he's a controversial author, but as a work of fiction, i think this one escapes some of the ethical concerns of "my struggle". the writing and characterization is 100% him though, all engaging if samey trainwrecks.

i really loved the middle of the book, and that's where most of the stars come from -- all half-stories half-finished, half-deaths and half-light, half-tied together -- but ultimately only a half-assed attempt at richard powers as the pieces never quite fit. (arguably an artistic choice, but a lazy one for a novel.) and finally, it ends with a tedious and sophomoric "essay on death." okay, diagetically it's written by a washed-up failson wannabe-philosopher, but it's given such an important place in the book that one cannot help but feel it is something knaussgard is saying himself, and it doesn't come across well.

worth it if you like knausgaard's prose and characterization, 4 stars mainly for the latter part of "day one."