18 years old & fresh out of high school, Karl Ove Knausgaard moves to a tiny fisherman`s village far north of the polar circle to work as a school teacher. He has no interest in the job itself
- or in any other job for that matter. His intention is to save up enough money to travel while finding the space & time to start his writing career. Initially everything looks fine: He writes his first few short stories, finds himself accepted by the hospitable locals & receives flattering attention from several beautiful local girls. But then, as the darkness of the long polar nights start to cover the beautiful landscape, Karl Ove`s life also takes a darker turn. The stories he writes tend to repeat themselves, his drinking escalates & causes some disturbing blackouts, his repeated attempts at losing his virginity end in humiliation & shame, & to his own distress he also develops romantic feelings towards one of his 13-year-old students. Along the way, there are flashbacks to his high school years & the roots of his current problems. And then there is the shadow of his father, whose sharply increasing alcohol consumption serves as an ominous backdrop to Karl Ove`s own lifestyle. The fourth part of a sensational literary cycle that has been hailed as ”perhaps the most important literary enterprise of our times.” (Guardian).