Reviews

My Struggle: Book 2: A Man in Love by Don Bartlett, Karl Ove Knausgård

juneuk's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I can't begin to describe this and how much I loved it..I feel as if I have been hit over the head and am seeing stars; I feel completely drunk on it..
I can only therefore refer you to this article which has coincidentally come out today ..

http://goo.gl/yNOlp

danihila's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

4.0

pflichtfeld20's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

denarodeadalus's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I read the words above the textbox: "What did you think?"

What do I think? This, in 2019, is becoming a statement as obligatory and space-consuming as a "mind the gap" painting on the cement of a train station floor. Every social media app and website in the world wants to know what I think, which means they want to know what everyone thinks. Today's over-saturation of opinions, status updates, and life-event narratives only makes the resounding popularity and success Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle series all the more strange.

How did Mr. Knausgaard get away with making his opinion so engaging to readers worldwide?

That's the type of language people use to describe Knausgaard's series: "engaging", "absorbing", "addicting". And, even with every critic commenting on this and analyzing this phenomena it in myriad ways, it still hits me like one of those miniature spiritual experiences Karl Ove seems to have every other page in My Struggle 2.

Reading about the mundane tasks which follow (or perhaps the tasks follow them?) this relatable, flawed, grumpy man is one of the finest leisures a reader can experience. Karl Ove is simply so good at dispelling the concepts of "an ordinary mind on an ordinary day" as Woolf once put it. Subsumed through the mind, reality becomes a gift. And this is a gift that Ove reluctantly celebrates in the last paragraph of this book, having so committed a sleight of hand to the reader, tucking away the obvious, right up until the end, and to the reader's rapture.

If Knausgaard's aim is innocence, which his friend Geir so eloquently puts it into perspective for our author and character, it is humanity's bundle of contradictions (particularly regarding love) being put on cadaver-autopsy-dissection display: a cutting and mostly accurate account, depending on who you are.

I can't wait to finish this series.

erickibler4's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Karl Ove stoically plods through life as husband, dad, and writer, longing for solitude, but enjoying the moments of enjoyment being a family man affords him. As a writer, he is sometimes called upon to do readings and interviews, after which he tortures himself with self-loathing for his real or imagined pretensions.

He is affectionately goaded by his cynical friend Geir. He ponders his memories, and at times, like Proust, he has occasion to reevaluate the past. With this second volume, My enjoyment of this series has increase twofold.

sirierika's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark inspiring reflective

4.0

politemom's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

puutarha's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Voisin siteerata melkein koko kirjan, tässä kuitenkin vain palanen sivulta 607:

"Tämä sama, toisin sanoen maailmamme, oli sarjatuotantoa. Kaikki tosin puhuivat sen ainutlaatuisuudesta, mutta se kumoutui, sitä ei ollut olemassa, se oli valetta. Oli epätoivoista elää siinä ja tietää että kaikki olisi yhtä hyvin voinut olla toisin. En kyennyt kirjoittamaan siitä, se oli mahdotonta, koska jokaista lausetta oli vastassa ajatus: olet keksinyt koko jutun omasta päästäsi. Sillä ei ole mitään arvoa. Sepitteellä ei ole mitään arvoa, dokumentilla ei ole mitään arvoa. Minulle mielekästä arvoa oli enää vain päiväkirjoilla ja esseillä, sillä kirjallisuuden lajilla missä ei ollut kyse kertomuksesta. Se ei käsitellyt mitään, se koostui vain äänestä, oman persoonallisuuden äänestä, elämästä, kasvoista, katseesta jonka voi kohdata. Mikä on taideteos muuta kuin toisen ihmisen katse? Ei yläpuolellamme, ei alapuolellamme vaan täsmälleen oman katseemme tasolla. Taidetta ei voi kokea kollektiivisesti, ei kukaan, taide on sitä minkä kanssa ollaan yksin. Se katse kohdataan yksin."

larisichica's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

softasbeets's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

3.0