Where to start reading Jon Fosse

The Norwegian author Jon Fosse has been awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature. The editor of Scandinavian Fiction, Rasmus Meldgaard Harboe, tells you where to begin if you’re keen to start reading his books.

Illustration: Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

What a moment for Norwegian literature.

On Thursday, the author Jon Fosse was announced as this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, which is widely regarded as the highest honour an author can achieve.

Let’s look at some books to get you started reading Jon Fosse.

Septology

Septology is nothing short of a masterpiece. I consumed the first of the seven volumes in one sitting and immediately headed off to buy the next couple of instalments. In the English translation by Damion Searls, the seven volumes are available in one single book, so you should be sorted for a while.

You’re in for a mesmerising, feverish, and absolutely brilliant read. The voice and the rhythm is the most impressive part of these books; the way that Fosse wraps you in endless sentences – broken only by commas, by the way – and draws you into his protagonist’s small but stunning world of art and reminiscing.

We’re shadowing Asle, an ageing painter and widower, who lives alone in the small Norwegian town Dylgja. His only friends are his neighbour Åsleik and Beyer, the owner of the gallery in the nearby town, Bjørgvin.

In Bjørgvin, there’s another painter called Asle, but this Asle is lonely and consumed by alcohol. Asle and Asle are doppelgängers – two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life, both grappling with existential questions about death, love, light and shadow, faith and hopelessness.

Trilogy

When you’re done reading Septology, I’d recommend you head straight for Trilogy. This is a poignant love story set in Bergen, and it consists of the three novellas Wakefulness, Olav's Dreams, and Weariness, all translated into English by May-Brit Akerholt. Jon Fosse was awarded the Nordic Council’s Prize for Literature for the novellas in 2015.