Melancholy I & II - by Jon Fosse (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature, comes an aching exploration of life, death, time, memory, and the artistic temperament.

Together for the first time in a single volume, Melancholy I & II, are essential entries in the body of work of one of literature's most lauded writers. Fosse focuses here on the life of Lars Hertervig (1830 - 1902), widely regarded as one of Norway's most significant painters.

Rendered in Fosse's trademark stream-of-consciousness, Melancholy I focuses on Hertervig's time as a student, torn between his studies, his art, and his unrequited loves. Melancholy II is narrated by Hertervig's sister and is set entirely on the date of his death, just after the dawning of the 20th century, as the world sits on the precipice of change.

About the Author

Jon Fosse was born in 1959 on the west coast of Norway and has written over thirty books and twenty-eight plays that have been translated into over 40 languages. His first novel, Red, Black, was published in 1983, and was followed by such works as Melancholia I & II, Aliss at the Fire, and Morning and Evening, available from Dalkey Archive Press. He is one of the world's most produced living playwrights. In 2007, Fosse became a chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite of France, and he was awarded the International Ibsen Award in 2010. He was awarded the European Prize for Literature in 2014, the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2015, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2023.