The Other Name: Septology I - II

In the 1st volume of a trilogy of novels, Jon Fosse presents us with an indelible & poignant exploration of the human condition. Written in melodious & hypnotic 'slow prose', The Other Name: Septology I-II is an indelible & poignant exploration of the human condition by Jon Fosse in which everything is always there, & past & present flow together.

What makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life & not another? The year is coming to a close & Asle, an ageing painter & widower who lives alone on the southwest coast of Norway is reminiscing about his life. His only friends are his neighbour, Åsleik, a traditional fisherman farmer, & Beyer, a gallerist who lives in the city. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter but lonely & consumed by alcohol. Asle & Asle are doppelgängers, two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life, both grappling with existential questions about life, death, love, light & shadow, faith & hopelessness. 

"... featuring not a single full stop throughout ... Such is his command of the rhythm of his prose, nimbly & hauntingly translated by Damion Searls, that the omission is barely noticeable, & after a while, engagingly welcome. The work simply loops & flows. The style is formal, yet with a sense of restlessness. As for plot, there is plenty ... Fosse’s fusing of the commonplace & the existential, together with his dramatic forays into the past, make for a relentlessly consuming work: already Septology feels momentous."  - Catherine Taylor, The Guardian

Jon Fosse was born in 1959 on the west coast of Norway & is the recipient of countless prestigious prizes, both in his native country & abroad.

Damion Searls is a translator from German, Norwegian, French, & Dutch & a writer in English.