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A review by anusha_reads
I is Another: Septology III-V by Jon Fosse
medium-paced
5.0
I IS ANOTHER, SEPTOLOGY III- V, JON FOSSE (NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023), Translated by DAMION SEARLS
I IS ANOTHER picks up from where THE OTHER NAME finishes off.
The translation is so perfect that one doesn’t realise that the book was written in another language. The long and winding sentences that run to pages don't seem to bother me at all.
Asle, the protagonist finds it rather difficult to strike up a conversation and often ends up having the same old talks, which is very symbolic of how old people have the habit of repeating stories. His friendship with Asleik, his neighbour, is very sweet, and both look up to each other, helping and caring for each other. Asle in the present lives in a house near the sea. Asle has had a knack for painting from his childhood. He couldn't shake off the picture in his mind till he painted it.
The transition from past to present and vice versa is just sudden, and every time that happened, I just went back and reread those parts, thinking I might have missed something.
Though the story keeps moving back and forth, the part about the present nonetheless is interesting, where he portrays Asle’s forgetfulness, his reticence, and his concern for his ailing namesake.
A major chunk of this book focuses on adulting, how Asle moves out from his parent's house to settle in another place to study further, his new friends and the school. Asle is made to read, and he freezes and decides to skip school on days he has English. I found this part rather cute as children often tend to do that.
I loved the part when he gets to meet his future wife and how they instantly connect, both with similar names: Asle and Ales
From being not so religious to becoming a pious old man- what brings about this transition in Asle? Jon Fosse himself has a similar story. Fosse quit drinking and converted to Catholicism. He then wrote Septology after these major life changes.
THIS BOOK WHICH COMPRISES OF THE 3RD, 4TH, AND 5TH part of the Septology
The spellbinding tale is to be continued...
Next: A NEW NAME, SEPTOLOGY VI-VII
I IS ANOTHER picks up from where THE OTHER NAME finishes off.
The translation is so perfect that one doesn’t realise that the book was written in another language. The long and winding sentences that run to pages don't seem to bother me at all.
Asle, the protagonist finds it rather difficult to strike up a conversation and often ends up having the same old talks, which is very symbolic of how old people have the habit of repeating stories. His friendship with Asleik, his neighbour, is very sweet, and both look up to each other, helping and caring for each other. Asle in the present lives in a house near the sea. Asle has had a knack for painting from his childhood. He couldn't shake off the picture in his mind till he painted it.
The transition from past to present and vice versa is just sudden, and every time that happened, I just went back and reread those parts, thinking I might have missed something.
Though the story keeps moving back and forth, the part about the present nonetheless is interesting, where he portrays Asle’s forgetfulness, his reticence, and his concern for his ailing namesake.
A major chunk of this book focuses on adulting, how Asle moves out from his parent's house to settle in another place to study further, his new friends and the school. Asle is made to read, and he freezes and decides to skip school on days he has English. I found this part rather cute as children often tend to do that.
I loved the part when he gets to meet his future wife and how they instantly connect, both with similar names: Asle and Ales
From being not so religious to becoming a pious old man- what brings about this transition in Asle? Jon Fosse himself has a similar story. Fosse quit drinking and converted to Catholicism. He then wrote Septology after these major life changes.
THIS BOOK WHICH COMPRISES OF THE 3RD, 4TH, AND 5TH part of the Septology
The spellbinding tale is to be continued...
Next: A NEW NAME, SEPTOLOGY VI-VII