Autumn

I know he’s polarizing. But I find this kind of writing so relaxing. He’s calm. He’s always calm in the way memory is calm: we know what’s going to happen will be fine, and we will deal with it, or we won’t, but it will pass, and the world will go on. I read most of this in the middle of the night while unable to sleep. It lived on my bedside table for a long time, where I’d read a piece or two then fall to sleep.

Sublime and ridiculous but thankfully mostly the former.

After his mammoth autobiographical novel My Struggle it’s nice to get the author in more easily digestible portions. The hook this time is the “story” is told through a series of essays explaining assorted concepts—buttons, the mouth, spiders, etc— to his unborn daughter. The observations evoke a poetic Commander Data, describing and analyzing things we don’t normally bother examining.

With my new love for essays, I enjoyed this first book in his completed three series of “showing” his the n unborn daughter “the world”. He is an amazing writer who gave me a new perspective of mundane things like “Chewing Gum”, one of my favorites given thats also my thing. I related entirely to his deep thinking which makes me feel less weird. I really need to write down my thoughts, too.

Oh I'm so sorry Karl Ove to have to write this review. Up till now you have been my very favorite author - I've read all 5 volumes of My Struggle and am anxiously awaiting the last, and I even loved Home and Away despite the many many soccer descriptions. I have loved you despite only getting one friend to agree with me.

But this was boring. I still recognized your style, but I just don't think it fits the short essay format. And, except for a few (good) essays, it was too impersonal. Your raw style was mostly missing.

I really enjoyed this book, featuring three letters to by the author to his then-unborn daughter as well as short essays on everyday things, including bathroom functions.

This is the first of a four volume tetralogy, divided by season. Within each volume, chapters are designated by month. The author opens each chapter with a letter to his unborn child. Each chapter contains brief essays/observations written one per day. The topics range from vomit to thermos flasks, from beekeeping to buttons, from jellyfish to Van Gogh. They vary from poignant to thought-provoking to somewhat inane. I am left with a sense of contentment at having spent time pondering many topics. This would be a great book to keep in a guestroom, as it can be picked up and put down easily, and one can peruse it or dive in deeply. Looking forward to the next three seasons!