Book · 2013 · Fiction, family life, general

My Struggle

by Karl Ove Knausgård, Don Bartlett · Recommended by 6 people on 2 podcasts

Why people recommend it

My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård, translated by Don Bartlett, is a monumental six-volume autofictional masterwork that meticulously details the ordinary details, emotional triumphs, and domestic struggles of the author's everyday life. On The Book Review podcast, Gilbert Cruz, Pamela Paul, and various guests explored the profound cultural impact of Knausgård's autobiographical series since its initial publication. Dwight Garner discussed the controversial final volume of the series, drawing thematic parallels to Adolf Hitler's writings, while Tom Perrotta cited Knausgård's work as a prime example of a contemporary literary trend favoring single-narrator fiction. Furthermore, on Conversations with Tyler, Scott Sumner compared the immersive and world-opening reading experience of Solenoid to the mesmerizing quality of Knausgård's writing, noting how both books leave readers feeling as though an entire universe has been revealed before them.

Who recommended it

Gilbert Cruz — 3 mentions
Discussed
“We should go to 2009, which is when in America a book named My Struggle or the first volume in a in a multi-book series by Karl Ove Knausgard came out.”
Discussed
“what is Carl ovak Canard trying to do in his six volume novel my struggle Daniel Mendelson joins us to help make sense of it all”
Discussed
“talking about our great disorg Carl over canel scard six my struggle books”
Scott Sumner — 1 mention
Discussed
“And I found it kind of mesmerizing in a similar way to My Struggle by Knausgård in that sometimes you finish a novel and it's you know, okay, on to the next one. That was a nice novel. And then there's some novels where you feel like a whole world has been sort of opened up in front of you.”
Pamela Paul — 1 mention
Discussed
“in this week's book review he reviewed the sixth volume of Carl Oak canow guard's my struggle while reading as well the previous five volume so Daniel thank you for doing that”
Dwight Garner — 1 mention
Discussed
“and then you know you read these books over and over again and for example the the last volume of canard's my struggle series was essentially a retelling of of mine comp”
Greg Coles — 1 mention
Discussed
“card of course broke huge on the scene with his six volume autobiographical novel my struggle th this quartet of books shares some things with my struggle”
Tom Perrotta — 1 mention
Discussed
“I'm thinking of books like Carl oen asgard's uh my struggle I'm thinking of Jenny alul Department of speculation Ben learner leaving the Atocha station books with a single narrator”

Also mentioned in the same episodes

Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“that series of books sort of became this huge phenomenon around the same time that Canal Scar's multivolume my struggle series also became very popular”