Jon Fosse was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature for his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.” His work is known for its spare, poetic language, its exploration of existential themes, and its focus on the characters’ inner lives. Fosse has written over 40 plays and a dozen novels, as well as poems, essays, and children’s books. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages and has been performed all over the world. This week, we’re taking a look at five of Fosse’s must-read books. These works showcase the diversity of his talent and his unique vision as a writer.

Trilogien – Wakefulness, Olav’s Dreams, and Weariness

Jon Fosse’s Trilogien is a lyrical and haunting exploration of love, loss, and faith. The three novellas that comprise the trilogy follow the journey of Asle and Alida, a young couple who displaced and dispossessed. As they wander through a timeless landscape, they face hardship and tragedy, but they also find solace in each other and in their abiding love.

Fosse’s writing is spare and poetic, and his prose has a hypnotic rhythm that draws the reader into the story. He creates a world that is both familiar and strange, where the mundane and the mythical coexist. The characters in Trilogien are complex and deeply human, and their struggles resonate with universal themes.

This trilogy is a must-read for fans of literary fiction, and it is sure to leave a lasting impression on all who read it.

Melancholia

Melancholia by Jon Fosse is a meditative and haunting novel that explores the themes of loss, grief, and the nature of reality. The novel is divided into two parts: the first follows the painter Lars Hertervig as he descends into madness, and the second follows a writer who obsessed with Hertervig’s life and work.

Fosse’s writing is spare and poetic, and he uses repetition and imagery to create a sense of claustrophobia and unease. The novel slow-paced and challenging, but it also deeply rewarding. Fosse offers no easy answers, but he forces the reader to confront their own mortality and the fragility of human existence.

Morning and Evening

Morning and Evening by Jon Fosse is a short, hypnotic novel that explores the themes of life, death, and the nature of reality. The book begins with the birth of Johannes, a fisherman, and ends with his death. In between, Fosse weaves a lyrical tapestry of Johannes’s life, offering glimpses of his childhood, his marriage, and his work.

Fosse’s writing is spare and poetic, and his prose often takes on a dreamlike quality. As the novel progresses, the lines between past and present, real and imagined, begin to blur. Johannes finds himself revisiting important places and moments from his life, and he encounters both living and dead people.

Morning and Evening is a meditation on the transience of life and the power of memory. It is a novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.

Nightsongs

Nightsongs by Jon Fosse is a short but powerful play. That explores the complex dynamics of a young couple’s relationship after the birth of their first child. The play written in a spare, poetic style, with dialogue that often repetitive and elliptical. This creates a sense of claustrophobia and tension. as the couple struggles to communicate their deepest needs and desires to each other.

The man is a struggling writer who constantly rejected by publishers. The woman is growing increasingly frustrated with their situation, and she begins to withdraw from him emotionally. As the play progresses, the couple’s relationship becomes increasingly strained, and they forced to confront the dark undercurrents that have always been present in their love. Nightsongs is a challenging and deeply moving play that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. Fosse’s writing is spare and poetic, but it is also deeply insightful and emotionally resonant. The play is a powerful exploration of the human condition, and it will resonate with anyone who has ever felt the pain of lost love or the loneliness of isolation.

Aliss at the Fire

In Jon Fosse’s poetic and haunting novel Aliss at the Fire, three generations of women haunted by the same tragedy: a drowning in the fjord. The novel moves fluidly between past and present. As Signe, an aging woman living alone in a coastal Norwegian town, relives the day her husband, Asle, drowned on her son’s seventh birthday.

Fosse’s prose spare and lyrical, capturing the beauty. And desolation of the Norwegian landscape, as well as the profound grief and loss that Signe carries within her. As she reflects on her past, Signe visited by the ghosts of her husband and son. As well as by the spirit of Aliss, a young woman who drowned in the fjord over a century ago.

Aliss at the Fire is a meditation on love, loss, and memory. It is a novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.