The Other Name, Jon Fosse
The Other Name, Jon Fosse
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The Other Name
Septology I-II

Author: Jon Fosse, Damion Searls

Series: Septology

Narrator: Kyle Snyder

Unabridged: 11 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/26/2023


Synopsis

The Other Name follows the lives of two men living close to each other on the west coast of Norway. The year is coming to a close and Asle, an aging painter and widower, is reminiscing about his life. He lives alone, his only friends being his neighbor, Åsleik, a bachelor and traditional Norwegian fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in Bjørgvin, a couple hours drive south of Dylgja, where he lives. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter. He and the narrator are doppelgangers—two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life.

Written in hypnotic prose that shifts between the first and third person, The Other Name calls into question concrete notions around subjectivity and the self. What makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life and not another? Through flashbacks, Fosse deftly explores the convergences and divergences in the lives of both Asles, slowly building towards a decisive encounter between them both. A writer at the zenith of his career, with The Other Name, the first two volumes in his Septology, Fosse presents us with an indelible and poignant exploration of the human condition that will endure as his masterpiece.

About Jon Fosse

Jon Fosse is one of Norway's most celebrated authors and playwrights. He was born in 1959 on the west coast of Norway, and is the recipient of countless prestigious prizes both in his native Norway, and abroad. Since his 1983 fiction debut, Raudt, svart [Red, Black], Fosse has written prose, poetry, essays, short stories, children's books, and over forty plays, with more than a thousand productions performed and translations into fifty languages.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Vit on November 07, 2024

The Other Name is a continuous, without a single break, stream of consciousness… And Jon Fosse is smoothly maneuvering between Thomas Bernhard and Samuel Beckett… The hero is an old pretentious artist dwelling in the world of fake values… …I take another look at the picture with the two lines crossing......more

Goodreads review by Katia on October 05, 2023

Update 5/10/2023 - he's won the Noble! Update: I have finished now all 3 parts of this novel published separately. And this, first part, has created the most strong impression on me. But all observations below could be equally referred to the novel as whole. There is an episode somewhere close to the......more