Life, Love, Cappuccinos

TrilogyBy Jon Fosse170 pp. Dalkey Archive Press. £13. I was thrilled to learn today that the great Norwegian playwright and novelist Jon Fosse has just been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. I first came across Fosse in 2019, and only then after having been introduced to him in Book 5 of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s “My Struggle” series. Fosse was one of Knausgaard’s teachers at a prestigious…

Doctor GlasBy Hjalmar Söderberg150 pp. Anchor Books. $15. A woman in love has just that magic spell about her walk, her complexion, her whole being, which alone can hold me in thrall. And it was always naturally such women who awakened my desires. But naturally, being in love with other men, they did not see me … the years went, and life passed me by. As the excerpt above makes clear, Tyko…

The Memory PoliceBy Yoko Ogawa274 pp. Vintage. $16. The most disappointing book I’ve read this year. What should have been a dazzling work of dystopian literature comes off as an unoriginal retread. This just goes to show that intriguing concepts don’t necessarily translate to great literature. The “action” — if you can call it that — takes place on a Japanese island where disappearances of…

Time ShelterBy Georgi Gospodinov304 pp. W&N. $27. “The Physics of Sorrow” put Georgi Gospodinov on my radar. It quickly became one of my favorite books and made Gospodinov one of my favorite authors. But as much as I loved “The Physics of Sorrow,” I love “Time Shelter” nearly as much, dealing as it does with time and memory … two of my favorite topics in all of literature (fortunately for me,…

Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in AmericaBy Eyal Press270 pp. Farrar, Straus Giroux. $28. A deep dive into what capitalism has wrought in America and its labor force today. You know the truth — a lot of the work that’s deemed “essential” in this country, and throughout much of the West, is work that’s heavily stigmatized. By the same token, many of those who are…

DreamersBy Knut Hamsun164 pp. Condor Books. $18. My enjoyment of “Dreamers” increased with every page until, after turning the last one, I felt nearly giddy, head spinning from the charm of it all — a bit like falling in love for the first time. It’s not that “Dreamers” is a great book, it’s that it does a lot with a little and surprises you along the way. It surprises you because you don’t…

Aliss at the FireBy Jon Fosse74 pp. Fitzcarraldo Editions. £11. “Aliss at the Fire” is a mood.It’s a Tuesday in late November, 1979, and you’re staring out the window, watching and waiting.It’s a Thursday in March, 2002, and you’re staring out the window, watching and waiting.And remembering.You’re remembering.The lines repeat, over and over, like a mantra, drawing you forward, inside.It’s…

The WandererBy Knut Hamsun164 pp. Condor Books. $18. Even the wanderer will, at some point, find the pull of domestic life impossible to resist. Even the wanderer will, when given the possibility for companionship, return. This is what I took away from Hamsun’s “Wanderer” — the futility of trying to live a truly nomadic life. Sooner or later, someone will find you and you’ll no longer wish to…