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A casa de barcos

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Narrado no ritmo frenético de um homem tomado pela angústia, o romance combina temas recorrentes da literatura mundial — amizade, ciúme e triângulos amorosos — com um estilo inovador e hipnótico, no qual um narrador pouco confiável mantém a tensão até a última página, nos fazendo avançar e recuar ao sabor do seu fluxo de consciência. A história se passa em uma pequena cidade costeira da Noruega, próxima a um fiorde. O protagonista é um homem solitário. Sem nunca ter se estabelecido profissionalmente, ele vive com a mãe e ganha algum dinheiro tocando guitarra em bailes da região. O encontro fortuito com Knut, um amigo de infância que mudara de cidade e agora volta para passar o verão com a esposa e as duas filhas, é o evento que desencadeia no narrador o sofrimento que o obriga a escrever. O convívio inesperado com a esposa do amigo traz à tona memórias da juventude dos dois e reabre feridas mal cicatrizadas. Neste romance virtuoso, que mescla ousadia estilística e elementos de thriller escandinavo, é possível experimentar fisicamente o transe literário criado por Fosse. Como os personagens, apequenados e à deriva ao pé do imenso fiorde, ao nos deixarmos levar por estas páginas, experimentamos uma das mais perfeitas traduções literárias dos tormentos humanos.

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1989

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About the author

Jon Fosse

234 books1,821 followers
Jon Olav Fosse was born in Haugesund, Norway and currently lives in Bergen. He debuted in 1983 with the novel Raudt, svart (Red, black). His first play, Og aldri skal vi skiljast, was performed and published in 1994. Jon Fosse has written novels, short stories, poetry, children's books, essays and plays. His works have been translated into more than forty languages. He is widely considered as one of the world's greatest contemporary playwrights. Fosse was made a chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite of France in 2007. Fosse also has been ranked number 83 on the list of the Top 100 living geniuses by The Daily Telegraph.

He was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 "for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable".

Since 2011, Fosse has been granted the Grotten, an honorary residence owned by the Norwegian state and located on the premises of the Royal Palace in the city centre of Oslo. The Grotten is given as a permanent residence to a person specifically bestowed this honour by the King of Norway for their contributions to Norwegian arts and culture.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
Profile Image for MJ Nicholls.
2,274 reviews4,846 followers
March 12, 2018
Fosse is a novelist who loves repetition. This repetitive novel, written by Fosse, who is a novelist, features an isolated protagonist, who is written by Fosse, the novelist, the fan of repetitive prose, who reacts to the return of childhood friend Knut, in his small Norwegian village, in this novel written by Fosse, a Norwegian novelist, a Norwegian novelist named Fosse who is so famous in Norway, he has a writing room in the royal palace, who reacts to his childhood friend Knut returning home, and encounters Knut’s flirtatious wife, another character in this repetitive novel by Fosse, a wealthy, super-famous (in Norway) Norwegian novelist from Norwegistan, Norway, who has written a novel about an isolated protagonist, who encounters a childhood friend Knut and his flirtatious wife, who smooches him at a local dance, and who tells the story (in this Norwegian novel by Fosse, a novelist who the Queen loves) of the isolated protagonist in three parts, the first from the narrator’s perspective, the second from the narrator’s perspective of Knut’s perspective, the third from a detached perspective of what happened once the novel puttered to an end under the strain of such excessive, brutalising repetition in a novel from Norwegian novelist Fosse who sleeps with the King in the palace in the land of Norwegia.
Profile Image for Nick Grammos.
277 reviews155 followers
April 17, 2025

Jon Fosse has one stylistic approach in his prose writing. It’s based on rhythm and repetition. The reader, once they get the rhythm is lulled into a continuous reading stream experience. I don’t know how else to describe it. A sentence can have an endless variation yet be different, ever so slightly from the previous one, or the sentence with slight variation expresses the same thing over and over. Like a period of restlessness.

At first, I thought these to be a simulation of the internal world. I mean no one thinks in complete sentences, paragraphs, grammatical correctness and each new thought is not novel. We tend to repeat in our heads our own conscious concerns. So, I kind of admired this glimpse into another consciousness approach. Though, I don’t know if that is what he’s doing, can’t be sure.

So, I’m drawn along on a current of words about a narrator, around 30yo, his old school friend Knut and Knut’s wife when the family visits the old town. Knut has left, become educated, got a job as a music teacher, had two kids. The family plan to spend the summer on holiday in his home town, he hasn’t been back in ten years, or at least hasn’t spoken to the narrator in ten years. They were close, did everything together as kids, had a band together, hung out. Then Knut leaves. The return is tense, something happens, the narrator then remains restless, uneasy, he stops going out and writes. He writes to keep the restlessness at bay. There are strange goings on in the marriage and our narrator is caught up in them. The restlessness is about some tension unspoken.

Few things happen. There is a fishing expedition to an island on the fjord. A folk dance where our narrator plays guitar in a two-piece band. He stops playing after that night and writes. Something happens, it unnerves him enough to spend all his time indoors writing from then on. The narrator is caught up in the couple’s whirlwind state. The couple aren’t happy and it’s kind of weird. As a result he writes the thing we are reading (it seems).

Thing is, none of this is a spoiler. I’m left with images from a poetic quality of writing. The events are etched in my head now. I could write another stream of events in another paragraph like the one above and you’d know all the action: though there isn’t much.

As I was reading, enjoying the rhythm, I wondered how short the work would be if all the repetitions were removed. Call it quantitative reviewing, using words as data. I’d say only 10 per cent would remain, a short story, told simply. And it kind of annoys me but I don’t know why it annoys me. I’m familiar with the style. It’s not even a novelty.

The boathouse features as the pace where the two men played as children. A place where the two friends spent much time: used it for band practice, tidied it up, know its peculiarities. You enter through a hatch door and open the boat gates only from the inside. The boathouse is still there when they are men in their early thirties. A little decrepit. It feels as though not much has changed in their town, except events happen to its inhabitants that cannot be repaired.

Reading this book was a kind of accident. I finally went into town to my favourite bookshop looking for a different book they didn't have. A book no one seems to have. I saw this and a Javier Marias novel I hadn't read and bought both. I started reading the Fosse on the way home on the tram and kept reading. I hadn't intended to, it kind of happened.
Profile Image for Leonor.
63 reviews37 followers
July 18, 2025
"Já não saio de casa, uma inquietação apoderou-se de mim e deixei de sair de casa. Foi no último Verão que esta inquietação se apoderou de mim. (...) Não sei o que é, mas esta inquietação afecta-me o braço esquerdo, os dedos. Já não saio de casa. (...)Foi por isso que decidi escrever, vou escrever um romance. Tenho de fazer qualquer coisa. Esta inquietação é insuportável. Se escrever, talvez isso me ajude."

"Casa de Barcos" é uma narrativa lenta, com muitas repetições, como passos dados no mesmo lugar, típico de Jon Fosse, no entanto, neste contexto, ressalta a inquietação do narrador com muita angústia, uma mente que rumina constantemente à volta das mesmas preocupações, ansiedades, pensamentos labirínticos, um fluxo de consciência. É como estar dentro da cabeça de alguém em colapso silencioso.
É precisamente nesta lentidão que está a sua força: fui obrigada a parar, a ouvir os silêncios, o não dito, a sentir a ansiedade do narrador, um homem que escreve para tentar aliviar o seu desespero.

"Estou aqui sentado a escrever. Escrevo para um leitor. Já não saio de casa, e sinto a solidão."

O protagonista vive com a mãe, sem trabalho fixo, sem estudos, na mesma aldeia onde nasceu e cresceu. Uma pessoa acomodada na vida. Numas férias de Verão aparece como visita o seu amigo de infância, Knut, professor de música, com a mulher e as duas filhas.
Essa zona de conforto, onde tudo é familiar, torna-se também prisão. E o reencontro com o amigo parece funcionar como um espelho que ele evita há muito tempo.
A verdade é que esse amigo, a casa de barcos onde se encontravam no passado e essa visita tornam-se o cenário para um confronto interno com o fracasso, com a solidão e com a identidade.

"Eu tenho mais de trinta anos, e não fiz nada da minha vida. Vivo aqui com a minha mãe. Foi este Verão que a inquietação se apoderou de mim. Nunca escrevi nada antes (...), tal como suponho que muitos outros terão feito, terão escrito cartas, muitos até terão escrito poemas, mas eu nunca escrevi nada. Veio-me à cabeça que talvez fosse capaz de escrever. Tinha de fazer qualquer coisa, a inquietação era imensa."

As pessoas mudam com o passar do tempo. E, por vezes, a visita de um velho amigo não é reencontro — é confronto. Confronto com o que fomos, com o que não fomos, e com a solidão que nem sempre é visível aos olhos dos outros.

"...encontrar velhos conhecidos, tinha de acontecer, como é óbvio, e eu ainda continuo mais ou menos com o mesmo aspecto, pensa o Knut, e então ele pergunta-se o que há-de dizer-me, já passou tanto tempo, nós costumávamos fazer tantas coisas juntos, mas o que vai ele dizer-me, provavelmente já não temos nada em comum, mas ele tem de dizer alguma coisa, falar, e é exactamente esse momento que ele tem andado a evitar (...)"

O que parecia invejável revela-se também uma ilusão, uma fachada. Fosse foi descontruindo aos poucos a visão idealizada do outro: o amigo casado, com duas filhas e profissão que veio de férias de Verão com a família. Lentamente, acontece um triângulo amoroso.

"Tu dizes sempre que sim, diz-me a mulher dele, e eu assinto com a cabeça, sem dizer nada, isto é tão estranho, e esta inquietação, esta intensa inquietação, escurece, e os olhos dela, os olhos dela estão agora em todo o lado, no céu, no fiorde, e esta inquietação, que nunca senti antes. Os olhos dela."

"Vais pescar muitas vezes? pergunta o Knut, e eu ouço algo na voz dele, algo na sua voz que eu não sei o que é, ouço algo na sua voz, ali há qualquer coisa, e digo que isso acontece, não muitas vezes, mas acontece-me ir pescar, acho que a natureza no fiorde é bonita, especialmente no Verão, que é quando vou pescar, no Verão, não é tanto pela pesca em si, eu nem sei bem porque é, mas é algo de que gosto"

Quem somos, afinal, quando devido aos outros olhamos para a nossa vida como um fracasso? E se o que invejamos nos outros também estiver podre por dentro?

Existe uma tensão mal resolvida, um ressentimento ligado a um episódio com uma rapariga no passado, no tempo dos bailes que dá mais força à visita de Knut. Porque não é só um reencontro com um amigo — é um regresso ao passado, a algo que ficou entalado. E o narrador vai lá como quem vai a um lugar onde se perdeu de si mesmo. O reencontro não traz paz, só mais desconforto.
O narrador não é só vítima da vida: ele também alimenta feridas antigas, não fala, não resolve, acomoda-se emocionalmente.

"aquela rapariga do baile, não passou de uma pequena parvoíce, não foi culpa dele, mas eu tornei-me muito estranho depois disso, tornei-me bastante medroso, já não quis ensaiar mais, mas isso foi há muito tempo."

Ambos estão presos — um à ausência de vida, o outro ao excesso dela. Ambos são espelhos distorcidos um do outro. Um parado no tempo, o outro perdido dentro da rotina.

"Casa de Barcos" é uma obra que nos obriga a mergulhar em temas como solidão, culpa, fracasso, o peso do que não foi dito e a morte onde a paisagem interna é mais importante do que a externa.

"aconteceu tudo há tanto tempo, agora está tudo tão diferente, como a casa dos barcos, aquilo que era tanto, quase uma vida inteira, e agora já não resta nada, assim acontece com quase tudo, no fim não resta nada, desaparece simplesmente, tudo se altera, e aquilo que foi em tempos torna-se algo muito diferente daquilo que costumava ser, torna-se mais pequeno, transforma-se em nada, é assim que é, e não há nada a fazer contra isso"
Profile Image for António.
123 reviews22 followers
November 5, 2025
Adoro os livros de Jon Fosse e este é um dos meus favoritos. Percebo que se diga que a escrita dele é algo repetitiva, mas a mim evoca-me o embalo de um barco no meio do fiorde. É muito belo e inesquecível.
Profile Image for Synne Sylibris.
252 reviews23 followers
December 27, 2023
2,5⭐️
Denne falt ikke helt i smak.
Jeg leste og leste uten å bli helt klok på hva boka egentlig handla om, og den voldsomme mengden repetisjon gjorde meg mer og mer irritert. Oppførselen til kona var mildt sagt merkelig – og ikke på en interessant måte. Jeg syns generelt at trekantdramaet var über-kleint.

Jeg ble imidlertid veldig mye klokere av å lese andres omtaler av boka etter endt lesning, og disse omtalene ga meg mer respekt for Naustet.

Selv om denne boka ikke funka helt for meg, gleder jeg meg allikevel til å prøve meg på andre Jon Fosse-bøker i fremtiden.
Jeg elsket jo tross alt Morgon og kveld. Og jeg syns skrivestilen hans er såpass spennende at jeg er nysgjerrig på hva han har fått til med de andre bøkene sine.
Profile Image for Aljoša Harlamov.
378 reviews51 followers
November 13, 2025
Strukturno zelo zanimiv roman. Malo je pa tudi kliše "umetniškega leposlovja". Notranji monolog z veliko dobesednimi in parafraziranimi ponavljanji, ki dobro simulirajo vsebino - nemir, ki se je "spravil" na pripovedovalca, ki deluje kot nekakšna preganjavica ali pa izogibanje misli na dejanja, tako pretekla kot sedanja, a hkrati obsedeno vrtenje okrog te ne-misli. Toda po drugi strani je vprašanje, ali to res kam pelje. Je ta relativno majhen prekršek iz preteklosti res vreden tolikšne skrbi? Ker so liki nekoliko modernistično zastavljeni (njihovi (psihološki) motivi bodisi sploh niso pojasnjeni bodisi njihova dejanja niso "realistična"), izpade vse skupaj nekoliko pretirano, obenem pa iz zamolkov težko razberemo, da bi bil zadaj še kak drug podton (recimo nezavedna homoseksualna nagnjenja itd.). Tudi lažni obrat perspektive (kjer prvoosebni personalni pripovedovalec pripoveduje v imenu Knuta - in tega torej ne pripoveduje zares Knut), za katerega se zdi, da vnaša nezanesljivost v pripoved, ne doda veliko, razen da vidimo, da je Knut skoraj enako obseden kot pripovedovalec. In zaradi lažnosti tega obrata niti ne more biti neke resnične razlike - ne osebne, ne razredne, ne druge. Konec je pa precej pretrgan, nekoliko na silo (kot pogosto v "umetniških besedilih", ki vsilijo neko cikličnost, obrnjenost vase, ki pa ne omogoča zaresnega konca v skladu s to strukturo) - četudi je jasno, da je razmerje, opisano v romanu, izredno toksično, pa zaradi svoje psihološke "neprepričljivosti" oziroma "nedorečenosti", ki izhaja, kot rečeno, iz modernistično zastavljenih likov, tudi ne deluje posebej prepričljivo ali tragično. Skratka, roman se mi je zdel strukturno zanimivejši kot zgodbeno.
Profile Image for Michal Lukáč.
69 reviews9 followers
August 31, 2025
“Už nevychádzam von, zmocnil sa ma akýsi nepokoj, a tak nevychádzam von. To v lete sa ma zmocnil ten nepokoj.”

Postmoderná nórska próza založená na repetitívnosti, silnom, nepokojnom rytme, výrazne sugestívnom introspektívnom rozprávaní a minimalistickom príbehu.

Jej autor, Jon Fosse, sa v roku 2023 stal držiteľom Nobelovej ceny za literatúru, čo sa v literárnej obci očakávalo už dlhšie. Pri čítaní Lodenice sa dá pochopiť, prečo. Úplne ma to vtiahlo, napriek (alebo vďaka?) neustálemu opakovaniu a tomu, že samotný dej sa dá zhrnúť asi v piatich vetách.

Máte naozaj pocit, akoby ste sa ocitli v hlave nepokojného, váhavého, úzkostlivého rozprávača, a tá druhá perspektíva (ako tento rozprávač vníma to, alebo sa skôr domnieva, ako dej prežíva iná postava), je úplne geniálna.

Hviezdičku strhnem iba za neuspokojivý a náhly koniec.

Musím sa priznať, že som miestami uvažoval, nakoľko je úzkostlivé rozprávanie o človeku, ktorý sa potrebuje “vypísať” zo svojich démonov, a ktorý v tvorbe hľadá pokoj, v skutočnosti autobiografickou výpoveďou.

My však už poznáme pokračovanie tohto príbehu v skutočnom Fosseho živote - tvorbou, ktorá preňho predstavovala až takmer mystický zážitok, sa postupne “prepísal” až ku viere v kresťanského Boha, a v roku 2012 konvertoval na katolicizmus. V súčasnosti píše asketicky - nepočúva rádio ani nepozerá televíziu, hudbu počúva iba občas, a počas písania sa iba modlí a chodí na spovede.

A nedá mi neprihriať si patriotickú polievočku. :) Fosse žije neďaleko slovenských hraníc a je ženatý so Slovenkou, ktorá jeho dielo prekladá do slovenčiny, takže sme Fossem živení mierou, akú nám môžu napríklad takí bratia Česi závidieť.
Profile Image for Nina Pernina .
224 reviews17 followers
December 22, 2025
Majhna knjižica, ki pa me ni najbolje nagovorila: ne z repetitivnim slogom, kot tudi ne z zgodbo. Ne glede na končni vtis, pa ne morem zanikati, da ima besedilo posebno umetniško vrednost, saj so se mi vzdušje in določene scene vtisnile v spomin, prav tako očutek, kot da sem gledala uprizoritev in ne brala, kar le potrjuje avtorjevo dramaturško delovanje.

V slovenski izdaji najdete spremno besedilo, ki je avtorjev govor ob podelitvi Nobelove nagrade. Fascinanto in zame veliko bolj zanimivo kot sama zgodba.

V nagovoru Jon Fosse omenja, kaj mu pomeni molk / neizrečeno v tekstu in čeprav so zanj glavna metrika v dramaturških delih, pa nam je z njegovo razlago bolj razumljivo tudi besedilo Čolnarna.

In v mojih dramah je beseda premor gotovo najpomembnejša in najbolj pogosta beseda - dolg premor, kratek premor ali samo premor.
V teh premorih je lahko tako veliko ali pa tako malo. Da se nečesa ne da povedati ali da je najbolje povedano tako, da se ne reče nič.
Kljub temu sem skoraj prepričan, da je tisto, kar je v premorih najbolj zgovorno, tišina.
Profile Image for Mar.
153 reviews1 follower
January 17, 2024
Repetisjonen opplevde jeg at ble litt trasig til tider. Det ble liksom litt tungt å starte og slutte et kapittel. På bokklubb møtet idag kommenterte Mina på at skrivestilen føles litt som en sånn tankeskriving øvelse hvor man bare skriver uten å stoppe, og jeg er veldig enig. Den føles veldig heseblesende. Det gjorde jo også at jeg følte veldig på uroen som jeg-personen også føler på.

Jeg tok meg i å bli veldig nysgjerrig på å høre mer om hvordan de hadde det som ungdommer. Synes det var veldig spennende å få litt tilbakeblikk. Synes også det er spennende å reflektere litt utover hva som kan ha skjedd for at ting gikk som det gikk, det er jo en ganske rar fortelling.

Alt i alt vil jeg si at jeg likte boka, skulle kanskje ønske at jeg brukte litt lengre tid på den. Selv om det går an å lese den på to dager (helt sikkert en også) vil jeg ikke anbefale det.
Profile Image for Lukáš Palán.
Author 10 books235 followers
January 20, 2020
Bom dia!

Loděnice česky nikdy nevyšla a tak jsem byl donucen vodmontovat šrouby v palici a čítat po slovensky. Akože totok jé škandál, páni vydavatelja, prečo to nie pretranslatuované? Dofrasa ty kokos! Čo su nějaké Rytmus či čo? Ešče ščaščia že jsom pozeral kompletné série Farmár hladá ženu a Bůčkovcou a tým pádom som ve Slovenščině obratný ako naturálný Slovačiško!

V tomto vesnickém thrilleru se opět jede podle pravidel Jon Bon Fosseho, tj. opakování matka moudrosti. V centru příběhu jsou dva penisy, jeden vjezd do važíny a stará loděnice. Zápletka mi tedy dost připomněla legendární film Banging my friends wife in old loděnice, který je volně ke shlédnutí na PornHubu.

Ale jak už to tak bejvá, co se ve Fosseho knihách děje je tak trochu jedno - jde o to, co z toho dokáže vydolovat. A tentokrát toho zase vydoloval víc než jsem čekal.

9/10
Profile Image for Camilla Fredheim.
2 reviews
January 24, 2025
Interesting way of writing, and a great build throughout the book. The ending, however, was a little anticlimactic in comparison to the leading up to it.
Profile Image for Paul Fulcher.
Author 2 books1,954 followers
May 21, 2025
I don't go out anymore, a restlessness has come over me, and I don't go out.
Eg går ikke ut lenger, ei uro er kommen over meg, og eg går ikkje ut.


Boathouse (2017) is May-Brit Akerholt's translation of Naustet (1989) by Jon Fosse, and I read it in a re-issued edition from Dalkey Archive following his well-deserved Nobel Prize.

This was his third novel after Raudt, svart (1983) and Stengd gitar (1985) but the earliest his novels to be translated into English.

The novel opens, in a distinctively Fossian style that persists throughout the novel:

I don't go out anymore, a restlessness has come over me, and I don't go out. It was this summer that the restlessness came over me. I met Knut again, I hadn't seen him for at least ten years. Knut and I, we were always together. A restlessness has come over me. I don't know what it is, but the restlessness aches in my left arm, in my fingers. I don't go out anymore. I don't know why, but it is several months since I was last outside the door. It is this restlessness. That is why I have decided to write, I am going to write a novel. I have to do something. This restlessness is killing me. Perhaps writing will help. It was this summer the restlessness came over me. I met Knut again. He had got married, had two daughters. When we were kids Knut and I were always together. And Knut left. I called his name, but Knut just left. A restlessness has come over me. I looked at his back. I didn't know what to say, I just saw Knut standing there, down on the road, and then he walked away down the road. I haven't seen him since. My friend Knut, I hadn't seen him for at least ten years, and then I saw him again this summer. Knut's wife. A yellow rain jacket. The denim jacket. Her eyes. Knut is a music teacher, came home for the holidays. I'm more than thirty years old, and I haven't made anything of my life. I live here, with my mother.

Which largely tells us the plot of the novel. The narrator, Baard still lives in his native hamlet with his mother, making a living of sorts playing at local dances: "I play the guitar, and a teacher at the local high school plays the accordion. His name is Torkjell. That's why we are called Torkjell's Duo."

The novel pivots round a few days when he encounters his childhood best friend Knut, who moved away from the area for high school, and is working as a music teacher and married with two small children. Knut is returning to the area to stay with his mother for a family holiday, and the two, who have not met for a decade, have a rather awkward encounter in the street, neither really knowing what to say, with Knut's wife whose name we (and one suspects Baard) never learn somewhat flirting with Baard. Baard also recalls a - relatively minor - incident from his and Knut's youth when the latter danced with a girl that Baard had been admiring, one that still seems to scar him to this day. And over the following two days Knut's wife seems keen to spend more time with him than her husband, taking a boat on to the water to fish at the same time he does, and attending his performance at a local dance.

The novel is written sometime later with Baard (whose name we also only learn once - mentioned, perhaps significantly, only by Knut's wife, who says Knut has told her about him, when the three first meet), and as one might expect from the author's work, Baard's narration circles round-and-round the relatively sparse events. A second section, re-imagines what happens from Knut's perspective, although this is clearly Baard's writing,

As he notes repeatedly through the novel the events of the summer have left him with restlessness , although not restlessness that gives him wanderlust but rather the opposite, turning him into a recluse even in terms of the small things he did, as he quits Torkjell's Duo.

As noted in this review at Time Stemmed:

The word that Akerholt renders as “restlessness” is uro in Norwegian. The root word, ro, means calm or quiet, while the prefix u-corresponds to un- in English. Literally, the word is un-calmor un-quiet, or perhaps disquiet (indeed, the Norwegian translation of Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet is called Uroens bok, which Fosse has cited as an influence). Although Akerholt’s “restlessness” is twelve letters as opposed to the three in uro, it is likely as close an approximation as is possible. Her avoidance of the Latinate anxiety is probably wise, too, given the Scandinavian context; ever since Kierkegaard, anxiety or angst has had rather loaded philosophical connotations whose presence in Fosse’s text would be dubious at best.


Baard returns to his own story in a brief coda, explaining both what happened in back in their youth, and some news of Knut and his wife that puts a full stop to his writing.

My mother stroked my cheek, asked me to come down. I couldn’t just sit here and write, she said. My mother just dropped in. I had to come down, she said. I don’t know. I cannot bear this restlessness. My mother. I heard her steps on the stairs. My mother is not all that old. Now this restlessness is unbearable. Accordingly I finish my writing.

A somewhat edgier and suspenseful Fosse than from the brilliant Septology, and very worthwhile.

Other reviews:
https://readingintranslation.com/2018...

https://www.complete-review.com/revie...

https://www.themodernnovel.org/europe...

https://www.worldliteratureforum.com/...
Profile Image for Lise Forfang Grimnes.
Author 3 books81 followers
Read
January 14, 2024
Første møte med Fosse. Interessant. Blei nysgjerrig på mer. Kleint. Intenst. Kan ikke gi en nobelprisvinner terningkast. Det går ikke.
Profile Image for Dav.
88 reviews
June 6, 2024
Naustet er eit trekantdrama om to menn som ikkje klarar å kommunisere kjenslene sine og ei kvinne som ikkje får det ho treng frå nokon av dei.

Her er det to-tre parallelle historiar som føregår på ulike tidspunkt. Majoriteten av boka handlar om venskapen mellom dei to mannfolka i barndommen og i vaksen alder. Mot slutten får vi lese ei historie frå ungdomsåra deira.

Sjalusi er ein raud tråd i forteljinga og eg kjøper dei to vestlandskarane med underutviklinga emosjonell kompetanse. Denne karaktersvakheita kjem til uttrykk i språkleg kollaps mot slutten av dei to fyrste aktene/kapitla(?). Der bryt språket opp og Fosse brukar korte, usamanhengande ein- og tostavingsord. Det var eit kult og effektivt grep.

Denne var betrakteleg nærare Trilogien (knallgod) enn Kvitleik (dårleg) i kvalitet, men manglar dei emosjonelle toppane og bunnane ein finn i Trilogien for å nå heilt opp.
Profile Image for Edvard Stenersen.
88 reviews5 followers
December 6, 2023
koste meg veldig med denne! skulle nesten ønske jeg var med i bokklubb, følte for å snakke om denne med folk. liker så godt måten den er skrevet på, gjentagelsene og de små variasjonene i dem, som tidvis avslører veldig viktige ting. det føltes veldig kult og gøy hver gang «noe nytt» kom fram. likte veldig godt, og anbefaler til alle! tror det er god starterbok for folk som vil «prøve litt» fosse.
Profile Image for Øystein Brekke.
Author 6 books19 followers
April 9, 2024
Det følest litt medgangssupporter å seia at ein likar Jon Fosse no, men jo, eg likte denne boka veldig godt. Eg vart sugd inn og ville ikkje leggja h0 frå meg. Gjentakingane, som alle snakkar om, fungerte veldig godt. Dei følest ikkje som eit "kunstnarisk grep" berre for det "kunstnarisk grepet" si skuld - det følest som ein veldig logisk måte å formidla korleis tankane til hovudpersonen kvernar rundt og rundt noko som han ikkje klarer å leggja bak seg.
Ein generell observasjon frå ein nykomar til Fosse-verda utan særleg peiling på moderne skjønnlitteratur, er kor jordnært Fosse skriv. Språket er veldig enkelt og naturleg, svært få framandord - dette er ikkje oppstylta, pretensiøs klisjé-intellektuell høglitteratur. Det er veldig lesbart.
Profile Image for Viera Némethová.
406 reviews56 followers
May 28, 2022
Neuveriteľný čitateľský zážitok. Príbeh dvoch kamarátov z detstva, ktorých spojila hudba a stará lodenica, v ktorej chceli založiť kapelu a nacvičovať.
Stretávajú sa po rokoch. Dostávajú sa spoločne s manželkou jedného z nich do situácie plnej napätia, nedorozumení, vzájomnej príťažlivosti a nevyslovených pocitov a emócií.
Fosse bravúrne zachytáva vnútorný monológ a prežívanie rozprávača, ktorý žije s psychickým ochorením, ktoré sa prejavuje nepokojom, uzavretosťou, neschopnosťou nadviazať kontakt s ľuďmi a nutnosťou prekonať vnútornú tenziu vypísaním sa zo všetkých prežitých situácií. Tento monológ a nepokoj sa prejavuje neustálou repetetívnosťou a vracaniu sa k rovnakej situácii znova a znova.
V poslednej štvrtine knihe nastane v rozprávaní akými zlom, kedy sa rozprávač prenesie do mysle svojho kamaráta a na všetko sa pozerá jeho očami, jeho mysľou a jeho prežívaním.

Lodenica je nenápadná, silná a znepokojivá kniha, ktorá zachytáva prežívania a vnútorné svety jej protagonistov. Lodenica je dronom do vnútorného sveta, do mysle a do duše. Po jej prečítaní sa vás zmocní, podobne ako rozprávača " akými zvláštny nepokoj". nepokoj, s ktorým on musí žiť, my ho môžeme iba sledovať bez hodnotenia.
Profile Image for Ali.
341 reviews3 followers
December 25, 2024
It's clear that in this one Jon Fosse hasn't mastered his meandering stream-of-consciousness yet. It's almost incomprehensible at times: who with whom and when and what of it; at the end I'm not even sure how many times had almost the same scenario play out with the same two friends.

And yet, it was strangely compelling: the restlessness that won't leave Leif, because of which he can't read, can't play guitar, must keep writing; the vision of Knut simply walking away; even all the unnamed girls between them; and, of course, a fjord that just waits there for the tragedy to play out.

I can't tell if I liked any of this; a can say, though, that the hypnotizing rythm of Fosse's writing is one of the only things that can fully calm down my mind.
Profile Image for Manuel Pinto.
148 reviews9 followers
August 24, 2025
Dava 6 estrelas, se possível.
Absolutamente incrível. A escrita é absolutamente inovadora, a repetição intencional e o ritmo aliados a uma história intrigante até ao fim resultam numa obra prima.

É um romance, um romance em que facilmente te consegues perder no tempo e nas as páginas.

Só pela autenticidade, já mereceu o Nobel.
Profile Image for Jenny Gladheim.
72 reviews1 follower
June 23, 2025
4,5 stjerner!

Jeg syntes boka leses som Jon Fosse ser ut: litt dyster, grå og med vestlandsdialekt.
Med det sagt er dette den første romanen jeg har lest helt ferdig av han og etter å ha kommet inn i skrivemåten hans syntes jeg det var helt fantastisk. Boka var skikkelig spennende og nervepirrende, får litt følelsen av Tillers Innsirkling når jeg leser og skjønner hvorfor de er sammenlignet utenom det faktum at de begge skriver på nynorsk.

Konklusjonen er: jeg kunne tenke meg å lese mer Jon Fosse, noe jeg ikke trodde da jeg begynte på denne boka for andre gang!

Profile Image for Dorthe Svendsen.
1,364 reviews2 followers
January 20, 2024
Uff den var ganske forferdelig. Jeg følte ihvertfall på opplevelser befestet som traume, som er så ubehandlet at det ødelegger for alt annet. Mye kjærlighet, men litt usikker på hvem som elsker hvem, og det er jo litt gøy. Språket er uvant og annerledes, det er vel det han har fått priser for, det repeterende som skal vekke noe i leseren. Jeg tror det vekker følelsene hos meg, så jeg kommer nærmere opplevelsen som fortelles om. Men om jeg får så lyst til å lese mer, det er jeg litt usikker på!
Profile Image for Tuva .
80 reviews12 followers
Read
January 11, 2024
Måtte lese denne fordi Fosse skrev den mens han bodde i borettslaget jeg bor i nå ;)
Gata her er for så vidt også foreviget gjennom Kurt Nilsens "my street", så kanskje det er noen gode skrive-vibber i lufta?
Profile Image for Ine.
7 reviews
October 8, 2024
Historien var interessant, men jeg kunne ikke fordra skrivestilen.
Profile Image for Martin Furland.
12 reviews
October 22, 2024
Eg kjenner ei uro kome over meg i det eg skal forsøke å seie noko om denne romanen. Det viktigaste å få fram er at eg no har debutert som Fosse-lesar, og at eg har fått meirsmak.
69 reviews3 followers
September 11, 2025
Uten pust, estetisk nydelig, ja, suggererende som alle innsalgene sier, slapp aldri taket, må lese igjen
Profile Image for Gaute Ulltang.
4 reviews
March 23, 2024
Her kjem endeleg ei uironisk bokmelding. Naustet var eit (som forventa) velskrive sjalusidrama. Uroa til eg-personen vart absolutt overført til meg som lesar, og Fosse sin nærmast rytmiske skrivestil komplimenterte forteljinga sine svingingar i intensitet. For meg hadde ikkje Naustet heilt den same menneskelege djupna som eg opplevde at Trilogien hadde (om eg skal få lov å samanlikna), derfor 4/5 frå meg.
Profile Image for Brage Kosmo.
16 reviews
November 18, 2024
Føler dette markerer første gang jeg virkelig føler at jeg skjønner Fosse. Elsker Jon Fosse yippee!!!
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