5 ms·

Karl Ove Knausgaard’s ‘My Struggle: Book 4’

29 points by magda_wang 12y ago

runarb 12y ago
Is it just me, or does other also find it strange that he chose to name his book the same as Hitler’s manifesto ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Struggle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Struggle )? I don't know if one in English normally refer to Hitler’s book as “My Struggle” or its original German name “Mein Kampf”, but at least in Mr. Knausgårds original Norwegian book name “Min Kamp” the reference is very clear.
- jimmcslim 12y ago
  In English it is generally referred to (in my experience) as 'Mein Kampf'. In fact, until learning about Mr. Knausgårds book recently I assumed Hitler's translated to 'My Life'. Perhaps he is trying to reclaim this pattern of words from its association with Hitler? Or maybe he is being deliberately provocative or perhaps ignorant?
- unicornporn 12y ago
  There are many ways to interpret the title. The books deals with the author's problematic relationship to his father. He has said that Hitler inspires the same horror as his father did to him when he was a child.
  - orkj 12y ago
    Expanding on this, in book 6 he actually has made room for quite a lot of pages dedicated to Hitler, Mein Kampf and Hitlers life. To avoid spoilers, I would say that this also gives context to the choice of the title. So to answers OPs question. Yes, I find the title strange (it is pretty controversial). But also, the title is descriptive and relevant (my opinion). Full disclosure: I am huge fan of Knausgård :)
- noname123 12y ago
  Originally, he wanted the book titled "Argentina" because his whole memoir was about the daily minutiae, dealing with the responsibilities to his wife, family, children, society, professional courtesies and liberal sensibilities of Scandinavian society en-route to an inexhaustible march to growing old and useless with an nagging sense of not accomplishing anything in particular, like being caught up with life never to have taken a trip to Argentina. One of his good friend when talking about this, mentioned that it'd be more appropriate for him to title the book then "My Struggle". (Everyday mundane life is a battle field. Inside, we are all more neurotic than we all present to other people? Retreating to a refuge as Peronist regime is more a fantasy when our personal Stalingrad already happened, when what is inevitable and predictable: standing on the Berlin Furtherbunker stage when the curtain falls.) His editor initially said that it'd be impossible. But after a few weeks, recanted his decision and went ahead with the book title.
Dewie2 12y ago
His last name is wrong; it's "Knausgård".
- ehamberg 12y ago
  It's acceptable (or at least “not wrong”) to use “aa” for å (and “oe” for ø/ö, “ae” for æ/ä). While ‘å’ was made an official letter in Norwegian in 1917, it's still common to see “aa” spellings of names, and “aa” and “å” spellings are considered equivalent (fun when sorting, since ‘å’ is the last letter of the Norwegian alphabet).
  - haakon 12y ago
    As someone with "aa" in my name, this annoys me. My name has one correct spelling.
    - bborud 12y ago
      As someone with "ø" in my name I have long since accepted that much of the world is not able to spell my name correctly and moved on. There is no point in investing emotional capital in things that won't be fixed for years to come. I'm perfectly fine with "ø", "oe", "ö", and "o". The first time I was credited in the foreword of a book published in the US my name was spelled with "\x" instead of "ø". And it could have been worse. I could have been asian or persian. In which case my name would most likely have many westernized representations. Worry about something of substance.
  - Dewie2 12y ago
    I guess you're right about their use in words in general. I'm not sure you're right about their use in names in particular. Firstly, people and places are still named with "aa" rather than "å". They aren't simply spelled alternatively depending on the mood or the keyboard of the writer. So it seems that, since they deliberately choose one over the other, they care whether it is spelled in a certain way. Secondly, we make a distinction between whether someone is named "Christian" or "Kristian", for example. According to your logic, it wouldn't matter since there is no difference except spelling between these two names. But it does. Do you have any authoritive source (linguistic, or etiquette) that says that such names can be spelled however the writer feels like?

29 points by magda_wang 12y ago

Is it just me, or does other also find it strange that he chose to name his book the same as Hitler’s manifesto ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Struggle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Struggle )? I don't know if one in English normally refer to Hitler’s book as “My Struggle” or its original German name “Mein Kampf”, but at least in Mr. Knausgårds original Norwegian book name “Min Kamp” the reference is very clear.

jimmcslim 12y ago
In English it is generally referred to (in my experience) as 'Mein Kampf'. In fact, until learning about Mr. Knausgårds book recently I assumed Hitler's translated to 'My Life'. Perhaps he is trying to reclaim this pattern of words from its association with Hitler? Or maybe he is being deliberately provocative or perhaps ignorant?
unicornporn 12y ago
There are many ways to interpret the title. The books deals with the author's problematic relationship to his father. He has said that Hitler inspires the same horror as his father did to him when he was a child.
- orkj 12y ago
  Expanding on this, in book 6 he actually has made room for quite a lot of pages dedicated to Hitler, Mein Kampf and Hitlers life. To avoid spoilers, I would say that this also gives context to the choice of the title. So to answers OPs question. Yes, I find the title strange (it is pretty controversial). But also, the title is descriptive and relevant (my opinion). Full disclosure: I am huge fan of Knausgård :)
noname123 12y ago
Originally, he wanted the book titled "Argentina" because his whole memoir was about the daily minutiae, dealing with the responsibilities to his wife, family, children, society, professional courtesies and liberal sensibilities of Scandinavian society en-route to an inexhaustible march to growing old and useless with an nagging sense of not accomplishing anything in particular, like being caught up with life never to have taken a trip to Argentina. One of his good friend when talking about this, mentioned that it'd be more appropriate for him to title the book then "My Struggle". (Everyday mundane life is a battle field. Inside, we are all more neurotic than we all present to other people? Retreating to a refuge as Peronist regime is more a fantasy when our personal Stalingrad already happened, when what is inevitable and predictable: standing on the Berlin Furtherbunker stage when the curtain falls.) His editor initially said that it'd be impossible. But after a few weeks, recanted his decision and went ahead with the book title.

Dewie2 12y ago

His last name is wrong; it's "Knausgård".

ehamberg 12y ago
It's acceptable (or at least “not wrong”) to use “aa” for å (and “oe” for ø/ö, “ae” for æ/ä). While ‘å’ was made an official letter in Norwegian in 1917, it's still common to see “aa” spellings of names, and “aa” and “å” spellings are considered equivalent (fun when sorting, since ‘å’ is the last letter of the Norwegian alphabet).
- haakon 12y ago
  As someone with "aa" in my name, this annoys me. My name has one correct spelling.
  - bborud 12y ago
    As someone with "ø" in my name I have long since accepted that much of the world is not able to spell my name correctly and moved on. There is no point in investing emotional capital in things that won't be fixed for years to come. I'm perfectly fine with "ø", "oe", "ö", and "o". The first time I was credited in the foreword of a book published in the US my name was spelled with "\x" instead of "ø". And it could have been worse. I could have been asian or persian. In which case my name would most likely have many westernized representations. Worry about something of substance.
- Dewie2 12y ago
  I guess you're right about their use in words in general. I'm not sure you're right about their use in names in particular. Firstly, people and places are still named with "aa" rather than "å". They aren't simply spelled alternatively depending on the mood or the keyboard of the writer. So it seems that, since they deliberately choose one over the other, they care whether it is spelled in a certain way. Secondly, we make a distinction between whether someone is named "Christian" or "Kristian", for example. According to your logic, it wouldn't matter since there is no difference except spelling between these two names. But it does. Do you have any authoritive source (linguistic, or etiquette) that says that such names can be spelled however the writer feels like?

Karl Ove ­Knausgaard’s ‘My Struggle: Book 4’

Karl Ove ­Knausgaard’s ‘My Struggle: Book 4’

Karl Ove Knausgaard’s ‘My Struggle: Book 4’

Karl Ove Knausgaard’s ‘My Struggle: Book 4’