Home / Reading / Boyhood Island

Boyhood Island

by Karl Ove Knausgård


Review ★★★★

Thoroughly enjoyed Book 3 of this series, which focused on Knausgård's childhood. Though the chapters can sometimes feel as though they drag on and on due to the incredible amount of detailed recollection, this book felt like a powerful tool for reflection upon my own childhood - so many events experienced by this schoolboy in Norway mirrored my own in Australia and even those that didn't seemed an effective device for recollection. I am becoming increasingly convinced that the 'boring' details which are almost the trademark of this writer are a reliable way to engage the reader to such a level that they may view their own lives through the lens of another. Immense storytelling, beautiful prose, and often painful recollections of a difficult time for so many. I find myself enjoying these books more as time goes on.