Here such text-dividers would have usefully structured his frequently compelling insights, helping to transform them into actual arguments. Knausgaard tends to avoid using traditional chapters, thus immersing the reader in his rich mind and experiences. But it also makes the book difficult to follow as Knausgaard jumps between Munch paintings (many of which are reproduced), contemporary artists such as Anselm Kiefer and Vanessa Baird, and his own forays into the art world. This allows Knausgaard to contemplate creativity and the life of an artist more generally and subtly undoes the myth of the critic’s supposed objectivity. approach is no different from that in prior works, for his meandering stream-of-consciousness puts him squarely at the center even though here his subject is purportedly the early-twentieth-century Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. Intellectually rewarding, philosophically engaging, and written in a gripping narrative voice that is sincere, authoritative, and authentic, Knausgaard’s book subtly teaches the reader, in almost mystical and theological terms, about the positive spiritual value of art in a godless world, suggesting that thinking beyond the realm of words – or indeed beyond the illusionary concept that is the self – might actually be a long-term spiritual endeavour worth pursuing indefinitely. But these egotistical diversions can be forgiven for what is otherwise an intriguing analysis exploring the many layers of artistic creation: its power to deliver something beyond language its search for something resembling absolute and uninhibited truth its transitory and metaphysical qualities, which, crucially, allow it to outlive the creator’s own existence, and influence posterity. His tangents and digressions into his own personal life appear self-indulgent, unnecessary and like time-wasting. Knausgaard’s rambling style can take a little getting used to. The book has some drawbacks worth speaking of. That said, Knausgaard never underestimates the painter’s labor and study, and this book stands as a sincere, often lyrical and penetrating attempt to enter the world of another artist. He displays confidence about theories he has misunderstood.

When he is at a loss to explain a painting’s effect on him, Knausgaard periodically lapses into clichés. Such superb moments are offset by less successful passages.

Art can sometimes break through the blinding conventions that dictate our perceptions. The writer enacts on the page exactly what he hopes to convey. His analysis of his own feelings is bracing. He has walked into the land of the experts and visual artists and is afraid of looking like an 'idiot' when the exhibition is mounted. Knausgaard’s response to the varying opinions of those he encounters is at once measured, insightful and tinged with comedy.

Knausgaard’s ambition is to whittle away at the legend to arrive at insights about the genesis of the art itself, and not only Munch’s art, but all art.

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