DDR: My Struggle Book Three: Boyhood by Karl Ove Knausgård

427 pages. So 14 days should do it, I think.

Day 1 DDRD 2,577) November 20, 2024

Back to Min kamp...though not without a little bit of my own struggle.  There are so many other books that I want to read right now, and I'm still feeling very unsettled about this whole Karl Ove Knausgård wanting to fuck a 13 year old girl thing that I wasn't sure I wanted to read another word. Plus the whole He Can Be Such An ASSHOLE! Thing. But...here I am.

Read to page 40.

Interesting: this book was first published in Norwegian with the "sub-title" Tredje Bok, which you don't need to be multilingual to understand--but JiC, it's Third Book. So why Boyhood for us Yanks? I'm guessing for the same reason that they didn't title the movie George III (The Madness of King George): they feared Americans would think it was the last movie of a trilogy, the first two parts of which they had missed. We Americans have not impressed the world with out acuity.

As for today's reading...well, I was a bit put off by the shift to 3rd person for the first few pages. And even after that, everything just seemed to be moving in   s   l   o   w     m  o   t   i   o   n    .  I finally realized that I hadn't yet decompressed from Krasznahorkai...which also made me realize what a huge gap there was between Laszlo and Karl Ove.  There have been some good moments in the first two books of My Struggle, for sure...but this work just can't compare with Herscht 07769. Sorry, KOK. Just sayin'.

Another bit of unneeded ballast: Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny just came in to the library, and I'm really wanting to dive into that Right Now. But I'm not up for another 2DDR session. 

Hopefully this Book 3 will pull me in soon.

ADDENDUM: read a bit more...to page 70. 

KOK's father is a cruel man. Seeing how he treats Karl Ove makes me feel sorry not only for the child, but also for the man that child becomes. No wonder KOK can be an asshole. But at least he's a little better than his father. Which makes me think of my father. He had a cruel and uncaring father himself, and so perhaps no surprise that I often found my father to be harsh, and never felt that he had any respect for me. I often say, as if in jest, that my younger sister is the son he never had, because she was so good at things that I never even cared about. I am a better father than he was--athough when I look back at my life with my children, I see plenty of mistakes, for sure. My son, however, is a better father than I am, so hopefully the spiral continues to go towards the light.

Day 2 DDRD 2,578) November 21, 2024

Read to page 

2024, meet 1973..

 

from The Tragedy of the Moon by Isaac Asimov, page 194.

DDR: Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai

 

Took a few days to get to it (while I finished off Dostoyevsky's The Possessed), but now it's Yonki Time, man; 406 pages of László Krasznahorkai's Herscht 07769. I've been looking forward to this for about a month now.

So let's go.

Day 1 (DDRD 2,567) November 10, 2024

Read to page 20.

So there's a subtitle: Florian Herscht's Bach Novel. What is a Bach Novel? 

Here's the only thing I found:

Which is amusing, but not helpful. Perhaps Krasznahorkai will reveal his meaning of the term at some point. I wouldn't bet big money on that, though. These Hungarian mystics...you know.

Florian seems to be mentally retarded. Much in the mode of Of Mice and Men's Lennie he is also impressively strong, which I find to be an unfortunate use of a stereotype. Maybe LK can change my mind, but as the father of two autistic kids, I'm tired of the whole Special Needs People Have Super Powers shtick. Some of 'em are just people, y'know. 

Day 2 (DDRD 2,568) November 11, 2024

Read to page 80. Yep, 60 pages. And thats on a day where I had to take Joe to basketball practice, meet with someone from an assisted living house, then go to Joe's apartment to watch Penguin. 

But I really got sucked into it today. Actually didn't want to stop there, but since I already skipped My Struggle yes, I thought it should put in at least a little bit of time on that today. 

Well, maybe LK is going to clue us in on this Bach Novel business. On page 26, Florian is  informed by The Boss that "The Bachhaus" (a museum dedicated to J.S. Bach, see HERE) has been desecreated. The Boss and his Nazi friends take this as a crime against German heritage, and so convene at the Bachhaus to look into this.

Speaking of Nazis...it's pretty clear that Florian does not subscribe to these beliefs, but without family, he is left to be "guided" by The Boss, hence he is swept up with the group.

For The Boss, Bach represents the essence of Germany, of the pure blood that is being tainted by immigrants and Jews. Sound familiar? I just finished watching the first season of Slow Horses, and it also dealt with such people. Its tempting to think that they are just stupid, but that's just an easy dismissal, isn't it? And it gets us no further in countering their hatred and violence. It may even fuel it. It may be why Kamala Harris list to that fucking Nazi Trump.

There are some aspects of Florian which make him seem autistic: extreme aversion to changes in routine, lack of understanding with regard to everyday activities (like buying a train ticket, talking to women)...and there was a reference to his being a "genius" in some area or other. Maybe physics, as what he has to sayabout that (which is what he wants to say to Angela Merkel) is certainly beyond my comprehension.

Interesting thing: I'm really not even aware of the lack of end punctuation this time around. I guess I've been Krasznahorkai-ized.

Another interesting thing: while there are some, like The Boss, who are cruel to Florian  (though The Boss wouldn't see it that way, and I don't think Florian does, either), there are also quite a few people who look out for him and try to help him. I find some evidence of the truth of this in our world. 

So on the one hand, The Boss is a Nazi and he likes to smack Florian on the back of the head regularly. On the other hand, he got Florian his first apartment and furnished it. 😒 

I thought this was amusing: "... a few neighbors, especially the two who spent nearly the entirety of the second half of their lives peeking out the window to see if anything was going on out there, were decidedly glad this time...." (69)

On another note...this book looksbrand new, even though one person did check it put before me. The spine is unblemished, though. I wonder if person #1 ever even opened it. If so, they must have abandoned it venisoon after. (And check out that "Received" date! Thank you, LFPL.)

Oh, and The Boss tried to rape a 17 year old girl awhile back, but she kicked him in the 🥚 🥚  and got away. That girl grew up to be a neighbor who looks after Florian.

Day 3 (DDRD 2,569) November 12, 2024

Read to page 110. Going back for more, but I'm going to try to put down 30 pages in My Struggle 2 first. BTW, I tried reading with a little Bach-ground music (Cello Suite No. 1, performed by Yo-Yo Ma), but it was too distracting and I had to give it up. Nice cello, though.

Woke up, fell out of bed, had breakfast, then read. And here's something of a game changer: 

The Boss comes to the Children's Home where Florian has been housed since his parents died, and "...the way the Boss looked at him was different, the Boss looked at him the way a father looks at his son or an uncle looks at his nephew, no one else has that look in their eyes, Florian immediately sensed he was in good hands...." (84)

Day 4 (DDRD 2,570) November 13, 2024

Read to page 140.

"...every secret of life is in Johann Sebastian...." (117) So I guess I'd better get busy with my Bach.

Day 5 DDRD 2,571) November 14, 2024

Read to page 180.

 

Here's what The Boss has to say about homeless people: "I don't understand why they're not cleared away, the garbage truck comes around everyday, no?!" (171)

I think The Boss has a job waiting for him in Trump's Homeland Security department.

Day 6 DDRD 2,572) November 15, 2024

Read to page 228.

Florian is writing to Angela Merkel again. This time yelling her that the Security Council must start listening to Bach. Also that Bach should be played on TV, radio, airplanes, etc.

Day 7 DDRD 2,573) November 16, 2024

Read to page 258. I'm going to try to finish off My Struggle Book 2 today, then really bear down on this book. Standing in the way of that accomplishment: I stayed up past midnight watching thr Paul / Tyson "fight," and I'm REALly tired, (2) it's been a rough day, packing out both Jacqueline and Joe from overnight visits, and (3) Delta 8/9 is calling.

Day 8 DDRD 2,574) November 17, 2024

Read to page 295. Church, opera (Madama Butterfly), Chiefs vs. Bills. Not much reading time.

Day 9 DDRD 2,575) November 18, 2024

Read to page 320.

Day 10 DDRD 2,576) November 19, 2024

Read to page 376. So tomorrow will be it, I'm sorry to say, as this has been quite a thrilling read. 

Hmmm. Big left hand turn. Also some very confusing stuff. I'm pretty sure one character has died at least twice...in dramatically different ways. 

"...it was not the pandemic that was the danger, but…that people showed the worst side of themselves, and they were weak, immeasurably weak and immeasurably idiotic...." (377)

Well. That pretty much sums up 2020 to 2022.

Day 11 DDRD 2,577) November 20, 2024

Read to page

Nope. Jacqueline had choir practice, and I got to page 406, The End. It was quite a thrill ride, actually...and I'm thinking that despite the lack of end punctuation (there's only one period in the book, and that's on page 406), this might be the most accessible of Mr. Krasznahorkai's books. And I'm pretty sure that Floruan Herscht is the most well-developed character in the Krasznahorkai canon...and I've read 'em all. Also, since this book spins in part around the Covid pandemic, it felt more immediate than the other works...like it'd just been written (it was) rather than written 10 years ago and finally translinyo English. 

Foods I Will Never Eat

Anything that comes from the sea except fish and crabs.

Any fish that isn't in the shape of a rectangle and breaded.

Any crab that isn't in the form of a hamburger.

Any land meat that isn't from a cow, pig, chicken, or turkey. (And these must bear no resemblance to a living cow, pig, chicken, or turkey.)

Anything that is spicy hot.

Any insect.

Cock flavored soup.

Again, László Krasznahorkai

So here I am, trying to finish up my Complete Dostoyevsky Novels Project AND just a little way into my 6 Book Karl Ove Knausgård My Struggle Project, and look what arrives at the library:

So obviously something will have to give. It's due 11/23, and there's a good chance that I won't be able to renew it (it's brand new, after all)...and unlike previous Krasznahorkai books, which were slim enough to be short stories, this one is 496 pages of tiny print. But László Krasznahorkai is my favorite living writer (and top 5 all time), so it's mos def a priority...unlike the many books I check out, renew renew renew, then return on the final due date unopened. 

Hmmm. Need a plan. Or a clone.