crime fiction - Cappelen Damm

▶ July 22ND, 2011Non-FictionAdrian Pracon and Erik Møller SolheimThe Heart Against The StoneThe story of a survivor from UtøyaHjertet mot steinenOn July 22nd 2011, Adrian Pracon (21), a Norwegian-Poleand member of Labour Youth, foundhimself face-to-face with Anders Behring Breivikon Utøya. Pracon begs for his life, but knows deepin his heart that he will die. For a couple of slowseconds he waits for the shot that is to end his life.But the mass murderer lowers his weapon, turns andwalks away.We will probably never learn why Adrian was allowedto live, while so many others were mercilesslydenied. But we realise how fateful this momentwas: the encounter between someone who had justdecided to take active part in society, and anotherwho had devoted ten years of his life to plan a brutal attack on it.This is Adrian's unambiguous message from his hospital bed: no act of terror, howeverbrutal, is going to weaken his commitment. By telling his story, Pracon wants to make thiscommitment of his widely known and to honour his friends, who died because they passionatelyshared it.74Adrian Pracon (1989–) is the regional secretary in AUF(Labour Youth) Telemark. He encountered Breivik threetimes on Utøya, but survived.Erik Møller Solheim (1979–) is a journalist and author.His book En stemme for Obama (2009) describes hisgrassroots experiences during Barack Obamas presidentialcampaign. He also writes for the business paper DagensNæringsliv.Photo: Fredrik Arff