvsagt, at hon og aðrir ungir høvundar hugsa nógv um júst familjuna:
"Familjan er nakað av tí áhugaverdasta, ið til er. Tú ert í brúdleypi, til eina ferming ella jarðarferð, og tú sært øll hesi fólkini, tú ert so nær skyld við. Tú ert góð við tey, ella nógv teirra, og kortini orkar tú ikki at vera ov leingi saman við teimum. Tað er so mangt løgið, so mangir knútar í eini familju, men hava vit hana ikki eru vit í einum undarligum tómrúmi. Eg vaks upp í eini tíð, tá ið kjarnuhúskið sum hugtak skuldi týnast, men tí hugburðinum mundu mong ikki trívast við. Nú er kjarnuhúskið við sínum virðum aftur í brennideplinum - ikki minst politiskt. Hetta ávirkar høvundar og filmskaparar, teir hyggja nú aftur at familjuni, sum vit øll eru partar av og sum eingin kann loysa seg frá. Og tað er ikki bara familjan, húskið, ættin ið verða viðgjørd. Spurningar um kærleika og Gud, teir stóru spurningarnir, sum vit fyri einum ættarliði síðan royndu at loysa okkum frá við at siga, at slíkt var ikki til. Eisini teir eru komnir aftur í brennidepilin. Tað er ein inniligur longsil í okkum eftir at verða uppií, vera partur av, samstundis sum tú kennir á tær, at alt skeiklast av lagi, tá ið tú roynir at gera longsilin til veruleika".
Tað er ikki lætt. Als ikki. Men skemt og list kunnu hjálpa tær at draga undan.
...
"Áðrenn tú sovnar" is about troublesome love and about the ability to live with a family which is just as insane and fragile as most other families.
The book is about a household and a family. For Linn Ullmann it goes without saying that she and other young authors give thought to the family:
“The family is one of the most interesting things we have. You’re in a wedding, at a church confirmation or at a funeral and you see all these people that you are related to. They are dear to you - many of them at least - and yet you do not want to be in their company for too long. There are so many strange things, so many hitches in a family, but if we do not have one we end up in a strange vacuum. I grew up in a time when the core family was a notion to be decimated but this was not a perspective that many were comfortable with. Now the core household is once again in the centre of attention - not least in the political arena. This has an effect on authors and film creators. They look back at the family which we all are a part of and which no-one can separate oneself from. And it’s not just the household, the family and the ancestors whon are investigated. Questions about love and God; the big questions which we a generation ago wanted to answer by saying that such things did not exist. These are also back in the limelight. In us there is a sincere longing to be a part of something, to belong, while at the same time everything seems to become distorted when you attempt to act upon this longing.” It is not easy. Not easy at all. But humour and art can help you along the way.
