To celebrate the publication of My Struggle: Book Four, here are 50 of the best moments, so far, from Karl Ove Knausgaard’s autobiographical epic.
- Karl Ove stubs his toe on a chair.
- Karl Ove cleans glitter off his face.
- Karl Ove waddles to the closet to get a new roll of toilet paper.
- Karl Ove accidentally buys a soft-bristled toothbrush.
- Karl Ove sits at a broken traffic light for at least 10 minutes.
- Karl Ove thinks he may have missed his stop, but he hasn’t.
- Karl Ove realizes why the movie is called The Santa Clause instead of The Santa Claus.
- Karl Ove dances like somebody is watching.
- Karl Ove buys a shirt that he knows he will never wear.
- Karl Ove battles a stiffy during World History.
- Karl Ove recounts the entire plot of a movie to provide context for a joke from it.
- Karl Ove thinks his fortune cookie fortune is kind of appropriate.
- Karl Ove stubs his toe again, on the same chair.
- Karl Ove figures out it’s actually cheaper to buy two of the smaller candy bars.
- Karl Ove has a dream within a dream but can only remember the outer dream.
- Karl Ove worries someone saw him checking to make sure his fly was still up.
- Karl Ove can’t remember the last time he had lemonade.
- Karl Ove thought there was another step.
- Karl Ove doesn’t know how he burned his tongue, but it’s definitely burned.
- Karl Ove spills a bag of marbles in the gymnasium.
- Karl Ove remembers that idea he had, but it doesn’t seem as good anymore.
- Karl Ove worries that his cigarette butt may have blown back through the window and into the backseat.
- Karl Ove stubs that same fucking toe on that same fucking chair.
- Karl Ove decides to round up after measuring his todger with an American ruler.
- Karl Ove keeps getting shocked by things in his house.
- Karl Ove has to eat an entire loaf of bread before it expires the next day.
- Karl Ove learns what the little windows on the back of the bacon package are for.
- Karl Ove thinks he might have a thyroid thing.
- Karl Ove can’t remember an acquaintance’s name, so he keeps calling her “man.”
- Karl Ove has just enough corn flakes left to fill the bowl.
- Karl Ove has one toenail that just doesn’t grow.
- Karl Ove mentions a recent study during an argument.
- Karl Ove scrolls to the bottom of a Terms of Service agreement, even though he’s not reading it.
- Karl Ove takes a step back to smell his fart.
- Karl Ove doesn’t really care for Tom Waits anymore.
- Karl Ove, after realizing he has left his wallet at home, pretends to get a text before turning to walk back.
- Karl Ove picks at it and makes it worse.
- Karl Ove accidentally winks at someone when a raindrop hits his eye.
- Karl Ove gets stuck behind a group of people taking up the whole sidewalk.
- Karl Ove rearranges his furniture, really opening up the space.
- Karl Ove stubs the same toe but on the other foot.
- Karl Ove worries he’s overusing the word treacherous when describing his winter commute.
- Karl Ove wonders if the towel would block more smoke at the top of the door.
- Karl Ove realizes the thing he’s looking for is in his hand.
- Karl Ove listens for the toilet to stop.
- Karl Ove, eight beers in, tries to sing along to “Scatman.”
- Karl Ove misses the time while setting his clock and has to go all the way around again.
- Karl Ove cusses at a self-checkout machine.
- Karl Ove needs another minute with the menu.
- Karl Ove suddenly remembers the last time he had lemonade.
Eric Jett is a writer, designer, and teacher from Charleston, WV. He is a founding editor of Full Stop.
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