Reading guide: The Other Name: Septology I-II by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls
In the first volume of a trilogy of novels, Jon Fosse explores profound questions: what makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life instead of another?
In the first volume of a trilogy of novels, Jon Fosse presents us with an indelible and poignant exploration of the human condition. Translated by Damion Searls.
In the village of Dyglia in Norway, Asle, an ageing painter and widower, is reminiscing about his life. Two hours’ drive down the coast, 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 asks questions about subjectivity and the self. What makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life and not another?
About the Author
Jon Fosse has been nominated for the International Booker Prize twice, in 2020 and 2022. He was born in 1959 on the west coast of Norway and is the recipient of countless prestigious prizes, both in his native country and abroad.About the Translator
Damion Searls is a translator from German, Norwegian, French and Dutch - and a writer in English.