A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard
The father of Karl Ove Knausgaard drank himself to death over ten years ago. He is currently starting a new novel, vulnerable and beset by uncertainties. Knausgaard breaks down his own life story into its most basic elements with an uncanny eye for detail, reliving memories, reopening wounds, and candidly examining the turmoil and epiphanies that arise from his own experience of fatherhood, the fallout from his father’s passing, and his visceral connection to music, art, and literature. As we observe what happens to the delicate and turbulent mind of a young man trying—as if his very existence depended on it—to find his place in the confusing world around him, Karl Ove’s conundrums hit nerves that give us raw views of our particular moment in history. This masterpiece by Marcel Proust provides a glimpse into one of the most inventive writers working today.
A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard
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Anyone with a drinking problem who also has a strained relationship with their father or other family members should read this book. Anyone who likes writing, especially detailed, descriptive, “open a soul’s vein and bleed-draw it on the page” writing, would enjoy this book. Anyone who enjoys Vikings or any kind of spiritual warrior will enjoy this book. This is due to the fact that Karl Ove Knausgard resembles a contemporary Viking spiritual warrior. He is a skilled artisan and artist. People who have been raised to believe that documents should be written in bullet points and/or who have ADD may struggle with this.
It’s an excellent book for anyone who is unfamiliar with Norwegian culture, whether they are knowledgeable about it or not.
The author mentions how the indescribable dullness of his world becomes bright when he is intoxicated at one point in this book when explaining what it feels like to be inebriated. That is what he accomplishes throughout the entire book. It is a book unlike any other I’ve read since it frequently goes into great depth about the ordinary world, but life also explores facets of it, such as awkward teenage moments and gauche behaviour, intoxication, and relationships with girlfriends, that are rarely explored outside of comic books.
In addition, Knausgaard addresses the important issues of love, sex, family, and most importantly, death (which frames this part of the novel). At first glance, it appears to have a very sloppy structure—almost like a stream of consciousness—with frequent tangents and trips through time. But the narrator’s love-hate relationship with his father is at the centre of the story. It’s fascinating that, as Proust did with his mother, the narrator’s connection with his father is explored at the beginning of this contemporary author’s lengthy series of novels in the manner of Proust. I’m looking forward to experiencing more of the excruciating banality and the brilliance along the way since it has all the makings of being a singular journey.
