Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From this New York Times bestselling author comes a collection of ambitious, remarkably erudite essays on art, literature, culture, and philosophy. In the Land of the Cyclops is a collection of thirty-seven essays by Karl Ove Knausgaard. In these pieces, he discusses Swedish politics, brain surgery, Laurie Anderson, Edvard Munch, the Northern Lights, and the work of an array of writers and visual artists (paired with full color images of their art). These essays beautifully capture Knausgaard's ability to mediate between the deeply personal and the universal, demonstrating his trademark self-scrutiny and his deep longing to authentically see, understand, and experience the world.
Synopsis
Knausgaard's struggle is still ongoing with In the Land of the Cyclops as he continues to navigate the fjord of truth between reality and experience "This, which we perhaps could call inexhaustible precision, is the goal of all art, and its essential legitimacy." --Jessica Ferri, The Los Angeles Times
In his first essay collection to be published in English, the New York Times bestselling author of the My Struggle series Karl Ove Knausgaard explores art, philosophy, and literature with piercing candor and remarkable erudition.
Paired with full color-images, his essays render the shadowlands of Cindy Sherman's photography, illuminate the depth of Stephen Gill's eye, and tussle with the inner mechanics of Ingmar Bergman's workbooks. In one essay he describes the figure of Francesca Woodman, arms coiled in birch bark and reaching up toward the sky--a tree. In another, he unearths Sally Mann's photographs of decomposing corpses, so much so that branches and limbs, hair and grass, begin to harmonize.
Each essay bristles with Knausgaard's searing honesty and longing to authentically see, understand, and experience the world.