My Struggle, Book 6

Summary

With the sixth and final installment of My Struggle comes the realization of the full breadth and achievement of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s monumental work. Building from its predecessors, the final volume offers an in-depth portrayal of his relationships with his wife, children, and closest friends. He vacillates between ambition and vulnerability, and grapples with the consequences of blurring the line between his private life and public image. He depicts life in all its complexity, from the wounds inflicted by the publication woes of the earlier volumes, to the emotional balm his friends provide, to the vivid backdrop of his marital crisis. He explores literature itself and reflects on the profound—and at times startling—connection between writer and reader. And he confronts for the first time the implications of his work’s title, contemplating Hitler and Mein Kampf in a discussion that feels particularly relevant (if not prescient) today, as public support for authoritarianism increases in countries around the world. Book Six is the culmination of a work that offers an engrossing look into the mind of one of the most groundbreaking artists of our time.