This Thursday, Jon Fosse won the Nobel Prize in Literature, worth one million Swedish crowns and considered the most important literary award in the world. And, as usual, there are many who have become interested in his works in recent hours, which, as the Swedish Academy has recalled, have “the human condition” as “the central theme of his work, regardless of genre, and presents everyday situations that are instantly recognizable in our own lives.
Next, La Vanguardia exhibits some of its best-known works available in the Spanish language. Soon, this list is expected to expand, since Random House has some volumes underway and Sexto Piso has announced that next year he will publish all of his poetry in full.
It is one of the most important and accessible works by the Norwegian author, which reaches bookstores thanks to Nórdica Libros, in co-edition with De Conatus, the label that usually publishes his works.
It is a short novel that reflects on life and death and has Johannes as its protagonist, from his birth to the grave.
The chronological starting point for anyone who wants to start Fosse in Spanish is Trilogy. Although other of his works reached the market before, such as Someone is going to come (Teatro Arbolé Cultural, 2002) or Melancolía (Emecé, 2006), these are not now available for sale. Therefore, a good way to start is Trilogy, which tells the story of a couple of teenagers who are about to have a child and who try to survive and get ahead in a hostile world in which society always looks mercilessly.
Fosse has always said that, for him, writing is like praying, since it allows him to enter an unknown depth. As complex as this may seem, the Norwegian author manages to navigate it with simple language and a unique narrator. And in this specific story he also allows us to relive first love and the experience of starting life.
This is, by far, the longest work he has ever written and, also, considered the most relevant. It is distributed in four volumes The Other Name I, The Other Name II, Yo es otro and A Nuevo nombre, all of them published with De Conatus, which claims on its website that it “places the reader in a state of meditation.” Two of these volumes were finalists for the Booker International in 2020 and 2022.
Although it is recommended to read it in order, it should be said that each and every one of the books can be read separately. With the first he already made a declaration of intentions. Readers liked it so much that it was translated into six languages ??and hooked many, who remained loyal throughout the publications.
All deliveries follow a similar pattern. They begin with the thought of the protagonist, an artist named Asle, about a painting he has just painted and end with a prayer. In each of the parts, the reader discovers what has happened to him in life to have ended up like this.
