How many on /lit/ have read some or all of My Struggle?
I just began the last and largest volume yesterday. I read 1-3 a year ago, and devoured 4 and 5 in the matter of a week recently, and am now reading volume 6.
Though it is generally critically acclaimed, I don't hear much of it in the media, and it bums me out that so many people are missing out on what I perceive to be one of the greatest pieces of literature in recent times. I know it sells well enough, I just haven't encountered anybody that has read it yet. Luckily I got my grandma hooked on it, and she is now on volume 3.
Also, will answer questions if anybody is interested about volume 5 and partly 6, since they have only translated up to book 4 as of now, yes?
General My Struggle/Min Kamp discussion
>>7387743
I haven't read that, but I like his other two novels.
>>7387743
>Though it is generally critically acclaimed, I don't hear much of it in the media
Where the hell are you from? Sweden?
It was enormous in Norway, as Min Kamp 6 will tell you, and it has become pretty well known here in Denmark as well. I would presume it's the same in Sweden, though they might be a bit more critical of it than the Danes - who love controversial and don't give a fuck about privacy.
It's getting quite a lot of talk in the United Kingdom as well, only the French are unimpressed by it.
>>7387767
The swedes are incredibly butthurt about him, and there are quite a few "public intellectuals" here in Norway too that are getting upset.
>>7387767
I'm a Dane myself, but I live in a rural area, so that might have something to do with it. The lady at the bookstore said she had read the first two, when I was picking up the sixth book the other day. I just guess being young, not many people I spend time with would read stuff like Min Kamp, none of the people I know do, anyway.
Im trying to find it in Brazil but i can only find Vol 2 and now im without money so it will take me a while to get into reading it but since James Murphy was reading and said nice things its on my list
I haven't but I will.
I was sceptical but his Vice interview made me like him as a person and become interested in his work. Seems like a top lad.
>>7387790
Hej hej.
I don't personally know any Danes who have read it either, but a lot know of it - like it is with most literature here. A lot of young Norwegians have read it though I noticed.
If you read Politiken you'll hear Knausgaard's name often, he is sort of a darling for that group.
>>7387781
Are they getting upset, or is it the same bunch who were upset at the release? I assumed he was becoming quite a well respected figure, even if he is still an 'Enfant terrible' of sorts.
>>7387790
>bookstore
Are you reading it in danish or norwegian then? Here it's stupidly hard to get other nordic literature in their original languages, I had to order my Kierkegaard copies from Denmark.
>>7387801
Link to the interview? What is this book about and is it related to Mein Kampf?
>>7387801
I can't speak for other people, but I think many people (especially men) will resonate with a lot of his writing, and see themselves in him. Knausgård has even said this at some time, that many people, when they meet him, tell him that they feel like he was writing about them.
And you will be even more sympathetic of him once you read the books, I guarantee it.
>>7387809
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFTvESIIzEo
Not a big fan of the interviewer, though.
>>7387806
He's doing a tour with Harald Eia and Jo Nesbo about the masculine psyche and such things, feminist journos are torn between this and of course the allure of international recognition. It's quite funny really.
http://www.dagbladet.no/2015/01/06/kultur/debatt/kronikk/feminisme/mannsjavinisme/37027390/
>>7387810
>but I think many people (especially men) will resonate with a lot of his writing
This especially so in Scandinavian countries I think. I remember feeling almost nostalgic during the parts in his teen and early twenties years, even though it took place in another country two decades before I was born.
I guess things haven't changed too much in these countries.
>>7387818
Thanks.
>>7387819
> 1. Knausgård har sagt i et radiointervju at "Alle menn som moter en kvinne lurer på hvordan det er å ligge med henne". Dette ble det nyhetssak av.
Classic stuff. I don't think Danish newspapers would have taken the bait and reported on such a remark.
>>7387833
Indeed. I suppose it has something to do with the climate, the culture and economic situation, that places a lot of us in a very similar situation.
In some aspects he is entirely different to me, but in a lot of things, he is so alike to me. He never says it from book 1-5, but he mentions it in 6, that he is very anxious for days after drinking, which I have never heard anyone express before. The anxiety after drinking is always 100x worse for me than the hangover.
>>7387743
Spaniard here. I acknowledge the fact that a translation is greatly differing from the Germanic tongue in which it was written. Still, I found it be a stark and fairly atypical narration. Knausgaard isn't a skilled stylist, not even a great writer for the matter, but he (in a display of carefree humility and devotion) seems to be aware of it and rends his heart instead to the crafting of a significant project, as rigurously chronical as it lets slight poetic licenses beam through.
>>7387848
We're a bit more keked than you, as I'm sure you know.
>>7387854
>that he is very anxious for days after drinking, which I have never heard anyone express before.
Probably because serious drinkers tend to not stop drinking.
>>7387854
I recognize the feeling - because of how stupid I acted when I was a teenager and drunk, I spend hours the days after being nervous for having offended anyone or worse. It's an interesting aspect of drinking.
>>7387878
>>7387866
>tfw have managed to stop getting drunk but still manage to act like an ass
eh whatever
>>7387878
I stop after I have had my fifth drink now. I like to lose my inhibitions, but only very slightly. Getting shitfaced and saying stuff I would normally not is opening a door I would rather keep closed.
>>7387878
iktf, made me want to go into hiding after tying one on for a few days
As a jew, that title does put me off, which is the case for many other people I guess.
The general presumption held about the book would be that it is some straight white European male that is complaining about losing his privilege in the modern world.
>tfw reading the first book
>Noseguard talking about drinking in his teens
>tfw reach the "I'm Garfield!" scene
LOL'd heartily, and I never LOL at books
>>7388569
Not in the slightest. I don't know what would give you that impression. The first book is basically about him and his father, and their (very) strained relationship.
The book has absolutely no political message as such. It's more an account of his experience in the world, with a focus on how much his father has dominated his life.
>>7388596
Probably because Mein Kampf is German for "My Struggle"?
>>7388584
lol iktf
>>7388597
Yeah, but what I don't get is why he (you?) would think that:
>it is some straight white European male that is complaining about losing his privilege in the modern world.
>>7388569
>jew
>whining about being offended
>whining about straight white males
>privilege
Stop proving /pol/ right, miss.
>>7388617
His readership base a cute.
>>7389354
It's because Zadie's a cute and he read White Teeth
unless youre scandinavian i can't think of any way you would run out of things to read besides knausgaard in a human lifetime
>>7387862
SPIC
>>7389351
They usually combine and reinforce each other in to a downwards spiral of shittiness tho.
>>7388569
>Judging a book by it's title
>Espousing what is admitted to be presumptions without having read the work
>Throws in some privilege ragebait for good measure
3/10. Try to be more subtle.
>>7387810
>>I can't speak for other people, but I think many people (especially men) will resonate with a lot of his writing,
is he the houllebecq of the scandinavia ?
It's being published in Portugal as we speak. Think about half of them are already out
>>7387862
>Knausgaard isn't a skilled stylist, not even a great writer for the matter
He actually is a quite great writer which you would notice if you read some of his other books. He mentioned in an interview that he himself is very aware of the book's relatively low literary value when it comes to the actual writing, but that it was the only way for him to write My Struggle because he wanted it to be as genuine and as straight from his memory as possible, so he just wrote the books without actually stopping and thinking about what and how he was writing.
I heard about it a while ago, its certainly on the list.
However, I read a review he wrote of the new Houellebecq novel and I really didn't like his style.
That's not the best indication though, so I'll still hit it up.
Just finished the fifth instalment of the series. Here's an arbitrary ranking from best to worst.
1. Book 2
2. Book 1
3. Book 5
4. Book 4
Quality gap
5. Book 3
>>7387818
This interviewer is a Grade A cunt.
>>7389463
I agree with the ranking, though I don't think 4 is that much better than 3.
Not that they are bad, they just feel like chronological necessities that he has to get through to get to the end of the fifth book.
The Sixth book is as good as the Second imo.
>>7389591
Yeah, the quality gap should be after book 5 I guess. The parts about his childhood and teenage years are always my least favourite ones. Book 5 handles the whole thing better though since we get to see him develop as an author (and as a person).
Really looking forward to #6, gotta sit down and start on it one of these days.
>>7389606
The fifth book sort of rectifies itself with the ending though. The way it comes full circle is a very cathartic moment - you have read five long books about this man and suddenly you are back at the beginning.
That alone puts the Fifth high above 3 and 4.
>>7389463
I might put 5 over 1, but other than that I agree. Book 3 isn't very good. I didn't like exploring the mind of kid knausgård. I think the fact that he had to write like a juvenile ruined it for me. In all the other books, he shows that he is quite intelligent, and shows extreme emotion. Though this is present in book 3, it just doesn't seem as profound as the other books, probably due to the fact that he is a kid at the time.
>>7387854
Anxious of what he did when he was drunk, or anxious in general?
>devoured
Stopped reading. Stop using journalist cliches you fanny.
>>7389645
Well, he doesn't detail exactly why, but for me, it is merely the fact that you let your inner self have too much fun. The usual restraints you have wear off after drinking, you say stuff you normally wouldn't, and I usually worry all of the following day, as to what people think of this drunken me, as compared to the real me.
how tough a read are these? what do they read like in english?
>>7390680
Read an excerpt and judge for yourself: http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-birthday-party
>>7388634
haha Tao Lin took that picture. they have such a look of 'is this guy fucking serious?'
>>7390800
Zadie looks terrified
>>7387743
Why did you put Hemsöborna on top?
Also there was a lot of discussion about it here in Sweden when it was released. But there are some critics here, that for some reason judge books by the moral of the characters. But mostly I would say that the response have been very positive.
>>7387743
I read it in its original language, then later on i picked up an english transelation and realised that the english version was way better in terms of writing style. His writing isnt shit, but its not briliant either, its just strange..
How many volumes have been translated into English?
>>7390875
Only the first 3 I think.
Anyone read A Time For Everything?
I'm going to start it in a couple weeks after I finish reading the bible.
>>7391123
4, and 5 is coming in March.
>>7387743
I enjoyed number one greatly.
Knausgaard's appeal is bipartite.
First, he somehow wrote a biography about an uninteresting life that is still somehow gripping.
Second, and this is probably what makes one work, is he has absolutely no shame. He tells all.
