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A review by synnereads
Morgon og kveld by Jon Fosse
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
"Morgon og kveld"
(English: "Morning and evening")
I'm writing this review in English so that I might convince non-Norwegians to read Jon Fosse (because my words matter more than what some Nobel Prize Committee in Sweden has to say, duh).
I've seen Jon Fosse's books around for years, but I've never been tempted to pick up any of his books, because, well, his covers are very dull. Pretty – absolutely – but also dull, in a way that made me think his books were dry, abstract, and boring.
Now that I've read this book, I would say that I was absolutely right, and completely wrong.
The book is slow, repetitive, and not much happens – and weirdly enough, I really liked that. Without spoiling anything I would say that all the small events come together in a way that made this one of the most beautiful, sad and profound reading experiences I've had in a while. And the repetitive prose? Well, I loved that too. We all repeat ourselves, both in thought and action, and so the prose felt like a representation of our sometimes repetitive human nature (and it felt like talking to my grandma, in a good way❤️)
I also found the repetitions oddly comforting (again, grandma). I actually think that this book was very comforting in general, despite how freaking sad it was.
I recommend going in blind, without reading the synopsis too closely.
In case you'd like to know a little more: the themes in the book are life, death, good and evil, God, faith and the meaning of it all. It's magical, wistful and quietly devastating.
I LOVED IT.
(English: "Morning and evening")
I'm writing this review in English so that I might convince non-Norwegians to read Jon Fosse (because my words matter more than what some Nobel Prize Committee in Sweden has to say, duh).
I've seen Jon Fosse's books around for years, but I've never been tempted to pick up any of his books, because, well, his covers are very dull. Pretty – absolutely – but also dull, in a way that made me think his books were dry, abstract, and boring.
Now that I've read this book, I would say that I was absolutely right, and completely wrong.
The book is slow, repetitive, and not much happens – and weirdly enough, I really liked that. Without spoiling anything I would say that all the small events come together in a way that made this one of the most beautiful, sad and profound reading experiences I've had in a while. And the repetitive prose? Well, I loved that too. We all repeat ourselves, both in thought and action, and so the prose felt like a representation of our sometimes repetitive human nature (and it felt like talking to my grandma, in a good way❤️)
I also found the repetitions oddly comforting (again, grandma). I actually think that this book was very comforting in general, despite how freaking sad it was.
I recommend going in blind, without reading the synopsis too closely.
In case you'd like to know a little more: the themes in the book are life, death, good and evil, God, faith and the meaning of it all. It's magical, wistful and quietly devastating.
I LOVED IT.