Knaus Jong-un

The photo series of Kim Jong-un who looks at things went like an epidemic on the Internet two years ago. Now Knausgård follows. He has observed the things around him very carefully and the result is Om høsten, the first book in a series of four. Not much has escaped Knausgård's scrutiny. He looks at apples, wellingtons, chewing gum and labia; «These faintly urine scented folds, wrinkled as elephant skin but infinitely smoother, I often feel a wild desire to stick my tongue on.»

The book consists of a stack of short texts to his unborn daughter. The aim is to show life by rediscovering the peculiarities of all the things we surround ourselves with. What we really know, but never think about. In other words, a classic literary exercise.

Yet this is not a children's book. The book is written by Knausgård, for Knausgård. «You're going to create your own experiences», he writes to the fetus in the beginning of the book, «so it's obviously first and foremost for my own sake that I do it.»

Om høsten is fun and distinctively knausgårdian. He serves us a number of interesting observations and remarkable details throughout the book. The lyrics are also wonderful varied. Considerations about pain recalls the essayistic style of George Orwell. The descriptions of petrol appears to be a hybrid of the French philosopher Roland Barthes' symbol heavy analyzes of everyday mythologies, and the American pop-sci-author Bill Bryson.

The parallel to Bryson is particularly tangible. While Bryson’s project A short history of nearly everything is to learn how the world works, Knausgård's is to remark it and immerse himself in it. Knausgård knows so terribly little, but he can study a wasp, fling out a metaphor and remembers an incident from his childhood.

We get so used to things, so easily blasé – this seems to be his message – but if we try, we can rediscover how strange everyday building blocks really are. Despite its awkward moments, Om høsten is a successful project, and a few hours of good entertainment.