My Struggle: Book Four

Book Four of Knausgaard's fictional memoir is cringe-worthy in the best way. The Norwegian's writing and storytelling is as beautiful as any of the other My Struggle books, but this one covers his years around the age of 18 and his ambition to begin his romantic escapades. It's certainly the funniest of the collection, even if it's at poor Karl Ove's expense. There's no need to read these novels in order, so try Book Four if you can empathize with an awkward 18-year-old with his first taste of freedom trying to find his way in an adult world.  Recommended By Jeffrey J., Powells.com

The fourth installment in the eagerly awaited, internationally celebrated My Struggle series.

Book Four finds an eighteen-year-old Karl Ove in a tiny fishing village in Northern Norway, where he has been hired as a schoolteacher and is living on his own for the first time. When the ferocious winter takes hold, Karl Ove — in the company of the Håfjord locals, a warm and earthy group who have spent their lives working, drinking, joking together in close quarters — confronts private demons, reels from humiliations, and is elated by small victories. We are immersed, along with Karl Ove, in this world — sometimes claustrophobic, sometimes serenely beautiful — where memories and physical obsessions burn throughout the endless Arctic winter. In Book Four, Karl Ove must weigh the realities of his new life as a writer against everything he had believed it would be.

Karl Ove Knausgaard was born in Norway in 1968. His debut novel Out of This World won the Norwegian Critics Prize in 2004 and his A Time for Everything (Archipelago) was a finalist for the Nordic Council Prize. For My Struggle, Knausgaard received the Brage Award in 2009 (for Book One), the 2010 Book of the Year Prize in Morgenbladet, and the P2 Listeners' Prize. It is also a finalist for The Believer Fiction Prize. My Struggle has been translated into more than fifiteen languages. Knausgaard lives in Sweden with his wife and three children. 

Don Bartlett has translated dozens of books of various genres, including eight novels and short story collections by Jo Nesbø and It's Fine by Me by Per Petterson. He lives in Norfolk, England.