Generic Brand Childhood Island

"at the bottom of this well, which i call my childhood, there undoubtedly was my mother, my dear mother. she had saved me."

Knausgaardmania began in america with "my struggle" and has evolved into a powerful literary storm felt worldwide. "my struggle" recounts the childhood we always long to return to. knausgaard transports us to the magic and beauty of a bygone era. he breathes life into a child, one who calls to us all with his longing: the child within us all.

“contender to be the greatest literary event of the twenty-first century.” guardian

“everyone wants a pinch of knausgaard.” vice

"the masterpiece of the age of selfies.""guardian"

"childhood is both enjoyable and scary. new homes, lessons, and friends evoke an intense excitement and a chilling fear within little karl ove. adults possess god-like powers; in the case of karl ove, his trembling mother embodies kindness, while his cruel father embodies savagery." - harvill secker

Knausgaard pushed himself to do something unprecedented, breaking through the fourth wall of the autobiographical novel. he invites readers to understand just how wonderful it feels to experience life, firing up every nerve ending. – jeffrey eugenides, new york times

A six-volume literary experiment chronicling the life story of a contemporary norwegian author might sound like a slog. but knausgaard's literary endeavor is both brutally honest and far from dull. trust me, it's worth the wait for all the volumes to be translated into english." - jo nesbo, the week

"karl ove knausgaard, who skillfully reveals every detail of life, has become your favorite author's new favorite author." evan hughes, the new republic

Knausgaard is one of the most remarkable writers to emerge in recent years. he is rapidly on his way to becoming a global superstar.” the economist

My struggle is such a special book, it's practically a sanctuary... [knausgaard] is a major writer who captures what's happening in our time. - ian brown, the globe and mail

“one of the most anticipated books of the year – or the century.”financial times (uk)

Island of childhood echoes with the joys and anxieties of early youth. knausgaard brilliantly reanimates the intense feelings these evoke. thomas meaney, times literary supplement

"reading it is no different from being in a trance; it's not a hallucination that speeds up the body, but rather one that slows it down... knausgaard is, without a doubt, a genius." - toronto star

"what stands out in karl ove's talent, which is rare these days, is that he is completely present and aware of his own existence. every detail is presented in a way that is free from decoration and ostentation, as if writing and living are happening simultaneously... there is nothing striking except the fact that it completely absorbs you. you live his life with him... ove's book's very arrogant title is like a bad joke that constantly comes up when trying to bring the life expected from an adult to your eyes. how to be more present now, how to be more sensitive? about ourselves, about others? for others?" zadie smith, the new york review of books

The kavgam series delves into the endless enigma of everyday life... knausgaard's approach is simple and meticulous, sometimes even ordinary, but he never fails to capture it on paper. his theme is the beauty and terror of the fact that life as a whole exists in harmony with itself. a true hero who abandons all literary pretense and strives for perfection, an emperor whose nakedness subverts royal elegance. - jonathan lethem, the guardian

We're halfway through my battle with childhood island (six volumes), and the work is already shining like the masterpiece of the century." - kirkus reviews

Childhood has a unique beauty of its own. in the previous volumes, the narrator wanted us to witness every stage of everything he did, from turning on the stove to cook dinner to sticking his fork into the ready meal on his plate. knausgaard's insistence seemed like an uncomfortable part of his attempt at estrangement in literature. but the meticulousness of young karl ove about dinner coincides exactly with the perspective of a child who pays attention to the details in such daily tasks. i think we finally found out what the hidden meaning and background is in knausgaard's style. elaine blair, the new york review of books

"as knausgaard gains a wordsworthian style as he writes down his long memories, the reality of life, the source and warmth of everything, is childhood; having to move away from it, which we all have to do, is equivalent to moving away from the sun. knausgaard's writings bring readers back to childhood (especially knausgaard's childhood in norway in the 1970s) and they surround us with those memories that are now very far away (cereal, fear of our father's bad temperament, what we feel when we buy a cool bag or a new swimsuit, the fears and joys brought by a day spent at school). and it's as if he calls out to his readers: see this, feel it and remember every second so that as soon as it starts to escape your grasp, you can regain it." james wood, the new yorker

"i was thrilled by knausgaard's audacity to delve into an incredibly ordinary subject. of course, his complete lack of shame in tackling a metaphysical topic is another matter entirely... while the books are often quite entertaining, each one also serves as a concrete testament to the value of taking oneself and one's life seriously. i couldn't be happier that there are volumes waiting to be read." - rebecca mead, the new yorker (book of the year)

An intense childhood experience, often overlooked or debated, demands a kind of immersion and loss. it's the purest form of immersion: not diving into something, not researching something, but simply immersing oneself. in homage to roland barthes' linguistic dream, we might call this immersion a zero-degree of writing, a paradise-like (or childlike) reverie. - nicholas dames, public books

With each successive book, mr. knausgaard cements his reputation as one of the most important writers of our time. - the observer

"a powerful biography from a bygone era." - the london evening standard "it captures the vivid, intensely powerful feeling of living, page by page... we can all become immersed in karl ove's past, his triumphs and disasters, his great joys and follies; but his struggle is our struggle too... because in this beautiful and difficult world, we fight for love, friendship, and the meaning of life." - the national

"...while reading knausgaard's 'my struggle,' you get the feeling that he's making a wonderful discovery, almost a scientific innovation. 'my struggle' is something new and bold..." n + 1

"my fight is captivating in a surprising way – the combination of detail and sincerity creates the illusion of entering someone else's mind... my fight is worth the fight." gq

Karl ove knausgård's epic series my struggle: utterly gripping, it demolishes the wall between writer and reader as you live your life with it. it's triumphant, redemptive and utterly addictive, even as it transmits the most explicitly earthy aspects of life. he's a genius. simon prosser, the guardian

Knausgaard's work has become one of the most unforgettable reading experiences of my life. i've never encountered anything quite like it. karl ove opened my eyes. i didn't want his books to end, and i didn't want to leave him. as he writes, he pours his longing to return to that "crazy, lonely, happy place" he found onto the pages. in that own crazy, lonely happiness, where i withdrew from the world and the influence of people, i found peace in knowing that, despite his deep longing for distance and work, knausgaard remained loyal to opening himself to the world of people and what they offer. - nina maclaughlin, l.a. review of books

"in these times when many lament the death of bookstores and literature, knausgaard is a surprising and comforting phenomenon that has taken the world by storm... there is no doubt that knausgaard is the current star of literature." - outlook india

No writer has been as celebrated on the global stage for at least a decade... knausgaard speaks to readers of every stripe. - evan hughes, the new yorker

"very powerful and vibrant... knausgaard is extremely honest, he is not afraid to voice universal concerns... exquisite, slow-moving, divine passages... they have the 'mythical aspect of the truth', as walter benjamin put it." james wood, the new yorker

Both knausgaard's proustian style and the fact that his work is a single, sprawling tome divided into volumes, like *in praise of forgetting*, signal a literary event we may never witness again. unlike virtually all other works published in the 21st century, knausgaard's monumental book is a cultural phenomenon of enduring value, one we have the opportunity to savor. - jason diamond, flavorwire

__t2__"my fight led me to think more about myself, especially about my emotions. it reintroduced me to the vividness of feelings. it's an emotional education... he writes about himself, but without resorting to fixed ideas that form the essence. the novel is a genre that dreams of ultimate freedom – a spiritual freedom based on radical frankness. it's intimate and transcendent, yet human; concrete, outside of ideologies, and most importantly, emotional. beyond the quest for self-knowledge, there's a quest for the universe, alongside and perhaps within it." - joshua rothman, the new yorker

"[knausgaard] is the alchemist of ordinary things… this writer is building a skyscraper in real time. few artistic projects in our time deserve more attention than this." dwight garner, the new york times

If we say that the norwegian writer james joyce, marcel proust and henry miller have placed karl ove knausgaard's kavgam among the high writers, we are not exaggerating. these writers have emerged with a new consciousness and have been the voice of their own generations. years later, we will talk about knausgaard's extremely detailed memoir at the end of the 20th century. the providence journal

Why would you read a six-volume, 3,600-page norwegian novel about a man who wrote a six-volume, 3,600-page norwegian novel? the short answer is that it's exceptionally good, and you won't be able to put it down, nor will you want to... it's simply irresistible. - leland de la durantaye, the new york times book review

A masterpiece of shocking originality, a literary phenomenon of the century. life is depicted as it is, now and here, in a charged atmosphere, with everyday memories and striking details. - arlice davenport, wichita eagle

"it's as if he is examining himself in front of our eyes with a cruel opening." justine jordan, guardian online

"it creates a reality that is far more intense than we ever thought possible, bordering on the surreal. a confession novel that overshadows all previous confessions." - times literary supplement (uk)

Knausgaard calls out to the inner core of the human existence. we are faced with an endeavor that brings fame to some, but not to others, and there is no one better than knausgaard among today's writers. the new statesman

"“my fight is quite easy to read, even an excitingly revolutionary novel. the book is truly a masterpiece; one of those works that are truly surprising and change the tradition of those before it… what makes my fight so hypnotizing – a definition used by many who examine the book – is the pleasant surprise of seeing the habits of the mind that are not normally written in such detail (your insensitivity at a dinner invitation, your envy of a friend's swimsuit, or the momentary anger you feel towards your lover). and also the interactions of those long, hyperrealistic scenes that we experience every day with each other and the effectiveness of thought experiments."" meghan o'rourke, bookforum"

"it has a human beauty... it is an inevitable pleasure to be drawn into knaugaard's world."" melissa katsoulis, the times"

"my struggle expresses a tremendous project and an important aspect of the general literary view of the beginning of the 21st century... knausgaard forces us to face life on both a general and intimate scale. if it is to encourage readers to better focus on private moments and create better memories, simply with its quality, my struggle is worth this (considerable) weight." connor ferguson, libretto

"it creates a reality far more intense than we ever thought possible, bordering on the surreal. a confession novel that eclipses all previous confessions." —times literary supplement (uk)

“kavgam is a book that changes people’s perspective. it’s like the bible.” —heather mallick, the toronto star