A Compellingly Flawed Journey

'My Struggle Book Five' by Karl Ove Knausgaard extends an audaciously honest invitation to immerse oneself in his turbulent world, marked by both personal triumphs and misdemeanours. The narrative navigates through his life with a sincerity so stark that it catalyses a myriad of emotions within its reader, ranging from admiration for his relentless determination to a sense of repulsion towards his apparent selfishness.

The story begins with Knausgaard's youthful wanderlust as he backpacks through Europe before making his ambitious foray as the writing academy's youngest student ever admitted. His journey through the book is a dizzying roller-coaster ride rife with dizzying artistic aspirations, poignant losses, and exhilarating victories.

However, Knausgaard's portrayal in the book is glaringly marred by frequent instances of his recklessness and lack of consideration for others. His continued consumption of alcohol, even when it consistently lands him in trouble, is a recurrent theme. Instances such as throwing a glass at his brother that results in a facial cut, getting arrested due to proximity to a burglary scene, and unwittingly sleeping with unknown women post his drinking binges, paint him in an increasingly defiant and unflattering light.

Knausgaard also reveals a complex romantic life marked by his infidelity towards his long-term girlfriend, Gunvor, adding to the growing reservoir of his flawed deeds. His relentless pursuit of writing tends to blind him to his own selfish behaviour, resulting in a narrative maculated with ceaseless self-loathing.

Yet, I cannot dispute the fact that 'My Struggle Book Five' remains an exceptionally worthwhile read. Notwithstanding the protagonist's flawed characterization, the book maintains its hold, thanks to Knausgaard's masterful storytelling and brutally honest self-portrayal.

Remarkably, the latter half witnesses his rise as an author, the celebration of his debut novel, and the subsequent fear of becoming a 'one-book author.' The intriguing revisit of his father's funeral and the commencement of his second novel, 'A Time for Everything', further enrich the narrative.

This installment is indeed a testimony to Knausgaard's extraordinary narrative mastery and his ability to provoke thoughts and emotions. Despite flaws and follies, it compels us, as readers, to reflect on our own humanity and the defining struggles in our life journeys. Indeed, 'My Struggle Book Five' is an excellent read, sparking a potent blend of admiration, compassion and revulsion, in an unforgettable exploration of one man's faltering struggle towards self-realisation and success.

At the start we find 20 year old Knausgaard returning from travels abroad. He is excited about moving to Bergen and starting his new life as a writer and student at the Writing Academy. He is as unsure of himself and as eager to impress as ever.

He describes a kind of loneliness born of his eternal shame. There are thoughts that he knows he can't share with anyone, and so he is alone. Although, I don't know how much writing this book and exposing all of these thoughts negates this idea.

He meets a woman named Tonje whom he falls in love with and we're faced with one of the most disturbing scenes of the book, when he cuts himself in the face with a broken bottle because he is drunk and jealous of her and his brother. He continues his mode of laying everything bare in the most humiliating detail. I don't particularly like reading about nihilistic benders and masturbating to art books, but I recognise how bold and courageous Knausgaard is. He is too honest. He goes too far, and it's just far enough.

Knausgaard takes a summer job working at the kind of care facility for those with severe disabilities that existed in the 80s. He describes the difficulty he has with the patients there, both practically and emotionally. He is critical of the institutional system, as a "storage, a warehouse for unwanted people", yet, in typical Knausgaard style, he lays bare his disgust with working there, his humiliation, and in juxtapositioning these thoughts with other selfish thoughts such as his lust over a co-worker, he challenges you to judge him. If he's self-assured enough to point out his own weaknesses so baldly, are they really his weaknesses? Or is this a character he's created to turn a mirror on the reader?

Much of the book is concerned with writer's block and his struggle becoming a writer. Watching his peers make their literary debuts while he struggles to get stories published. He goes back and forth on whether or not to give up entirely.

The novel ends where Book 2 picks up, with him leaving his wide Tonje after a series of marital troubles and moving to Stockholm.

The heavens were inexhaustible, it had rained every day since the beginning of September and except for a couple of hours I hadn’t seen the sun for what would soon be eight months.


Today was Norwegian in that respect. Yesterday was drizzle but today was rain. Our house was full of jet lagged family and I found myself reading 400 pages. Punctuating my reading of this volume was a series of correspondence with people I went to Uni some 27 years ago. Mnemonic specificity over such a time shocks me. Especially with respect to the newspaper staff, which is hardly a molding or poignant event of my character. Most memory is brittle paper. I retain more Nietzsche and Orwell than I do the quotidian.


Karl Ove is admitted to the prestigious writing program at the age of 19. He still drinks too much, has issues with fidelity and is teeming with self-loathing. As Hitchens once said about the Queen Mother, two out of three ain't bad. I admit I am starting to tire of this endeavor. There were ugly sections in this, some which strike close to home: Karl Ove works one summer with the developmentally disabled and appears to be the least equipped soul on record for the job.


The sections on the drudgery of daily writing were eloquent as was the inexplicable nature of inspiration. I am not sure we need to know any further per Dad and I don't really care about the blood.

This one is about his college years, then shortly thereafter when his first novel is published and his father dies. Seems a bit more vulnerable than the others - a true coming-of-age despite being almost grown when it starts.

Dit vijfde deel in de reeks heeft alle troeven van de vorige boeken. We volgen Knausgård tijdens zijn 8jaren in Bergen, waar hij met veel vallen en opstaan inderdaad schrijver wordt.
Knausgård is weer (pijnlijk) eerlijk, vertelt alles oprecht en zonder excuses.
Ik geniet van de eerste tot de laatste bladzijde, alle gevoelens, keuzes en bedenkingen van de schrijver zijn zo herkenbaar.
De onzekerheid over zijn eigen kunnen, de spijt na domme dronken beslissingen, de liefde voor zijn vrienden en familie.... Alles voelt, en is, zo waarachtig.
Topklasse! 5sterren