A lot has happened in the life of Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgård, one of the most impressive and withering literary stars of recent years, since he finished Fin, the last volume of his monumental autobiographical sextet My Struggle. Starting with the books: there was the seasonal quartet, also with author Linda Bostrom, dedicated to the birth of the fourth of her children, also of a confessional nature. And he continues with his experiences: the separation from Bostrom after postpartum depression, which the author himself wrote about. The author’s new life in London with his new wife, British editor Michal Shavit, with whom he has a fifth daughter. Shortly before the pandemic, Knausgård announced the end of his autobiographical writing, which had caused him so much pain and also – according to the testimonies of those affected – a psychological breakdown for many family members and exes.
The publication of la estrella de la mañana (Anagrama) is an absolute change in third place to what readers know about it. Visiting Barcelona these days, Knausgård returns to pure fiction, with his strong style (disorganized for some) and his obsessive sensitivity to detail. This novel can be read as a horror story set in Norway on two sweltering hot August days—some critics have even mentioned Stephen King—about the bizarre events that happen to nine characters as a new star rises in the sky from an unknown origin. fosters a climate of cosmic unrest. An ominous climate in which Lars von Trier’s film Melancholia is nothing to envy. The morning star is the title chosen by the publisher, but it could also be the morning star, another name for the planet Venus, referring to Lucifer, a name shared by the star and the devil. At Anagrama, they regret not having achieved the success of the English edition with 666 important pages. In any case, there are many direct influences from the Bible in this book: “Lucifer has an angelic and divine side, he is a fallen angel. All this uncertainty pervades the novel. I wanted the reader not to know exactly what was going on,” explains the author, who recalls being inspired by his youth in Bergen, where a demonic cult was developing that was dedicated to burning churches.
relationship with nature
The novel, the daughter of its time, is fueled by the eco-anxiety about climate change that has gripped us all in recent years with ecological awareness: “Our relationship with nature, from which we turn our backs, is generally the most worrying issue. However, there has been so much talk about it that I didn’t just want to express my opinions, I wanted to use the topic to create an oppressive atmosphere fueled by the arrival of the pandemic. Although this novel started before the outbreak of covid-19, it will be the first of a new literary cycle (the second part is already in Norwegian) that will focus on environmental awareness.
From Siri Hustvedt, who she says she doesn’t understand when she says female writers are “uncompetitive,” to some feminist voices who aren’t kind to critics who laud the difficulties a writer like Rachel has in babysitting her children. Cusk will be reprimanded in the same speech, Knausgård absolves himself of any blame: “Yes, I have heard, but the thinking my books have is beyond my control. I am also an editor, editor of many women, and if one of them said to me: I have written six volumes about my life, I would publish it without hesitation. In the 70s there was a movement of women writers who wrote about the most intimate and everyday life in the Scandinavian countries, and this was new. Years later I am writing from a man’s point of view because that’s who I am ».
reading comments
Unlike his autobiographical books, this time Anglo-Saxon criticism did not surrender itself unconditionally to the ambitious influence of the Norwegians. The Morning Star got good reviews, but these weren’t exactly those of The Guardian or The New York Times, particularly brutal: “I’ve never read the reviews. I never stop thinking about the readers’ reaction because it makes me think I have to make myself look smart and bright, which I reject. I was blocked for five years before I wrote My Struggle, my failed 800-page novel debut. So when I started the epic, I lowered my expectations and started writing without thinking about anything else ».