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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
A colleague once said to me that a 5-Star rating should be worthy of your remembering when and how you experienced reading the book. I could not agree more. The End, or Min Kamp Volume 6, was a slightly more disrupted read than Volumes 1-5. The narrative is broken by a 400-page essay on literature and Mein Kampf. While the essay may be incredibly important to fans of the project of Min Kamp and its literary motive, I could help but feel that it removed me too far from enjoying the closing of the narrative.
As a single entity Min Kamp may well be one of the most momentous, important, personally consequentially, or individually resonant books of my reading life. There are very few books which have made me self-reflect so deeply and intimately on what it means to have my own experience of life and values. A caveat: this may well be amplified by becoming a father myself during the time of my reading the 6 volumes (1-month before to 6-months after).
Putting that personal relationship aside for now, Min Kamp is a literary juggernaut. Knausgaard’s intent to contribute to literary history (a very ambitious and arrogant idea itself!) is unambiguously achieved. This is it. 21st century literature. Equal in stature (I’ll spend the rest of my life investigating qualitative comparisons) to Proust, Joyce, Broch (Knausgaard’s oft referenced 20th century canon).
I look forward to waiting a year or five to read this for a second time. I already miss it.
As a single entity Min Kamp may well be one of the most momentous, important, personally consequentially, or individually resonant books of my reading life. There are very few books which have made me self-reflect so deeply and intimately on what it means to have my own experience of life and values. A caveat: this may well be amplified by becoming a father myself during the time of my reading the 6 volumes (1-month before to 6-months after).
Putting that personal relationship aside for now, Min Kamp is a literary juggernaut. Knausgaard’s intent to contribute to literary history (a very ambitious and arrogant idea itself!) is unambiguously achieved. This is it. 21st century literature. Equal in stature (I’ll spend the rest of my life investigating qualitative comparisons) to Proust, Joyce, Broch (Knausgaard’s oft referenced 20th century canon).
I look forward to waiting a year or five to read this for a second time. I already miss it.
Krass hier die Schilderung der Psychosen seiner Frau.
Three stars for the final book, but more for it’s predecessors. I don’t know why there was such an extended essay about art, culture, Hitler and philosophy in the middle. Best skipped. A bit like the final 50 pages of War and Peace.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
An astonishing book. The ending, ~100 pages focused on Linda and her illness, came as a shock and I read it in one go. This part is the shining star, definitely of this book, maybe of the series. He gestures towards his own incomprehensible shortcomings as a husband and father. He is failing her and he knows it. “The story of last summer, what I have just told, looks different now. Why? Because Linda is a human being and her unique essence is indescribable, her own distinctive presence, her own nature and her soul, which were always there beside me, which I saw and felt quite irrespective of whatever else was going on.” Yeah, I wept. Would be unlike me to not mention that the middle ~400 pages could have been better integrated or else accomplished in ~150, but I would’ve followed him wherever he wanted, at that point. The writing in the endish section, after hitler but before Linda, got noticeably sloppy. That part is hard to read for how he sees Linda, too. Happy he ended the way he did and happy to have read it.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
I'm hot off of the last page, and on my phone, so this is rushed, but I HAD TO write something.
It's finished! Wow. What an odyssey. What a romance. And what a marvelous mess.
There is a different piece of life-writing (one I intend to read ASAP) which bears the title "Every Love Story Is A Ghost Story", and as I finished this series, I couldn't help but recall that phrase. The spectral imagery is also emphasized in my mind by Calvino's If On A Winter's Night A Traveler (a simul-read which I don't think could have tied into Book 6 more perfectly). All that to say, there is something like a ghost in these pages... Or maybe even more than a ghost...
One night, after closing the book, near the 1,000th page maybe, I said to myself, "I think someone's in there." That such a phrase might be used in reference to a portable toilet is not lost on me whatsoever, haha. These books are "occupied", in much the same way. They're dirty, but real, and can be quite comedic, but are consistently shameful. So, if someone were to pick these up, I imagined I might say, "Oh, don't open that." "Why not?" "I think someone's in there." Haha!
And that's about where I've landed on these books: don't read them. Not yet. Wait until they (the Knausgaards) are done.
After Book 6, it really seems like the best intentioned review I can give to Knausgaard - whom I owe for this pleasure, and who owes so many others for their patience, forgiveness, and grace - is to recommend that these books are kept out of anyone else's hands!
I didn't think this until late in Book 6, but these books should have maybe gone unpublished. Maybe these should've just been gifts to his children, so they could decide if/when to release them... But...
[mild spoiler]
He was reportedly miserable when he began writing these, and he thought he didn't have anything to lose. Oy vey. The drama.
I understand the reasons why these books exist, and I'm glad that he wrote them, and that he has become a "successful" writer largely because of them, but I get the feeling that Karl Ove is no stranger to Regret. Alas, this is the world we live in, where "reality entertainment" and exposure are in vogue. So now, of course, "revenge writing" will trend, and all sorts of aspiring authors will flock to "Keep up with the Knausgaardians" haha. But maybe just keep a journal, and show it to a small handful of discreet individuals. Be kind to your loved ones, especially your children. Tell your story, but grant them the right to be forgotten, should they so desire.
[another mild spoiler here]
Karl Ove says he'll never forgive himself for what he's exposed his family to, but that he'll have to live with it. I hope that's not the case. I hope he can forgive himself, and I hope others forgive him as well. I hope he finds peace, and I wish the best to his family and friends. I feel like I've spent a lot of time with them now. They are stronger characters than maybe any I've ever encountered in another book.
That said... I wonder if I'm not just a sucker for believing these are much more than fiction. The lines are forever blurred now, and yet so much more vividly exciting, haha. It really does feel like a reinvention of the novel.
Taken together, books 1-6 are all truly great, and the series gets 5 full stars from me, overall.
I'd give Book 6 probably 4.5/5 stars (rounding up), because some sections weren't my cup of tea (the poetry analysis in particular), but it was a great ending and exactly what I hoped for. Something I'll continue thinking about for a long time.
I would probably only recommend this to writers. And I can't remember who said this, but it seems relevant: if you don't absolutely have to write, then don't, haha. I think more of us have to than we realize though.
I will miss Karl Ove's voice. I hope I will find it again in the author's other work :) A Time For Everything will be on deck soon, for sure.
It's finished! Wow. What an odyssey. What a romance. And what a marvelous mess.
There is a different piece of life-writing (one I intend to read ASAP) which bears the title "Every Love Story Is A Ghost Story", and as I finished this series, I couldn't help but recall that phrase. The spectral imagery is also emphasized in my mind by Calvino's If On A Winter's Night A Traveler (a simul-read which I don't think could have tied into Book 6 more perfectly). All that to say, there is something like a ghost in these pages... Or maybe even more than a ghost...
One night, after closing the book, near the 1,000th page maybe, I said to myself, "I think someone's in there." That such a phrase might be used in reference to a portable toilet is not lost on me whatsoever, haha. These books are "occupied", in much the same way. They're dirty, but real, and can be quite comedic, but are consistently shameful. So, if someone were to pick these up, I imagined I might say, "Oh, don't open that." "Why not?" "I think someone's in there." Haha!
And that's about where I've landed on these books: don't read them. Not yet. Wait until they (the Knausgaards) are done.
After Book 6, it really seems like the best intentioned review I can give to Knausgaard - whom I owe for this pleasure, and who owes so many others for their patience, forgiveness, and grace - is to recommend that these books are kept out of anyone else's hands!
I didn't think this until late in Book 6, but these books should have maybe gone unpublished. Maybe these should've just been gifts to his children, so they could decide if/when to release them... But...
[mild spoiler]
He was reportedly miserable when he began writing these, and he thought he didn't have anything to lose. Oy vey. The drama.
I understand the reasons why these books exist, and I'm glad that he wrote them, and that he has become a "successful" writer largely because of them, but I get the feeling that Karl Ove is no stranger to Regret. Alas, this is the world we live in, where "reality entertainment" and exposure are in vogue. So now, of course, "revenge writing" will trend, and all sorts of aspiring authors will flock to "Keep up with the Knausgaardians" haha. But maybe just keep a journal, and show it to a small handful of discreet individuals. Be kind to your loved ones, especially your children. Tell your story, but grant them the right to be forgotten, should they so desire.
[another mild spoiler here]
Karl Ove says he'll never forgive himself for what he's exposed his family to, but that he'll have to live with it. I hope that's not the case. I hope he can forgive himself, and I hope others forgive him as well. I hope he finds peace, and I wish the best to his family and friends. I feel like I've spent a lot of time with them now. They are stronger characters than maybe any I've ever encountered in another book.
That said... I wonder if I'm not just a sucker for believing these are much more than fiction. The lines are forever blurred now, and yet so much more vividly exciting, haha. It really does feel like a reinvention of the novel.
Taken together, books 1-6 are all truly great, and the series gets 5 full stars from me, overall.
I'd give Book 6 probably 4.5/5 stars (rounding up), because some sections weren't my cup of tea (the poetry analysis in particular), but it was a great ending and exactly what I hoped for. Something I'll continue thinking about for a long time.
I would probably only recommend this to writers. And I can't remember who said this, but it seems relevant: if you don't absolutely have to write, then don't, haha. I think more of us have to than we realize though.
I will miss Karl Ove's voice. I hope I will find it again in the author's other work :) A Time For Everything will be on deck soon, for sure.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A great, worthy end to the saga. In many ways, not exceedingly distinct from the previous volumes as a reading experience, as a lot of the flaws and relationships in this book are presented in other volumes; however, the reflection in this one is fascinating--both on the project as a whole looking back as art and its success/failure, and also it's impact on his family/friends and relationships. Easy to be intimidated by the size, but it's definitely worthwhile, and doesn't feel that overwritten/overstuffed, except for the paul celan essay, which is skippable. The Hitler essay though--dont listen to anyone who says to skip the Hitler essay. I mean if it bores you skip it i guess, it's not essential, purely speaking, to the novel, but it's very interesting, and i really enjoyed reading it, along with the rest of the book.
Rarely have i ever read something that so purely distills being a human in the modern world so fully, and for whatever reason, it's immensely gratifying to walk with someone going through all the good and bad, all the selfishness, all the joy, and in seeing this project to its conclusion and some 40 years of KOK's life, it's impossible to come out unchanged.
Rarely have i ever read something that so purely distills being a human in the modern world so fully, and for whatever reason, it's immensely gratifying to walk with someone going through all the good and bad, all the selfishness, all the joy, and in seeing this project to its conclusion and some 40 years of KOK's life, it's impossible to come out unchanged.
I'm sitting here trying to contain myself now that My Struggle has come to The End. Where do you even begin with a series this extensive? Weighing in at over 1,150 pages and 3 lbs. (yes, I weighed it), we have Karl Ove Knausgaard in one corner; the rest of the world in the other. It's a title fight. A championship. I was in the front row and Karl Ove went the distance.
Unlike the other five books, this final book is so meta. In it, Karl Ove is contemplating life since and during publication of the other previous books in the series while also writing this current one, offering a unique perspective on his novels and where his life was taking him now that he was gaining celebrity status. It was otherworldly seeing the impact that his books had on his family, friends and self. While most of his family and friends expressed support of his previous novels, it was near impossible for them not to directly have some sort of impact on each of them, even when their names had been changed. Keen reporters would show up at their houses unannounced trying to get insider information. Journalists would break promises, saying one thing and delivering another. Most notably, one of Karl Ove's uncles was absolutely livid, claiming that events surrounding his brother's and mother's lives (Karl Ove's father's and grandmother's) had been horribly misrepresented and their names dragged through the mud for monetary gain. Most evident in this last book was the possible impact Karl Ove's books had on his current wife, Linda. The last couple of hundred pages led us through her suffering a major mental breakdown, however whether or not this was the direct result of being written about or if it was older symptoms recurring is not obvious, as mental illness is something she was diagnosed with years ago before she met and married the author.
Still present and pervading (as in all of the other books in this series) is Karl Ove's unflinching, deep, dark shame. It's palpable. The most seemingly innocuous things, such as driving above the speed limit, fill him with days of shame, so one can only imagine how his everyday interactions and close analysis of his life just overpower him with emotion. His is a person who feels deeply. Although his self-esteem is truly at base level, he was still incredibly brave to write in such detail about his life. As he says himself, in everyday life, no one ever knows the true us - our deepest thoughts and interactions are all buried within us and it's therefore impossible to ever really know another person one hundred percent. We say the things that placate and please others all the while running an internal dialogue that would dispel any version of our selves that others know. Even when we're not being especially nice, when we're fighting or in turmoil, no one ever hears our most harsh thoughts. What Karl Ove does is shows us exactly what he's thinking, so whenever he relays scenarios or conversations, we read his innermost rebuttals that beforehand were only in his head. In turn, those people that are closest to him - the people he's written about - read all of these true feelings, leaving Karl Ove exposed and vulnerable. This, of course, creates tension among certain people, but while this approach created some awkward schoolyard pickups, dinner dates and family meals, he holds steadfast to his decision to not wash over anything to spare his or others' feelings. It's all part of the formula that keeps the readers thoroughly engaged with his writing.
I can't review this book without mentioning the 400+ pages entitled The Name and the Number in which he analyzes: the importance of names, provides a detailed examination of poetry, characters in classics, God, death, night and nothingness and an in-depth review of Hitler's entire life, as he read Mein Kampf - (My Struggle - also the same name as his series). There is also a recurring interpretation throughout of I/we/they theories and how people belong to and are seen in the world. He notes that this section is what he started with when writing this book, but it just felt to me like the longest, never-ending detour. I was getting right into the original story - literally reading with a smile on my face throughout the first few hundred pages - as I plunged back into Karl Ove's life, so to have this gigantic non-fiction book placed within this other book just made no sense to me. I almost struggle to say something good about this section, because it comes so out of left field. Well...I certainly learned a lot about Hitler. My history knowledge is sadly lacking in many areas, so at least a learned quite a bit. Also, for someone who states that he's no good at understanding poetry, he certainly disproved that - the parts where he referenced poetry felt like an English professor's discourse in the art of deconstructing a poem; he distilled practically every word down to its most likely meaning, incorporating history, language and context. Kudos must also be given to the translator of this entire body of work - with so many turns of phrase, not to mention the sheer length of the novel, and to have it all ring true from start to finish, was a great feat.
Partway through this section, I started grasping at straws as to why this extensive essay-like information was included within this book. Does it go back to Karl Ove's interest in utopia? His own fearful father/son dynamic that's closely mirrored in that of Hitler and his own father? His parallel discomfort with women? Perhaps analysis of a same-named book? In any case, it was maddening to me, but I kept at it, anticipating getting through it and back to Karl Ove's family life in Malmo...
...which it did eventually. I am so happy I stuck through the whole thing and read this acclaimed series. Although outwardly simplistic in theory, it somehow becomes anything but. It's an ordinary yet compulsive look at a life lived so far to middle age. It's about family, friendship, coffee, feelings, love, self-analysis, loathing, book tours, shame, detritus, money, home, a brain, a body, a life. It's uniquely Karl Ove Knausgaard. A man who doesn't give a shit at all what any of us think about his books.
Unlike the other five books, this final book is so meta. In it, Karl Ove is contemplating life since and during publication of the other previous books in the series while also writing this current one, offering a unique perspective on his novels and where his life was taking him now that he was gaining celebrity status. It was otherworldly seeing the impact that his books had on his family, friends and self. While most of his family and friends expressed support of his previous novels, it was near impossible for them not to directly have some sort of impact on each of them, even when their names had been changed. Keen reporters would show up at their houses unannounced trying to get insider information. Journalists would break promises, saying one thing and delivering another. Most notably, one of Karl Ove's uncles was absolutely livid, claiming that events surrounding his brother's and mother's lives (Karl Ove's father's and grandmother's) had been horribly misrepresented and their names dragged through the mud for monetary gain. Most evident in this last book was the possible impact Karl Ove's books had on his current wife, Linda. The last couple of hundred pages led us through her suffering a major mental breakdown, however whether or not this was the direct result of being written about or if it was older symptoms recurring is not obvious, as mental illness is something she was diagnosed with years ago before she met and married the author.
Still present and pervading (as in all of the other books in this series) is Karl Ove's unflinching, deep, dark shame. It's palpable. The most seemingly innocuous things, such as driving above the speed limit, fill him with days of shame, so one can only imagine how his everyday interactions and close analysis of his life just overpower him with emotion. His is a person who feels deeply. Although his self-esteem is truly at base level, he was still incredibly brave to write in such detail about his life. As he says himself, in everyday life, no one ever knows the true us - our deepest thoughts and interactions are all buried within us and it's therefore impossible to ever really know another person one hundred percent. We say the things that placate and please others all the while running an internal dialogue that would dispel any version of our selves that others know. Even when we're not being especially nice, when we're fighting or in turmoil, no one ever hears our most harsh thoughts. What Karl Ove does is shows us exactly what he's thinking, so whenever he relays scenarios or conversations, we read his innermost rebuttals that beforehand were only in his head. In turn, those people that are closest to him - the people he's written about - read all of these true feelings, leaving Karl Ove exposed and vulnerable. This, of course, creates tension among certain people, but while this approach created some awkward schoolyard pickups, dinner dates and family meals, he holds steadfast to his decision to not wash over anything to spare his or others' feelings. It's all part of the formula that keeps the readers thoroughly engaged with his writing.
I can't review this book without mentioning the 400+ pages entitled The Name and the Number in which he analyzes: the importance of names, provides a detailed examination of poetry, characters in classics, God, death, night and nothingness and an in-depth review of Hitler's entire life, as he read Mein Kampf - (My Struggle - also the same name as his series). There is also a recurring interpretation throughout of I/we/they theories and how people belong to and are seen in the world. He notes that this section is what he started with when writing this book, but it just felt to me like the longest, never-ending detour. I was getting right into the original story - literally reading with a smile on my face throughout the first few hundred pages - as I plunged back into Karl Ove's life, so to have this gigantic non-fiction book placed within this other book just made no sense to me. I almost struggle to say something good about this section, because it comes so out of left field. Well...I certainly learned a lot about Hitler. My history knowledge is sadly lacking in many areas, so at least a learned quite a bit. Also, for someone who states that he's no good at understanding poetry, he certainly disproved that - the parts where he referenced poetry felt like an English professor's discourse in the art of deconstructing a poem; he distilled practically every word down to its most likely meaning, incorporating history, language and context. Kudos must also be given to the translator of this entire body of work - with so many turns of phrase, not to mention the sheer length of the novel, and to have it all ring true from start to finish, was a great feat.
Partway through this section, I started grasping at straws as to why this extensive essay-like information was included within this book. Does it go back to Karl Ove's interest in utopia? His own fearful father/son dynamic that's closely mirrored in that of Hitler and his own father? His parallel discomfort with women? Perhaps analysis of a same-named book? In any case, it was maddening to me, but I kept at it, anticipating getting through it and back to Karl Ove's family life in Malmo...
...which it did eventually. I am so happy I stuck through the whole thing and read this acclaimed series. Although outwardly simplistic in theory, it somehow becomes anything but. It's an ordinary yet compulsive look at a life lived so far to middle age. It's about family, friendship, coffee, feelings, love, self-analysis, loathing, book tours, shame, detritus, money, home, a brain, a body, a life. It's uniquely Karl Ove Knausgaard. A man who doesn't give a shit at all what any of us think about his books.
Kobo'da 555. sayfaya gelip Hitler'e dayanamadım. Türkçe çevirisini baştan okuyarak başladım. (Bal kobomu kırdı)Yıllar önce aynı cadde üzerinde oturmuş olmamızdan mı belki de yan yana geçmiş, aynı süpermarkette alışveriş yapmış olma ihtimalinden mi bilinmez. Yine çok eğleniyorum.