VoidPhil

Knut Hamsun's Hunger is an excellent example of the naturalism movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hamsun has a distinctive style that focuses on the body of his protagonist and his nervous and erratic behavior stemming from his near-constant starvation. Reading a book by Hamsun is almost as rewarding as reading about his life. Hamsun had a very interesting life for a turn of the century Norwegian.

This book by Karl Ove Knausgård is a rumination on the life and art of Edvard Munch, Norway's most famous painter. Not a work of biography, the author engages Munch as both a viewer of art and as a professional artist of sorts himself. Knausgård obviously has great respect for Munch, and it's inspiring to see how devoted he is to understanding Munch's life and work. The book is divided into three uneven sections, each with a selection of Munch paintings.