Yes, I'm really enjoying My Struggle, just finished the 2nd book. I'm going to switch to read his "novel" about angels, A Time for Every Thing Under Heaven, next. What I've read so far is very hard to categorise but it's direct, intensely described and romantic (in the sense of yearning for impossible things). There's no grandstanding, no tricks, and it seems like a late night conversation between the two of you.
I want to echo the other people who've replied. He's tapped into something interesting. I'm not literary enough to articulate what it is. My best stab would be to say he's capturing the self-involved zeitgeist of the time, by applying his extremely analytical mind and sensitivity to the naked mundaneness of his own life, laying it out vividly and without reservation. What makes it great is that you find bits of yourself in his rambling, in the specific aspects of his life that he's telling you about. He brings you into his brain, and even though it's an average life, it's not unremarkable. It's beautiful, painful, sweet, funny, fascinating and all-in-all a great ride. I couldn't recommend it enough. (I've only read the first one but fuck it).
I'm going to agree with u/jaybee. I want to add that what makes it so interesting to me is how much of an "everyman" he seems to be. I love the books because he's so relatable: he describes things that I've felt and thought in the most perfect way. Everything he writes seems so real, I get lost in the text as if I'm the subject of the book.
newyorker.com
I've seen this guy's books on the shelves. Has anyone read them? Are they any good?
Yes, I'm really enjoying My Struggle, just finished the 2nd book. I'm going to switch to read his "novel" about angels, A Time for Every Thing Under Heaven, next. What I've read so far is very hard to categorise but it's direct, intensely described and romantic (in the sense of yearning for impossible things). There's no grandstanding, no tricks, and it seems like a late night conversation between the two of you.
I want to echo the other people who've replied. He's tapped into something interesting. I'm not literary enough to articulate what it is. My best stab would be to say he's capturing the self-involved zeitgeist of the time, by applying his extremely analytical mind and sensitivity to the naked mundaneness of his own life, laying it out vividly and without reservation. What makes it great is that you find bits of yourself in his rambling, in the specific aspects of his life that he's telling you about. He brings you into his brain, and even though it's an average life, it's not unremarkable. It's beautiful, painful, sweet, funny, fascinating and all-in-all a great ride. I couldn't recommend it enough. (I've only read the first one but fuck it).
I'm going to agree with u/jaybee. I want to add that what makes it so interesting to me is how much of an "everyman" he seems to be. I love the books because he's so relatable: he describes things that I've felt and thought in the most perfect way. Everything he writes seems so real, I get lost in the text as if I'm the subject of the book.
I can't wait for volume 5 to come out in English this spring!
it's like harry potter, except instead of wizards and children, its middle aged men and shame!