Karl Ove Knausgaard: My Struggle (Part I)

Karl Ove Knausgaard’s 6-volume autobiographical novel My Struggle (Archipelago), the third volume of which has just been translated from Norwegian into English, is one of embarrassment and unblemished emotion. Knausgaard, in reflecting on his autobiographical novels, says he always thought literature should be about life. He didn’t think his books would obtain universality; America, which used to feel significant, has become more like Norway: we all fear our lives are worthless, mean nothing. He describes writing as an attempt to feel life and find meaning within the banality of the everyday.

Banner image by Anneli Salo