In many ways, Knausgaard frames “Book Four” as a long battle against his own shame towards the goal of getting laid, a device that ties the sometimes disparate threads of the book, and of his life, into a unified, provocative, goal. As he attempts to fit in at a new school, begins to write record reviews for a local newspaper, and strives as hard as he can to have sex for the first time, Knausgaard makes these everyday difficulties fascinating through the fine lens with which he examines his own life. Knausgaard’s writing flows smoothly from memory to memory as he shifts backwards in time and tells the story of his last year of school and his graduation. For a hundred-odd pages, Karl Ove moves into his new flat, starts up as a teacher, and ingratiates himself with the locals, of which there are few, as the fishing village of Hafjord is essentially one looped street by the sea. The story opens with 18-year-old Karl Ove leaving home to teach in a small Northern Norwegian village for a year while focusing on his dream of becoming a great writer. The events and time frame of “Book Four” might appear disjointed, but Knausgaard’s touch for transition makes the chapterless book move seamlessly.
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