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Morgenstjernen #1
The Morning Star
It's a normal night in August. Literature professor Arne and artist Tove are with their children at the resort in southern Norway. Their friend, Egil, a driver by day, is staying in a cabin nearby. Kathrine, a priest, is on her way home from a seminar, the journalist Jostein is out on the town, and his wife Turid, who is an assistant nurse, has a night shift.
Above them all, a huge star suddenly appears in the sky. No one, not even the astronomers, knows for sure what kind of phenomenon it is. Is there a star burning itself out? Why then has no one seen it before? Or is it a brand new star? Slowly the interest in the news subsides, and life goes on, but not quite as before, for unusual phenomena begin to occur on the fringes of human existence.
Over these days in August, the characters the novel follows will each understand what is happening differently, and all face new struggles in their own lives.
Above them all, a huge star suddenly appears in the sky. No one, not even the astronomers, knows for sure what kind of phenomenon it is. Is there a star burning itself out? Why then has no one seen it before? Or is it a brand new star? Slowly the interest in the news subsides, and life goes on, but not quite as before, for unusual phenomena begin to occur on the fringes of human existence.
Over these days in August, the characters the novel follows will each understand what is happening differently, and all face new struggles in their own lives.
666 pages, Hardcover
First published September 18, 2020
About the author
Karl Ove Knausgård
69 books6,679 followersNominated to the 2004 Nordic Council’s Literature Prize & awarded the 2004 Norwegian Critics’ Prize.
Karl Ove Knausgård (b. 1968) made his literary debut in 1998 with the widely acclaimed novel Out of the World, which was a great critical and commercial success and won him, as the first debut novel ever, The Norwegian Critics' Prize. He then went on to write six autobiographical novels, titled My Struggle (Min Kamp), which have become a publication phenomenon in his native Norway as well as the world over.
Karl Ove Knausgård (b. 1968) made his literary debut in 1998 with the widely acclaimed novel Out of the World, which was a great critical and commercial success and won him, as the first debut novel ever, The Norwegian Critics' Prize. He then went on to write six autobiographical novels, titled My Struggle (Min Kamp), which have become a publication phenomenon in his native Norway as well as the world over.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,536 reviews
September 8, 2021
UPDATE: I interviewed Knausgaard about The Morning Star for The Millions: https://themillions.com/2021/09/karl-...
Oh my goodness - what a dark novel, with a fascinating structure, as many perspectives suture together, with none of them being able to see what is apparent to the reader: that the star in the sky is changing the world. I'll have more on this closer to publication, but for anyone who liked Knausgaard's earlier novel, A TIME FOR EVERYTHING, this is going to be a very exciting read. Couldn't put it down - won't stop thinking about it for a long time.
Oh my goodness - what a dark novel, with a fascinating structure, as many perspectives suture together, with none of them being able to see what is apparent to the reader: that the star in the sky is changing the world. I'll have more on this closer to publication, but for anyone who liked Knausgaard's earlier novel, A TIME FOR EVERYTHING, this is going to be a very exciting read. Couldn't put it down - won't stop thinking about it for a long time.
October 18, 2021
What an enigma, this Karl Ove Knausgård. On and on he goes, our favorite writer without an editor, yet his readers don't begrudge him.
Will they begrudge him here? Probably not. If anything, he pulls a new device from his writer's toolbox. Suspense. Drawn slowly apart like salt water taffy, maybe. And so, as you read, jumping from one point of view to another in a constant cycle of characters, you think it sweet. Indeed, as a reading experience, it is.
In some ways, the novel wants to full-out blossom into horror á la Justin Cronin's The Passage. But, no. It's too busy doing the Days-of-our-Scandinavian-Lives thing, to the point where you finally get a handle on the half dozen or so characters and each of their little dramas playing out in a wild, coastal area of Norway.
Increasingly wild, thanks to a strange new star, the extreme heat, the weird behavior of animals, and the ritualistic murders (all off screen, so to speak). Karl (or Kar Loves, if you ply a letter from first to middle name) frequently alludes to the Bible and other religious texts, so we soon are led to believe that the star is a harbinger of something maybe good (Jesus) but more likely not very good at all (Lucifer) to come. To the point where I was amazed that the hardcover version of this long narrative ends on p. 666 (neat trick, that). To the point where the repeated words "You are doomed" gains the same traction as S. King's famous Colorado red rum.
But back to begrudging. If it comes, it will come at the end. A slow cooker of a book, it finally gains real momentum on "Day 2" of the two part sections. As the pace of bad things picks up, so do the sounds of pages flipping. The reader wonders HOW in the world KOK is going to KO this bout with suspense. I mean, the scale is downright Biblical in a Revelations kind of way.
Fact is, without ruining things, he really doesn't. The last chapter is not one of the POVs, it is instead an essay on death written by one of the characters we are most curious about (he's gone missing, along with his son, in one of the book's most eerie chapters).
And so, I'm sure, some readers will take issue with such a finish, calling it a cop-out. KOK fans will know better, though. They'll know that Karl Ove is a journey man, not a destination one. Thus, the means justify the end. And you can stick another feather in Knausgård's cap, reminding yourself that, when it comes to suspense with a dash of horror, he's a better writer than Stephen King by far. Or by star, if you prefer.
Recommendation: Follow the magi to your nearest bookstore, library, or online cart.
Will they begrudge him here? Probably not. If anything, he pulls a new device from his writer's toolbox. Suspense. Drawn slowly apart like salt water taffy, maybe. And so, as you read, jumping from one point of view to another in a constant cycle of characters, you think it sweet. Indeed, as a reading experience, it is.
In some ways, the novel wants to full-out blossom into horror á la Justin Cronin's The Passage. But, no. It's too busy doing the Days-of-our-Scandinavian-Lives thing, to the point where you finally get a handle on the half dozen or so characters and each of their little dramas playing out in a wild, coastal area of Norway.
Increasingly wild, thanks to a strange new star, the extreme heat, the weird behavior of animals, and the ritualistic murders (all off screen, so to speak). Karl (or Kar Loves, if you ply a letter from first to middle name) frequently alludes to the Bible and other religious texts, so we soon are led to believe that the star is a harbinger of something maybe good (Jesus) but more likely not very good at all (Lucifer) to come. To the point where I was amazed that the hardcover version of this long narrative ends on p. 666 (neat trick, that). To the point where the repeated words "You are doomed" gains the same traction as S. King's famous Colorado red rum.
But back to begrudging. If it comes, it will come at the end. A slow cooker of a book, it finally gains real momentum on "Day 2" of the two part sections. As the pace of bad things picks up, so do the sounds of pages flipping. The reader wonders HOW in the world KOK is going to KO this bout with suspense. I mean, the scale is downright Biblical in a Revelations kind of way.
Fact is, without ruining things, he really doesn't. The last chapter is not one of the POVs, it is instead an essay on death written by one of the characters we are most curious about (he's gone missing, along with his son, in one of the book's most eerie chapters).
And so, I'm sure, some readers will take issue with such a finish, calling it a cop-out. KOK fans will know better, though. They'll know that Karl Ove is a journey man, not a destination one. Thus, the means justify the end. And you can stick another feather in Knausgård's cap, reminding yourself that, when it comes to suspense with a dash of horror, he's a better writer than Stephen King by far. Or by star, if you prefer.
Recommendation: Follow the magi to your nearest bookstore, library, or online cart.
November 30, 2021
Theological thriller, philosophical pulp, an extraordinarily well-characterized, dramatized elaboration of the internal/external worlds thematic focus of The Seasons Quartet, perfect for the longer nights and dark mornings of autumn, as neighbors decorate yards with plastic representations of skeletons and ghouls. Through the first two-hundred pages I wasn't sure about it, doubted its page count (666), thought it contrived and manipulated with prevalent one-sentence paragraphs like in a Blake Crouch novel. But then it started to take off, thanks in part to cliffhangers at the end of each section either for the new star or minor natural and some major supernatural oddities that began to proliferate, yet never in such a way as to overwhelm the emphasis on character and interiority -- and I was in it to win it and very much recommend it, not just to Knausgaard fans.
Structured as a series of first-person stories, each titled by the narrator's first name, many of which repeat, two of which (Arne, Egil) resemble Knausgaard, but also a few are women, a middle-aged priest of Norway, a young convenience-store clerk, a night shift worker at a mental hospital married to Jostein, a hideous man-type journalist whose idfulness and general hatefulness charge the pages through the middle and end like booster rockets whenever he appears. There are also two sections -- one about a young rocker named Emil and the other about a 33-year-old curator mother married to a 60-year-old famous architect -- that don't repeat and seem almost like teases for future installments of what seems like it will definitely continue as a series.
Knausgaard proved himself a master of suspense during the rising waters in the Noah section in A Time for Everything, and here it's really the same dynamic on a book-length level. Rising drama threatening everything we take for granted, all the little movements of the day, the common conversations and perceptions we barely register, especially all the time we spend trying to connect with loved ones but also find some time alone. In this there's a bit about a car accident and how the seriously injured family members will never sit around the kitchen again in the same way as they ready themselves for school -- extended over the course of the novel is the same dynamic, which infects the reader (me at least) with a sense of gratitude and amplifies perception of the everyday surrounding world, including thoughts and feelings and dreams, ie, the internal world. But also this achieved simple straightforward spookiness. Yes, I was spooked one night as I put down the book and turned off the light, listening to insects, animals (owls, foxes, our cat), and distant thunder.
Only criticism is the Emil section where he talks about a band called Ohia (presumably it's Songs:Ohia), but I did love when Emil talks about the warmth and effortless licks in David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name" (cool to see a suggested Garcia reference in a Knausgaard novel). Also liked that it ends with an essay, a la War & Peace, although the similarities end there.
I'll write more later but for now let's just say that I had hopes for this and looked forward to its arrival, thought it maybe a little hokey and underdone through the first two-hundred pages, but then couldn't put it down until the end, reading 100+ pages a day. For a book in part about belief, let's just say I remain a believer in this author -- I'm actually low-key astounded by his ability to meld "high" and "low" literature in a convincing, moving, intellectually satisfying or at least intriguing fashion, all while evoking the world around Bergen, Norway, as well as believably describing worlds of the mind, imagination, and the beyond.
Also, not that any of this matters but this is printed on the softest, silkiest, thin-yet-not-translucent paper, which I noticed immediately when opening the book and again when opening the new Franzen book that arrived as I neared the end -- the paper in the Franzen book seems like it's much lower quality and the book itself is thicker than the Knausgaard book despite having 130 fewer pages. I should also mention that I did achieve a minor silly goal of finishing The Morning Star the day Crossroads arrived -- middle-aged white male reader loser that I am, I want to read these two big fall novels back to back and see if there's anything of interest there in the overlap.
Structured as a series of first-person stories, each titled by the narrator's first name, many of which repeat, two of which (Arne, Egil) resemble Knausgaard, but also a few are women, a middle-aged priest of Norway, a young convenience-store clerk, a night shift worker at a mental hospital married to Jostein, a hideous man-type journalist whose idfulness and general hatefulness charge the pages through the middle and end like booster rockets whenever he appears. There are also two sections -- one about a young rocker named Emil and the other about a 33-year-old curator mother married to a 60-year-old famous architect -- that don't repeat and seem almost like teases for future installments of what seems like it will definitely continue as a series.
Knausgaard proved himself a master of suspense during the rising waters in the Noah section in A Time for Everything, and here it's really the same dynamic on a book-length level. Rising drama threatening everything we take for granted, all the little movements of the day, the common conversations and perceptions we barely register, especially all the time we spend trying to connect with loved ones but also find some time alone. In this there's a bit about a car accident and how the seriously injured family members will never sit around the kitchen again in the same way as they ready themselves for school -- extended over the course of the novel is the same dynamic, which infects the reader (me at least) with a sense of gratitude and amplifies perception of the everyday surrounding world, including thoughts and feelings and dreams, ie, the internal world. But also this achieved simple straightforward spookiness. Yes, I was spooked one night as I put down the book and turned off the light, listening to insects, animals (owls, foxes, our cat), and distant thunder.
Only criticism is the Emil section where he talks about a band called Ohia (presumably it's Songs:Ohia), but I did love when Emil talks about the warmth and effortless licks in David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name" (cool to see a suggested Garcia reference in a Knausgaard novel). Also liked that it ends with an essay, a la War & Peace, although the similarities end there.
I'll write more later but for now let's just say that I had hopes for this and looked forward to its arrival, thought it maybe a little hokey and underdone through the first two-hundred pages, but then couldn't put it down until the end, reading 100+ pages a day. For a book in part about belief, let's just say I remain a believer in this author -- I'm actually low-key astounded by his ability to meld "high" and "low" literature in a convincing, moving, intellectually satisfying or at least intriguing fashion, all while evoking the world around Bergen, Norway, as well as believably describing worlds of the mind, imagination, and the beyond.
Also, not that any of this matters but this is printed on the softest, silkiest, thin-yet-not-translucent paper, which I noticed immediately when opening the book and again when opening the new Franzen book that arrived as I neared the end -- the paper in the Franzen book seems like it's much lower quality and the book itself is thicker than the Knausgaard book despite having 130 fewer pages. I should also mention that I did achieve a minor silly goal of finishing The Morning Star the day Crossroads arrived -- middle-aged white male reader loser that I am, I want to read these two big fall novels back to back and see if there's anything of interest there in the overlap.
October 28, 2021
Here's the problem with a star rating system: it reduces a complex, interpersonal experience - in this case, between Knausgaard and myself - into a middling, "meh", C-grading. In reality, my response to this novel is a bit more nuanced than the "fine" those three stars suggest (or at least, I'd like to think so). I've come away with a number of strongly positive reactions to particular aspects of the book, with just as many criticisms to complement them.
On the one hand, Knausgaard's talent for establishing visual and sensory scenes is second to none. His setpieces are living, breathing spaces which the reader's mind can gently relax into without strain. Whether instinctual or acquired, his intuition for perfect, pithy descriptions are sublime; I'd happily read his shopping list for a hundred pages if he imbued it with the same colour.
That being said, one can only get so far on setting and scenery alone, which is where my criticism begins to show teeth. When I purchased The Morning Star I was given no indication that what I was signing on for was in fact the new cycle of novels; yes, a series. If the italicised passage from page 637 is any indication, we can comfortably expect 4-5 in total. Knowing he has several thousand pages to work with, Knausgaard has clearly unburdened himself of any responsibility to deliver closure to the reader. Normally, I don't take issue with leaving a story open-ended but in this case, it feels as though he's only just delivered the set-up, with no hint of an ending or even a vague destination in sight. What that leaves me with after concluding The Morning Star is (to quote The Guardian's Andrew Anthony), a meandering "shaggy dog" story; an aimless, multifocal yarn across 666 pages. That's a sizeable slice of time to ask of a reader, especially when their attention is rationed across 9 different plotlines. My frustration was further compounded in the declining quarter of the book when it became apparent that the lion's share of these narrative threads were left to trail off, feeling as though the characters had hardly introduced themselves before giving an Irish goodbye. Put simply: excellent set-up, nonexistent conclusion.
In reflection on the novel as a whole, my one-word reaction is "disappointed", but for positive reasons. The concept driving the narrative - to whatever extent one could identify it - is deeply intriguing, and probes me in the same part of my mind (or... soul?) that clings to the myths I was taught as a young lad. I don't think we ever quite shed our faiths and superstitions entirely, no matter how far we stray from their source. The characters Knausgaard has established the foundation for are complexly realised, even if they occasionally regress back to the mean they were clearly drawn from: himself. Moreover, I'm sufficiently invested to want to see this story through further, though I won't go so far as to say I'm duty-bound to its conclusion. For these reasons, I'm disappointed he didn't dig deeper into his own story here and is now asking me to wait another... year? two years? until I'll have the opportunity to explore it further myself. I resent him for that.
This was not economically written and assumes of his audience a guaranteed commitment to continue with him for as long as wants to drag it out. You've got me for Part 2 Karl, but don't get comfortable if you pull this shit again.
On the one hand, Knausgaard's talent for establishing visual and sensory scenes is second to none. His setpieces are living, breathing spaces which the reader's mind can gently relax into without strain. Whether instinctual or acquired, his intuition for perfect, pithy descriptions are sublime; I'd happily read his shopping list for a hundred pages if he imbued it with the same colour.
That being said, one can only get so far on setting and scenery alone, which is where my criticism begins to show teeth. When I purchased The Morning Star I was given no indication that what I was signing on for was in fact the new cycle of novels; yes, a series. If the italicised passage from page 637 is any indication, we can comfortably expect 4-5 in total. Knowing he has several thousand pages to work with, Knausgaard has clearly unburdened himself of any responsibility to deliver closure to the reader. Normally, I don't take issue with leaving a story open-ended but in this case, it feels as though he's only just delivered the set-up, with no hint of an ending or even a vague destination in sight. What that leaves me with after concluding The Morning Star is (to quote The Guardian's Andrew Anthony), a meandering "shaggy dog" story; an aimless, multifocal yarn across 666 pages. That's a sizeable slice of time to ask of a reader, especially when their attention is rationed across 9 different plotlines. My frustration was further compounded in the declining quarter of the book when it became apparent that the lion's share of these narrative threads were left to trail off, feeling as though the characters had hardly introduced themselves before giving an Irish goodbye. Put simply: excellent set-up, nonexistent conclusion.
In reflection on the novel as a whole, my one-word reaction is "disappointed", but for positive reasons. The concept driving the narrative - to whatever extent one could identify it - is deeply intriguing, and probes me in the same part of my mind (or... soul?) that clings to the myths I was taught as a young lad. I don't think we ever quite shed our faiths and superstitions entirely, no matter how far we stray from their source. The characters Knausgaard has established the foundation for are complexly realised, even if they occasionally regress back to the mean they were clearly drawn from: himself. Moreover, I'm sufficiently invested to want to see this story through further, though I won't go so far as to say I'm duty-bound to its conclusion. For these reasons, I'm disappointed he didn't dig deeper into his own story here and is now asking me to wait another... year? two years? until I'll have the opportunity to explore it further myself. I resent him for that.
This was not economically written and assumes of his audience a guaranteed commitment to continue with him for as long as wants to drag it out. You've got me for Part 2 Karl, but don't get comfortable if you pull this shit again.
November 5, 2022
Nie będę się starał powiedzieć o czym ta książka jest — ją się przeżywa, jej się doświadcza. Esej, który znajduje się na końcu sprawił, że podbijam ocenę do maksymalnej. Świetna!
January 3, 2024
Hello? Hello? Is that Gabriel? Happy New Year. Fine, fine, you too. Look, I'd love to chat, but could I have a quick word with the Boss? Yes, of course I'm aware that He's busy but I promise this won't take a minute. You know you can trust me. Thanks Gabriel, that's terrific. I owe you.
Boss? I've, ah, I've got some news I think I should share with You about Your prophet Karl Ove. Yes, the Norwegian one. That's right. I've just read his — well, I suppose I should say Your — book Morgenstjernen. What? No, I loved it. Couldn't put it down. I did! I really did! Read my innermost thoughts if You don't — oh, You already have. Right, You got me. Funny how I always fall for it. Ha.
Why I'm calling? Well Boss, I want to say first that I didn't think Your message could have been any more obvious. Judgement Day has already started. You are looking into everyone's hearts, all their secret failings, and separating the sheep from the goats. Signs and portents are everywhere. The Devil walks openly among us. But no one realises what is happening.
What? Boss, I'm just getting to that. Like I said, I thought it was crystal clear, but I've been looking at the reviews and, I know this is going to sound weird, hardly anyone seems to understand what it's about. They keep going on about Scandinavian ultra-realism and symbols and existentialism and theology and what do the different threads have to do with each other and how it's intentionally left unfinished to set up the sequel. Yes, I did say sequel.
Boss, of course this isn't a joke. Would I joke with You?
I'm sorry Boss. I don't know either. No Boss, I don't think it's Karl Ove's fault. He's doing his level best like all Your prophets. It's just that, maybe this is oversimplifying it, but people don't seem to want to listen. You keep reminding them that the end of the world is almost here and —
Boss, I'm not even sure they've noticed he's the Antichrist.
I'm sorry Boss. I wish I had better news. But anyway, like I said I loved the book. Yes, I'll post a review as usual.
Thank you Boss. I really appreciate that.
Bye.
Boss? I've, ah, I've got some news I think I should share with You about Your prophet Karl Ove. Yes, the Norwegian one. That's right. I've just read his — well, I suppose I should say Your — book Morgenstjernen. What? No, I loved it. Couldn't put it down. I did! I really did! Read my innermost thoughts if You don't — oh, You already have. Right, You got me. Funny how I always fall for it. Ha.
Why I'm calling? Well Boss, I want to say first that I didn't think Your message could have been any more obvious. Judgement Day has already started. You are looking into everyone's hearts, all their secret failings, and separating the sheep from the goats. Signs and portents are everywhere. The Devil walks openly among us. But no one realises what is happening.
What? Boss, I'm just getting to that. Like I said, I thought it was crystal clear, but I've been looking at the reviews and, I know this is going to sound weird, hardly anyone seems to understand what it's about. They keep going on about Scandinavian ultra-realism and symbols and existentialism and theology and what do the different threads have to do with each other and how it's intentionally left unfinished to set up the sequel. Yes, I did say sequel.
Boss, of course this isn't a joke. Would I joke with You?
I'm sorry Boss. I don't know either. No Boss, I don't think it's Karl Ove's fault. He's doing his level best like all Your prophets. It's just that, maybe this is oversimplifying it, but people don't seem to want to listen. You keep reminding them that the end of the world is almost here and —
Boss, I'm not even sure they've noticed he's the Antichrist.
I'm sorry Boss. I wish I had better news. But anyway, like I said I loved the book. Yes, I'll post a review as usual.
Thank you Boss. I really appreciate that.
Bye.
April 9, 2024
I am here, at this moment in time. It's enough.
A very large star suddenly appears in the Norwegian sky. Where did it come from? What is it exactly? Why did it appear out of nowhere?
The Morning Star is not one, but a collection of everyday life stories of a few ordinary people; people seemingly insignificant, but each with their own problems; each with their own demons, disappointments, beliefs, struggles and interpretations of the meaning of life.
The characters in the book may never meet; they may not even be aware of the others' existence.
They have only one thing in common…the appearance of the mysterious star.
A very large star suddenly appears in the Norwegian sky. Where did it come from? What is it exactly? Why did it appear out of nowhere?
The Morning Star is not one, but a collection of everyday life stories of a few ordinary people; people seemingly insignificant, but each with their own problems; each with their own demons, disappointments, beliefs, struggles and interpretations of the meaning of life.
The characters in the book may never meet; they may not even be aware of the others' existence.
They have only one thing in common…the appearance of the mysterious star.
January 3, 2022
What a waste of superb writing this book is! It's nothing like a novel (but not in the good sense!), rather a collection of stories that just don't unfold or develop into anything near significant or engaging. The ending is the crème de la crème - an attempt at philosophical essay or more like a paper written by a 10th grader on the subject of death, sounding both so naive and inauthentic. I love Knausgaard, I really do, but this one is such a huge disappointment, that I can't bring myself to rate it higher. Perhaps later on, when I calm down a bit, I'll be able to write a more argumentative, less emotional review. Having just finished the book though, I'm tempted to add here that Knausgaard definitely needs to read some Kant (or any actual philosophical text written in the last 300 something years).
April 27, 2022
To me Karl-Ove Knausgard's greatness lies in his masterful introspection into the everyday, in his perception of the miracle breaking out of the ordinary. This was perfectly reflected in his extensive My Struggle and in the short vignettes of his seasonal cycle, both in the autobiographical genre. But with this book, Knausgard ventures into something completely different. This is a dystopian tale that spirals further and further into haunting magical realism and ends in a philosophical essay on the meaning of death. And also new for him: he follows a dozen of characters in and around Bergen, Norway, in episodes that each end on a cliffhanger, giving the novel a thriller-like character.
The build-up is quite slow, but gradually the strange occurrences that the characters experience pile up, the most striking being the unusually bright star in the sky at night and gradually also during the day, the extreme heat wave and the strange behavior of animals and humans. The curious thing is that Knausgard presents slightly twisted, even unsympathetic characters as protagonists, and leaves certain storylines to a dead end halfway through, as if it doesn't matter what exactly happens. Does he want us to consciously participate in the dark aspects of everyday reality? The words demons and devils are regularly mentioned, and the fallen angel Lucifer also passes by, in what is clearly an attempt to highlight the disruptive nature of our times. "“As the road swung north , the star was above us in the sky . It was beautiful . As beautiful as death was beautiful."
Intriguing matter, indeed, but I especially missed the contemplative and introspective that was so present in My Struggle and the Seasonal Cycle. Only with the character Egil Stray there’s something of the old Knausgard popping up again, he’s the presumed author of the concluding essay on the sense and nonsense of death and life. It suggests we have an obstinate inclination to give remarkable and really unruly phenomena (like the Morning Star and ultimately also evil and death) a place into ordinary life.
With all that, I must concede this book left me with a rather unsatisfactory feeling, as if it was unfinished, but I think that was on purpose (in the meanwhile my GR-friend Chris pointed me to the fact that this is only the first installment of a series). It comes near to books like those of Stephen King, but deviates from them in a very poignant and gloomy way. That enigmatic character has its charm, but in the end I found this novel much less captivating than Knausgard's other books. (2.5 stars)
The build-up is quite slow, but gradually the strange occurrences that the characters experience pile up, the most striking being the unusually bright star in the sky at night and gradually also during the day, the extreme heat wave and the strange behavior of animals and humans. The curious thing is that Knausgard presents slightly twisted, even unsympathetic characters as protagonists, and leaves certain storylines to a dead end halfway through, as if it doesn't matter what exactly happens. Does he want us to consciously participate in the dark aspects of everyday reality? The words demons and devils are regularly mentioned, and the fallen angel Lucifer also passes by, in what is clearly an attempt to highlight the disruptive nature of our times. "“As the road swung north , the star was above us in the sky . It was beautiful . As beautiful as death was beautiful."
Intriguing matter, indeed, but I especially missed the contemplative and introspective that was so present in My Struggle and the Seasonal Cycle. Only with the character Egil Stray there’s something of the old Knausgard popping up again, he’s the presumed author of the concluding essay on the sense and nonsense of death and life. It suggests we have an obstinate inclination to give remarkable and really unruly phenomena (like the Morning Star and ultimately also evil and death) a place into ordinary life.
With all that, I must concede this book left me with a rather unsatisfactory feeling, as if it was unfinished, but I think that was on purpose (in the meanwhile my GR-friend Chris pointed me to the fact that this is only the first installment of a series). It comes near to books like those of Stephen King, but deviates from them in a very poignant and gloomy way. That enigmatic character has its charm, but in the end I found this novel much less captivating than Knausgard's other books. (2.5 stars)
August 29, 2022
Nie mam zielonego pojęcia co ja tak właściwie przeczytałem, ale byłem zachwycony. Przez 700 stron mniej lub bardziej irytujący bohaterowie głównie chodzą, piją lub/i palą (jak oni są w stanie funkcjonować- nie mam pojęcia), dookoła dzieją się dziwne rzeczy, rytualne morderstwa, psychozy, zwidy, nagły atak biedronek i krabów, a wszystko to łączy pojawienie się na niebie nowej, dziwnej gwiazdy, a także filozoficzne rozważania na temat śmierci i religii. Ponoć mają być kolejne tomy, więc zostawiam 4,5 gwiazdki z ogromnym potencjałem, bo dawno żadna książka nie sprawiła mi tyle przyjemności.
March 11, 2021
En verkligt stor bok, en nästintill idealisk roman skulle jag vilja påstå. Perfekt språk och gestaltning. Att det bara kan flyta på så lätt! Trots 666(!) sidor känns den alls inte lång, jag är oavbrutet trollbunden. Här behandlas de största av ämnen inbakade i en konkret diskbänksrealistisk form. Just som livet självt.
Det utspelar sig under två heta augustidygn i Norge. Vi möter ett stort antal karaktärer i olika kapitel, ett upplägg jag gillar. Jag har en försmak för att berättaren sammanfaller med protagonisten i förstapersonsperspektiv. Med ett rent och snyggt inifrånperspektiv byggs narrativet fram. Vår förståelse av huvudpersonerna berikas genom att följa de olika karaktärernas blickar på varandra. Märkvärdigt väl matchar stilen karaktären som ändras från kapitel till kapitel.
Det finns en extra nerv i den här roman, som i och för sig inte hade behövts men den stör inte heller. Några ungdomar hittas döda, det hörs konstiga ljud i skogen, djuren beter sig avvikande och en person flyr något. Det är mystiskt och högst oklart vad som händer.
När författaren häller ned sig själv i litteraturen blir läsarens uppfattningar om denne mer avhängiga. Knausgård finns säkert att hitta mellan dessa pärmar men det framträder mer subtilt eftersom karaktärerna är många och av olika kön och åldrar. Det är av godo.
Knausgård vet vad det innebär att leva ett liv med barn vilket lyckligtvis märks i texten. Barnen är inga klyschor, genier eller helt igenom underfundiga. En förälder stannar med elvispen flera gånger för att höra om det sovande småbarnet på övervåningen vaknat.
”Det var aldrig livet som var problemet, det var sättet man såg det på. I alla fall om livet var utan svält eller nöd eller våld.”
Jag älskar att läsa om hur liv förhåller sig till död. Om den tunna vägg som finns däremellan som kan upplevas oändlig. Döden sägs vara irreversibel, men vissa saker dör för oss utan att egentligen inte dö. Barnen som växer upp för att nämna ett exempel. Religiösa frågeställningar och symboler duggar tätt. Det som antika greker såg som mirakel förklaras idag med vetenskap. Knausgård lyfter fram det som inte går att förklara med ”naturliga orsaker”.
Ett tema som följer alla karaktärer är deras försök att minska den kognitiva dissonansen. Knausgård försöker ringa in medvetandet och allt vad som försiggår där i både medveten och omedveten form. Olika verkligheter, vansinne, rus, dröm, hallucination och psykos. På vad kan man egentligen vara säker? Vad finns utanför det logiskas gräns? Medvetandet för oss människor implicerar att vi kan tänka på att vi kan tänka. Det för oss människor närmare varandra samtidigt som det fjärmar oss från naturen. En personlig reflektion: Jag hade som mål att komma människor närmare tills jag blev ungefär 40 (mitt i livet?). Närmare än så kommer jag nog inte människorna och längre ifrån naturen har jag nog inte varit. Kroppen som ett bihang till anden. Jag har nu som ambition att vända och sträva tillbaka mot kroppen och naturen igen.
Läsningen lärde mig att ”idiot” är grekiska för en enskild människa. Bra att veta. Jag skrattade åt ”nej då, massa” (internt skämt för de som läst boken).
Denna närande måltid avslutas traditionsenligt med en rejäl efterrätt, en filosofisk sådan som fördjupar bokens frågeställningar.
Morgonstjärnan är så välskriven och givande hela tiden, att slutet verkar som en del bland det andra och inte som ett mål. Paul Austers New-York-trilogi är värd att nämna som jämförelse. Vissa blir tokiga för att säcken lämnas öppen. Men om resan är tillräckligt nöjsam spelar det ju ingen roll var man hamnar.
Det utspelar sig under två heta augustidygn i Norge. Vi möter ett stort antal karaktärer i olika kapitel, ett upplägg jag gillar. Jag har en försmak för att berättaren sammanfaller med protagonisten i förstapersonsperspektiv. Med ett rent och snyggt inifrånperspektiv byggs narrativet fram. Vår förståelse av huvudpersonerna berikas genom att följa de olika karaktärernas blickar på varandra. Märkvärdigt väl matchar stilen karaktären som ändras från kapitel till kapitel.
Det finns en extra nerv i den här roman, som i och för sig inte hade behövts men den stör inte heller. Några ungdomar hittas döda, det hörs konstiga ljud i skogen, djuren beter sig avvikande och en person flyr något. Det är mystiskt och högst oklart vad som händer.
När författaren häller ned sig själv i litteraturen blir läsarens uppfattningar om denne mer avhängiga. Knausgård finns säkert att hitta mellan dessa pärmar men det framträder mer subtilt eftersom karaktärerna är många och av olika kön och åldrar. Det är av godo.
Knausgård vet vad det innebär att leva ett liv med barn vilket lyckligtvis märks i texten. Barnen är inga klyschor, genier eller helt igenom underfundiga. En förälder stannar med elvispen flera gånger för att höra om det sovande småbarnet på övervåningen vaknat.
”Det var aldrig livet som var problemet, det var sättet man såg det på. I alla fall om livet var utan svält eller nöd eller våld.”
Jag älskar att läsa om hur liv förhåller sig till död. Om den tunna vägg som finns däremellan som kan upplevas oändlig. Döden sägs vara irreversibel, men vissa saker dör för oss utan att egentligen inte dö. Barnen som växer upp för att nämna ett exempel. Religiösa frågeställningar och symboler duggar tätt. Det som antika greker såg som mirakel förklaras idag med vetenskap. Knausgård lyfter fram det som inte går att förklara med ”naturliga orsaker”.
Ett tema som följer alla karaktärer är deras försök att minska den kognitiva dissonansen. Knausgård försöker ringa in medvetandet och allt vad som försiggår där i både medveten och omedveten form. Olika verkligheter, vansinne, rus, dröm, hallucination och psykos. På vad kan man egentligen vara säker? Vad finns utanför det logiskas gräns? Medvetandet för oss människor implicerar att vi kan tänka på att vi kan tänka. Det för oss människor närmare varandra samtidigt som det fjärmar oss från naturen. En personlig reflektion: Jag hade som mål att komma människor närmare tills jag blev ungefär 40 (mitt i livet?). Närmare än så kommer jag nog inte människorna och längre ifrån naturen har jag nog inte varit. Kroppen som ett bihang till anden. Jag har nu som ambition att vända och sträva tillbaka mot kroppen och naturen igen.
Läsningen lärde mig att ”idiot” är grekiska för en enskild människa. Bra att veta. Jag skrattade åt ”nej då, massa” (internt skämt för de som läst boken).
Denna närande måltid avslutas traditionsenligt med en rejäl efterrätt, en filosofisk sådan som fördjupar bokens frågeställningar.
Morgonstjärnan är så välskriven och givande hela tiden, att slutet verkar som en del bland det andra och inte som ett mål. Paul Austers New-York-trilogi är värd att nämna som jämförelse. Vissa blir tokiga för att säcken lämnas öppen. Men om resan är tillräckligt nöjsam spelar det ju ingen roll var man hamnar.
November 11, 2021
This is my first KOK read, and what stands out to me is his desire to theorize on large themes or concepts through the small, seemingly mundane details of his characters' lives. Thus a 666 page book of what appears to be a new series. KOK does not do small apparently.
I will echo what other reviewers have stated; 'The Morning Star' starts slowly. The first two hundred or so pages are buried with minute details of each characters flaws and troubles. But the novel builds and the significance of those pages becomes apparent as characters cross paths, both directly and indirectly, and the larger concepts of the novel become evident. Parts of this novel are downright creepy. One reviewer called it Jurassic Park-like at times and I agree. It's a fun mixture of thriller and horror with literary ambitions.
While I am giving 'The Morning Star' a high four stars, I expect (or hope maybe?) that this series as a whole will occupy 5 star territory once KOK has laid all of his cards on the table. If you are considering this one, I highly recommend it, although understand you are committing to cliffhangers and open endings and you will need to exercise patience for the next installments. The good news is that KOK has already submitted the second book to his publishers.
I will echo what other reviewers have stated; 'The Morning Star' starts slowly. The first two hundred or so pages are buried with minute details of each characters flaws and troubles. But the novel builds and the significance of those pages becomes apparent as characters cross paths, both directly and indirectly, and the larger concepts of the novel become evident. Parts of this novel are downright creepy. One reviewer called it Jurassic Park-like at times and I agree. It's a fun mixture of thriller and horror with literary ambitions.
While I am giving 'The Morning Star' a high four stars, I expect (or hope maybe?) that this series as a whole will occupy 5 star territory once KOK has laid all of his cards on the table. If you are considering this one, I highly recommend it, although understand you are committing to cliffhangers and open endings and you will need to exercise patience for the next installments. The good news is that KOK has already submitted the second book to his publishers.
November 29, 2022
Romanzo corale, cosmico ed esistenziale in cui Knausgård trasferisce le sue battaglie personali a quelle di nove personaggi principali (e diversi altri secondari) le cui vite sono più o meno interconnesse. È il primo vero romanzo tradotto in italiano dopo la monumentale incontinenza autobiografica.
Nell’arco di un paio di giorni di caldo anomalo e soffocante, in una Norvegia di fiordi e boschi e pontili e mare scintillante, una nuova stella illumina il cielo, l’equilibrio naturale sembra alterato e animali e persone si muovono irrequieti, come prima di un disastro o un’apocalisse. C'è una spiegazione scientifica o si tratta di segni di carattere soprannaturale/biblico?
Knausgård non è uno da frasi spacca-cuore e ha una prosa particolarmente semplice (elementare?), ma colpisce ai fianchi e alla fine ne esci comunque stravolto. Punti di forza: (1) il modo in cui descrive i protagonisti e le loro introspezioni interiori, (2) le divagazioni, (3) la capacità di fondere frammenti da saggio filosofico/religioso con inquietudini horror, (4) paure, insicurezze, frustrazioni e legami famigliari che si sgretolano e che sembrano molto vicini a quelli del Karl Ove autobiografico, così come (5) lo stile iperdettagliato. Ci sono molte carte di credito appoggiate, molto alcool e sigarette, molta gente che non risponde al telefono.
La struttura non è niente di nuovo, ma è perdonabile.
I miei lottatori preferiti: Arne e, soprattutto, Egil, che inizia in sordina e poi diventa il top player del gruppo.
Cita Italo Calvino (Le città invisibili) e Carlo Rovelli (per la concezione del tempo). Colonna sonora sfiziosa.
Edizione Feltrinelli con pagine morbidissime, piacevoli al tatto. Sulla qualità di stampa si può migliorare, ma ormai il grigio è il nuovo nero. 666 pagine. Finale ottimo.
È la prima parte di tre: per valutare bisognerebbe capire dove andrà a parare. Per ora, è un bel viaggio. A quando la serie tv?
[83/100]
Nell’arco di un paio di giorni di caldo anomalo e soffocante, in una Norvegia di fiordi e boschi e pontili e mare scintillante, una nuova stella illumina il cielo, l’equilibrio naturale sembra alterato e animali e persone si muovono irrequieti, come prima di un disastro o un’apocalisse. C'è una spiegazione scientifica o si tratta di segni di carattere soprannaturale/biblico?
Knausgård non è uno da frasi spacca-cuore e ha una prosa particolarmente semplice (elementare?), ma colpisce ai fianchi e alla fine ne esci comunque stravolto. Punti di forza: (1) il modo in cui descrive i protagonisti e le loro introspezioni interiori, (2) le divagazioni, (3) la capacità di fondere frammenti da saggio filosofico/religioso con inquietudini horror, (4) paure, insicurezze, frustrazioni e legami famigliari che si sgretolano e che sembrano molto vicini a quelli del Karl Ove autobiografico, così come (5) lo stile iperdettagliato. Ci sono molte carte di credito appoggiate, molto alcool e sigarette, molta gente che non risponde al telefono.
La struttura non è niente di nuovo, ma è perdonabile.
I miei lottatori preferiti: Arne e, soprattutto, Egil, che inizia in sordina e poi diventa il top player del gruppo.
Cita Italo Calvino (Le città invisibili) e Carlo Rovelli (per la concezione del tempo). Colonna sonora sfiziosa.
Edizione Feltrinelli con pagine morbidissime, piacevoli al tatto. Sulla qualità di stampa si può migliorare, ma ormai il grigio è il nuovo nero. 666 pagine. Finale ottimo.
È la prima parte di tre: per valutare bisognerebbe capire dove andrà a parare. Per ora, è un bel viaggio. A quando la serie tv?
[83/100]
September 24, 2021
Fascinating, often quite pulpy (some Jo Nesbo-ish / Jurassic Park-esque interludes) attempt to present an apocalyptic scenario in which humans, faced with the appearance of a new star in the sky, become subject to strange and malevolent forces, some of which merely exacerbate incipient ruin, others that punish eschatological indifference or a failure to accept the presence of wonder (or, if you prefer, 'God') in nature. The book asks: what do you believe, and why, and do you think it makes any difference? It also suggests that, if you believe in nothing, or a bespoke faux-reality, you'll be the among the first to suffer.
November 27, 2021
It has been some time since I have arrived at the final page of a book and immediately wanted to flip back to the beginning and plunge right in again, but a strong desire to do just that filled me upon reaching the top of page 666 and seeing that I had only five more lines to go.
There is so much here, so much more than I managed to pick up in a single reading I'm sure. Narrated in the first person by nine different characters, all of whom feel at times like various echoes of Knausgård himself, there are surely connections between them I missed, allusions that would have helped in uncovering the odd events that take place throughout the book I overlooked. The referenced songs and books that I skimmed over, failing to look up as I raced through page after page ... they may have contained the key to unlocking it all.
It was only after finishing this — in last night's small hours, my reading having slowed as the remaining pages shrunk under my right thumb, me savoring each one like scripture — that I learned that this is apparently the first part of what will be a new series.
The first part!!
Ha! We should have known. Karl Ove writes books like Krzysztof Kieślowski directed films — leisurely, not in a rush to get to the destination but for the pleasure of the journey. He's in the getaway car, the roar of sirens in the distance, but he pulls over to the roadside diner to have some coffee and a slice of triple berry pie. He's brought along a weathered copy of "Crime and Punishment" so he'll be a while. We'll return to our heist story in 200 pages or so ... just be patient.
I have to admit that I was fearful even before picking up this very eerie — in the most deliciously gothicy Gothic Horror sort of way — novel. Fearful that perhaps Karl Ove was only a one-hit-wonder. Or, rather, a six-hit-wonder, as his game-changing, six-part "My Struggle" series truly raised the bar to a level even Simone Biles would have had difficulty clearing.
Alas, I needn't have worried. Karl Ove is the real deal, which delights me not just as a reader, but as a human being. After vicariously living through so many of the ups-and-downs of his life as he portrayed them, from early childhood up through adulthood, I've come to find myself quite attached to Karl Ove and liking him all the more thanks to his 4,000+ page "struggle."
After his incredible 400-page-essay on Hitler, "The Name and the Number," in Book Six, Karl Ove couldn't resist including another essay here, "On Death and the Dead," written from the standpoint of one of the book's main characters. It's things like that, including scholarly essays in the midst of what the unacquainted might simply accuse of being "genre fiction," that separate Knausgård from the pack. Knausgård has the ability to take what, in another author's hands, would be a novel you buy at the airport bookstore and leave on the plane at the other end, and elevate it to art.
Of all the writers I enjoy reading, there are only two writing today whose books I must get my hands on as soon as they are released — to hell with waiting for the paperback! The French writer Michel Houellebecq is one, Knausgård is the other. I read Houellebecq not because I especially love his books for the pleasure of reading them but more so because reading them has always felt necessary in our times, so relevant to our world today. With "The Morning Star," though, Knausgård has laid claim to that same territory.
What is the morning star? What does it signify? Something dark, it would appear, the strange events greeting its rise hardly the stuff of Disney fairy tales, but a herald of something far more Grimm ...
An ominous beacon? A Sword of Damocles hanging over us all, casting society as we know it in its yellow gaze? Are there any real-life parallels you can draw to that in a world where climate change is an existential threat to us all (never mind the multitude of other potentially planet-altering crises currently staring boldly out of your paper's front page)?
"The Morning Star" is about death and dying. Physical death, yes, yours and mine, but also the death of knowledge, of memory, of tradition.
This loss, this eternal forgetting, is at the door now, bringing with it the ability to doom us all. What could be more terrifying than that?
There is so much here, so much more than I managed to pick up in a single reading I'm sure. Narrated in the first person by nine different characters, all of whom feel at times like various echoes of Knausgård himself, there are surely connections between them I missed, allusions that would have helped in uncovering the odd events that take place throughout the book I overlooked. The referenced songs and books that I skimmed over, failing to look up as I raced through page after page ... they may have contained the key to unlocking it all.
It was only after finishing this — in last night's small hours, my reading having slowed as the remaining pages shrunk under my right thumb, me savoring each one like scripture — that I learned that this is apparently the first part of what will be a new series.
The first part!!
Ha! We should have known. Karl Ove writes books like Krzysztof Kieślowski directed films — leisurely, not in a rush to get to the destination but for the pleasure of the journey. He's in the getaway car, the roar of sirens in the distance, but he pulls over to the roadside diner to have some coffee and a slice of triple berry pie. He's brought along a weathered copy of "Crime and Punishment" so he'll be a while. We'll return to our heist story in 200 pages or so ... just be patient.
I have to admit that I was fearful even before picking up this very eerie — in the most deliciously gothicy Gothic Horror sort of way — novel. Fearful that perhaps Karl Ove was only a one-hit-wonder. Or, rather, a six-hit-wonder, as his game-changing, six-part "My Struggle" series truly raised the bar to a level even Simone Biles would have had difficulty clearing.
Alas, I needn't have worried. Karl Ove is the real deal, which delights me not just as a reader, but as a human being. After vicariously living through so many of the ups-and-downs of his life as he portrayed them, from early childhood up through adulthood, I've come to find myself quite attached to Karl Ove and liking him all the more thanks to his 4,000+ page "struggle."
After his incredible 400-page-essay on Hitler, "The Name and the Number," in Book Six, Karl Ove couldn't resist including another essay here, "On Death and the Dead," written from the standpoint of one of the book's main characters. It's things like that, including scholarly essays in the midst of what the unacquainted might simply accuse of being "genre fiction," that separate Knausgård from the pack. Knausgård has the ability to take what, in another author's hands, would be a novel you buy at the airport bookstore and leave on the plane at the other end, and elevate it to art.
Of all the writers I enjoy reading, there are only two writing today whose books I must get my hands on as soon as they are released — to hell with waiting for the paperback! The French writer Michel Houellebecq is one, Knausgård is the other. I read Houellebecq not because I especially love his books for the pleasure of reading them but more so because reading them has always felt necessary in our times, so relevant to our world today. With "The Morning Star," though, Knausgård has laid claim to that same territory.
What is the morning star? What does it signify? Something dark, it would appear, the strange events greeting its rise hardly the stuff of Disney fairy tales, but a herald of something far more Grimm ...
An ominous beacon? A Sword of Damocles hanging over us all, casting society as we know it in its yellow gaze? Are there any real-life parallels you can draw to that in a world where climate change is an existential threat to us all (never mind the multitude of other potentially planet-altering crises currently staring boldly out of your paper's front page)?
"The Morning Star" is about death and dying. Physical death, yes, yours and mine, but also the death of knowledge, of memory, of tradition.
This loss, this eternal forgetting, is at the door now, bringing with it the ability to doom us all. What could be more terrifying than that?
September 7, 2022
Nie no pierdole to. Wciągnęło opór, mimo irytującego, szczególarskiego stylu, ale gdzieś od połowy to te filozoficzne wynurzenia, podawane w niestrawny, niczym nieusprawiedliwiony sposób, ta lista lektur i generalnie MYŚLI PRZERURZNE nie do zniesienia. Można kompletnie stracić zainteresowanie i cierpliwość. Jakby ta książka miała 300 stron to spoko, ale to ma 750 i w dodatku, co nie jest nigdzie zaznaczone, jest pierwszym tomem z trzech, więc ja sobie tego robić nie zamierzam i wam też nie radzę. Siedze se nad morzem i przypominam co tam ten wariat Kierkegaard napisał a wokół kończy się świat jaki znamy. No kochani tak nie wolno.
October 25, 2024
Clásica fórmula de vidas cruzadas de diferentes personajes. Entramos en mitad de sus historias, y con las mismas salimos de ellas, así sin más. Algunas vidas se cruzan sutilmente. Otras no sabemos qué pintan ahí. Aunque inicialmente apunta al estilo realista que conocemos de Knausgard, las historias evolucionan todas hacia un terror oscuro, de tintes bíblicos y apocalípticos.
Si bien esto resulta bastante sugerente y atractivo, que lo es, también es cierto que para no caer en la novela clásica de género, tendremos que conformarnos con no saber qué les sucede a la mayoría de los personajes ni por qué, tendremos que leer más de una digresión filosófica o metafísica, y hasta todo un ensayo de la muerte desde su perspectiva más mitológica, que para eso estamos mordiendo la patilla de las gafas de pasta leyendo a Knausgard y no a Stephen King.
Pero bueno, bien.
Nota de octubre de 2024:
Pasado medio año, me entero que hay dos novelas más que conforman trilogía; la hostia. Para cuando las traduzcan del noruego, no me acuerdo de un pimiento.
Si bien esto resulta bastante sugerente y atractivo, que lo es, también es cierto que para no caer en la novela clásica de género, tendremos que conformarnos con no saber qué les sucede a la mayoría de los personajes ni por qué, tendremos que leer más de una digresión filosófica o metafísica, y hasta todo un ensayo de la muerte desde su perspectiva más mitológica, que para eso estamos mordiendo la patilla de las gafas de pasta leyendo a Knausgard y no a Stephen King.
Pero bueno, bien.
Nota de octubre de 2024:
Pasado medio año, me entero que hay dos novelas más que conforman trilogía; la hostia. Para cuando las traduzcan del noruego, no me acuerdo de un pimiento.
August 24, 2023
Recargado, irritante y decepcionante.
July 27, 2021
I am in love with reading after this. This book also did something with how I felt about my own life. It feels like our dull materialistic world just came to life again.
These simple and coulorful yet realistic short jumps into the lifes of anyone gives me the feeling that everything is connected somehow.
These simple and coulorful yet realistic short jumps into the lifes of anyone gives me the feeling that everything is connected somehow.
November 24, 2021
beside being very well written, it's very disturbing.
September 30, 2021
The Morning Star is Karl Ove Knausgard's first major novel since the conclusion of the landmark My Struggle series and an astonishing, ambitious, and rich novel about what we don't understand and our attempts to make sense of our world nonetheless. The action takes place a few days in late August. The professor of literature Arne and the artist Tove are with their children at the resort in Sørlandet. Their friend, the rich man's son Egil, is in a cabin nearby. The priest Kathrine is on her way home from a seminar, the kindergarten assistant Emil is rehearsing with his band, the journalist Jostein is out on the town, his wife Turid who is an assistant nurse has a night shift. On this a seemingly normal night in August, a huge star appears suddenly in the sky. No one, not even astronomers and weather experts on TV can explain this alarming celestial phenomenon. Is it a newly discovered dying star? Or something new? Eventually, the interest in the news subsides and life goes on, but not quite as before. Reports of shocking portents and unsettling happenings pour in from the fringes of human existence. Creatures that previously existed only in nightmares, mythology, and computer games stalk through the forest, while animals and the environment itself appear to be behaving in strange new ways. Over several days, a cast of idiosyncratic characters will come to understand what is happening, each in their own way, and all face new struggles in their own lives.
Unusual things are starting to happen on the fringes of human life, strange natural phenomena are increasing and people are trying to interpret their message. Eventually, interest in the star dilutes and life goes on, but not quite as before. This is a beguiling and exhilarating return to fiction from one of the most acclaimed and talked-about global literary stars, and The Morning Star is a novel about what we do not understand--a cosmic, existential drama filtered through the lens of regular human lives. At its heart, it's about what happens when the dark forces in the world are set free - liberated and allowed to roam unabated. It has a rich and extensive gallery of characters and action that ranges from the everyday recognisable to the great cosmic contexts, and from the quantum, infinitesimal to humongous events wreaking havoc on the entirety of our home planet and solar system. It's about great drama viewed through the limited lens of the most mundane elements of quotidian life. Following nine people over two crucial days in their lives this is a deeply atmospheric work with a sinister undertone throughout but it has a wonder to it and is an exploration of the nature of life and death, the ephemerality of living and an examination of our temporary home on this planet where not everything that surrounds us do we comprehend. Touching, original, emotionally resonant, it manages to be both sprawling and intimate. An ode to the fleeting impermanence of a life we don't truly understand but that is beautiful all the same. Highly recommended.
Unusual things are starting to happen on the fringes of human life, strange natural phenomena are increasing and people are trying to interpret their message. Eventually, interest in the star dilutes and life goes on, but not quite as before. This is a beguiling and exhilarating return to fiction from one of the most acclaimed and talked-about global literary stars, and The Morning Star is a novel about what we do not understand--a cosmic, existential drama filtered through the lens of regular human lives. At its heart, it's about what happens when the dark forces in the world are set free - liberated and allowed to roam unabated. It has a rich and extensive gallery of characters and action that ranges from the everyday recognisable to the great cosmic contexts, and from the quantum, infinitesimal to humongous events wreaking havoc on the entirety of our home planet and solar system. It's about great drama viewed through the limited lens of the most mundane elements of quotidian life. Following nine people over two crucial days in their lives this is a deeply atmospheric work with a sinister undertone throughout but it has a wonder to it and is an exploration of the nature of life and death, the ephemerality of living and an examination of our temporary home on this planet where not everything that surrounds us do we comprehend. Touching, original, emotionally resonant, it manages to be both sprawling and intimate. An ode to the fleeting impermanence of a life we don't truly understand but that is beautiful all the same. Highly recommended.
January 8, 2022
Oh Karl, this is just the beginning of a gorgeous relationship.
July 5, 2024
Habe relativ zügig ein Re-Listen hinter mir. An der Bewertung ändert sich nichts, wenn ich könnte würde ich eher einen sechsten 🌟 für das rundum außergewöhnliche Leseerlebnis geben, das einen zwischen Mystery und Philosophie genüsslich hin und hergleiten lässt, ich entdecke immer wieder neue Details. Und werde sicher ein drittes Mal einsteigen.
Eindrücke nach dem ersten Lesen:
Mein absolutes Lieblingsbuch 2022
Knausgard gelingt es Spannung so aufzubauen und Charaktere so plastisch zu entwickeln wie Stephen King, Beziehungen und Handlungen so vielfältig und universell mit der besonderen Prise an Unfassbarem, Geheimnisvollem zu beschreiben wie Haruki Murakami und gibt allem noch seine spezielle Note, seine Fähigkeit simple Vorgänge präzise und erkenntnisbereichernd darzustellen. Ein absolutes Meisterwerk dieser erste Band der Trilogie. Am Ende sprengt er alle Grenzen mit einer Geschichte über das Leben nach dem Tod und einen höchst intelligenten fiktiven Essay über diese Thematik.
Eindrücke nach dem ersten Lesen:
Mein absolutes Lieblingsbuch 2022
Knausgard gelingt es Spannung so aufzubauen und Charaktere so plastisch zu entwickeln wie Stephen King, Beziehungen und Handlungen so vielfältig und universell mit der besonderen Prise an Unfassbarem, Geheimnisvollem zu beschreiben wie Haruki Murakami und gibt allem noch seine spezielle Note, seine Fähigkeit simple Vorgänge präzise und erkenntnisbereichernd darzustellen. Ein absolutes Meisterwerk dieser erste Band der Trilogie. Am Ende sprengt er alle Grenzen mit einer Geschichte über das Leben nach dem Tod und einen höchst intelligenten fiktiven Essay über diese Thematik.
September 29, 2021
What a great story. Knausgaard is a great author. Reading this book was such experience. I felt like I was present in the scenes. Such a magical and special story. I heard this is part one of a trilogy, if so I will be buying the other books so I can continue on this wonderful trip. Deals with death, religion, reality and change. Great characters that you won't forget. Keep up the great writing.
October 4, 2021
I really enjoyed this novel and rushed excitedly through it, but was a bit irritated and frustrated by Egil's essay near the end. I wasn't very much interested in what he had to say about religion, philosophy and death, but would have liked to keep reading about what happened to the other characters in the book. On the whole, I don't mind open endings in books but here it felt unfinished and left me a bit disappointed.
Thank you PenguinRandom House and Edelweiss/Netgalley for the ARC.
Thank you PenguinRandom House and Edelweiss/Netgalley for the ARC.
May 17, 2022
4.5 stars
This was my first book by Knausgård that I’ve read, and it had everything I like: interesting characters, weird and creepy plot, disturbing details and amazing writing. The psychological depiction of the characters is great and one of the main things that make this book so good.
This was my first book by Knausgård that I’ve read, and it had everything I like: interesting characters, weird and creepy plot, disturbing details and amazing writing. The psychological depiction of the characters is great and one of the main things that make this book so good.
February 11, 2024
Nova zvezda pojavljuje se na nebu i uprkos tome što poteže biblijski scenario i teološko-filozofske rasprave, devetoro likova, nalik čitavom čovečanstvu, nastavlja da uobičajeno prolazi kroz svoje dane zadržavajući privid normalnosti dok se oko njih i u njima ipak dešavaju veoma čudne stvari. Neki od ovih likova su minimalno povezani, a neki se nikada neće sresti, ali će im pojedini događaji biti zajednički.
Osećala sam anksioznost dok su me vodili kroz svoju svakodnevicu, ali na momente su mi neki od njih pružili i neverovatan mir. Kod Knausgora je priroda uvek prisutna, a u ovom romanu možda i važnija nego ikada pre, kada se uzme u obzir nagoveštaj Sudnjeg dana.
Neverovatno je, ali Knausgor me oduševljava kad se prebaci u perspektivu ženskih likova, što mi se desilo i kad sam čitala „Leto“ (tačnije deo sa ženom iz Drugog svetskog rata). Kao da se na taj način, kad nam se obraća kroz žene, udalji od Karla Uvea koji ima potrebe za autofikcijom, dozvoli svom egu da odmori, i pruži nam nešto zaista dubinsko i odlično (svi muški likovi u ovoj knjizi su uspeli da me iznerviraju, ali srećom ima više ženskih POV).
Kako sam se bližila kraju, tako sam bila malo razočarana jer sam shvatila da neću dobiti odgovore na neka pitanja i da neću saznati šta se desilo sa nekim likovima, što mi se mooožda ispuni u narednim
Morgenstjernen knjigama.
A inače, svaka od sudbina u ovom romanu bi apsolutno mogla da bude roman za sebe i ne bi mi dosadilo.
Malo digresije, ali skroz mogu da zamislim da stvaraoci serije Dark naprave adaptaciju ovog teksta.
Osećala sam anksioznost dok su me vodili kroz svoju svakodnevicu, ali na momente su mi neki od njih pružili i neverovatan mir. Kod Knausgora je priroda uvek prisutna, a u ovom romanu možda i važnija nego ikada pre, kada se uzme u obzir nagoveštaj Sudnjeg dana.
Neverovatno je, ali Knausgor me oduševljava kad se prebaci u perspektivu ženskih likova, što mi se desilo i kad sam čitala „Leto“ (tačnije deo sa ženom iz Drugog svetskog rata). Kao da se na taj način, kad nam se obraća kroz žene, udalji od Karla Uvea koji ima potrebe za autofikcijom, dozvoli svom egu da odmori, i pruži nam nešto zaista dubinsko i odlično (svi muški likovi u ovoj knjizi su uspeli da me iznerviraju, ali srećom ima više ženskih POV).
Kako sam se bližila kraju, tako sam bila malo razočarana jer sam shvatila da neću dobiti odgovore na neka pitanja i da neću saznati šta se desilo sa nekim likovima, što mi se mooožda ispuni u narednim
Morgenstjernen knjigama.
A inače, svaka od sudbina u ovom romanu bi apsolutno mogla da bude roman za sebe i ne bi mi dosadilo.
Malo digresije, ali skroz mogu da zamislim da stvaraoci serije Dark naprave adaptaciju ovog teksta.
August 21, 2022
Literarisches Niveau und individuelle Welt- und Seelenspiegelung im Verein mit suchtgenerierender Netflix-Serienqualität. Yes, Knausgård!
January 4, 2022
I’ll say right off that I am a big fan of Knausgaard. I find his storytelling compelling, even when dealing with what to most people’s eyes appears merely as the mundane; and I love the breadth and depth of his literary, philosophical, and theological interests, from the poetry of Hölderlin to the radical faith of Kierkegaard to the teeming depths of Nietzsche. I don’t know of any other writer quite like him and I’m always on the lookout for his new work.
The Morning Star has all of what we have come to expect from Knausgaard and more, a hyperrealism that in this case is so encompassing that it includes the ominous and the uncanny, not unlike some of the work of Stephen King. The novel is told by nine narrators, their stories linked by the strange happenings that occur over several days when a large star unexpectedly emerges in the night sky. It’s not made clear what this star is and where it came from; it may simply be a supernova but given the bizarre events that start to take place (a dead organ donor, readied to be opened up, opens his eyes to the unbelieving doctors, for instance), the star seems to be something more threatening and mysterious, perhaps a harbinger of doomsday, perhaps an alien presence, or perhaps some force of the divine or the diabolical. Or perhaps something else. For all the nine narrators, each immersed in personal problems large and small, the morning star pushes their lives deeper into the unknowable and the seemingly uncontrollable.
Apparently, the Morning Star is the first in a series and let me just say it better be, as the novel ends in a cliffhanger with the deepest mysteries of the text unexplained. Wherever Knausgaard takes us in future volumes, I would think it will have something to do with the fragile boundary between life and death as well as the destination we discover once we cross that boundary.
I hope the next volume is soon forthcoming.
The Morning Star has all of what we have come to expect from Knausgaard and more, a hyperrealism that in this case is so encompassing that it includes the ominous and the uncanny, not unlike some of the work of Stephen King. The novel is told by nine narrators, their stories linked by the strange happenings that occur over several days when a large star unexpectedly emerges in the night sky. It’s not made clear what this star is and where it came from; it may simply be a supernova but given the bizarre events that start to take place (a dead organ donor, readied to be opened up, opens his eyes to the unbelieving doctors, for instance), the star seems to be something more threatening and mysterious, perhaps a harbinger of doomsday, perhaps an alien presence, or perhaps some force of the divine or the diabolical. Or perhaps something else. For all the nine narrators, each immersed in personal problems large and small, the morning star pushes their lives deeper into the unknowable and the seemingly uncontrollable.
Apparently, the Morning Star is the first in a series and let me just say it better be, as the novel ends in a cliffhanger with the deepest mysteries of the text unexplained. Wherever Knausgaard takes us in future volumes, I would think it will have something to do with the fragile boundary between life and death as well as the destination we discover once we cross that boundary.
I hope the next volume is soon forthcoming.
October 8, 2021
Something out of control and unpredictable is going on.
"The Morning Star” is about people who are alike and yet are very different at the same time. The book is well organized and takes place over two days, each section labeled. Within each day, detailed accounts revolve around the activities of specific well-defined, diverse, and complex characters. They share thoughts, fears, and opinions; readers get to know them well. Everyday activities and encounters with family and friends seem to be friendly, but they have an undercurrent of trouble, sometimes unstated, but at other times overt and open. Gossip, suspicion, and insinuations abound.
The narrative paints pictures with words. “The only light left in the landscape came from the shining moon, spectral in its reflection on the surface of the bay.” However, into this idyllic setting, a “celestial phenomenon” arrives. An expert from the university says it is most likely a supernova. But no matter the label, it is something out of control, something volatile, and something dreadful. Birds start singing strangely, and other animals become unpredictable. Death is all around.
“The Morning Star” is a modern gothic tale. It is the story of ordinary families and friends, going about their daily activities. However, something else very different, very strange is going on as well. The story is filled with people whose very beliefs are challenged. The book is long; the plot moves slowly but with purpose, and I anxiously turned every page, wondering what would be next. I received a review copy of “The Morning Star” from Karl Ove Knausgaard, Martin Aitken who translated it from Norwegian, Penguin Press, and Random House LLC. It is compelling and haunting.
"The Morning Star” is about people who are alike and yet are very different at the same time. The book is well organized and takes place over two days, each section labeled. Within each day, detailed accounts revolve around the activities of specific well-defined, diverse, and complex characters. They share thoughts, fears, and opinions; readers get to know them well. Everyday activities and encounters with family and friends seem to be friendly, but they have an undercurrent of trouble, sometimes unstated, but at other times overt and open. Gossip, suspicion, and insinuations abound.
The narrative paints pictures with words. “The only light left in the landscape came from the shining moon, spectral in its reflection on the surface of the bay.” However, into this idyllic setting, a “celestial phenomenon” arrives. An expert from the university says it is most likely a supernova. But no matter the label, it is something out of control, something volatile, and something dreadful. Birds start singing strangely, and other animals become unpredictable. Death is all around.
“The Morning Star” is a modern gothic tale. It is the story of ordinary families and friends, going about their daily activities. However, something else very different, very strange is going on as well. The story is filled with people whose very beliefs are challenged. The book is long; the plot moves slowly but with purpose, and I anxiously turned every page, wondering what would be next. I received a review copy of “The Morning Star” from Karl Ove Knausgaard, Martin Aitken who translated it from Norwegian, Penguin Press, and Random House LLC. It is compelling and haunting.
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