The water had been so cold. Its coldness seemed to spread not only from my throat and into my thorax, but also from the cavity of my mouth and into my head. But it was a different coldness than was in the air. This one was pleasant, as if smoothing and enfolding. And what was inside me became clearer to me, too. My heart beating with such simple beauty. The blood streaming to every part of my body. Yes, the blood streaming, the heart beating, and the emotions too, likewise of such simple beauty, diffusing in a different way from the blood, moving more like shadows on the ground when the sun passed behind a cloud, suddenly to re-emerge, flooding everything, first in one way, which was joy, then in another, which was sadness. And all as the heart beat and beat. And the trees grew, the water ran, the moon shone, the sun burned. The heart and the blood. Joy and sadness. Trees and water. Simple and beautiful. Beautiful and simple.
— Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Morning Star: A Novel. (Martin Aitken, Translator.) (Penguin Press, September 28, 2021)
Notes:
- I don’t recommend the book. But oh, certain passages. Right to the core.
- Photo: DK @ Daybreak. 6:52 a.m. October 22, 2021. 60° F. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT.
- The Guardian Book Review: The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgard review – bloated and inconsequential
yes, simple and beautiful, yes
Funny how a book doesn’t speak to you except for certain passages.
This is quite the passage.
BTW, finished Crome Yellow. I honestly don’t know if you would like it. I put my review on FB.
Thanks Dale. I’ll check it out
Curious if you do end up reading it. Couldn’t think of many passages to highlight. 😏
That to me is the mark of a great books vs. something else.
Dave, you DID throw a spanner in the wheels with that one. Read the words twice and nodded. And smiled. And thought: Yeah, this is What It Is…. and then you threw the cold shower in full force: I don’t recommend this book 😉
But I bet a heap of your readers will sigh with a certain ‘soulagement’ – One book I won’t have to buy because DK recommended it.
So I guess, all is well.
Splendid combo – thank you.
Laughing. It had so very much promise Kiki. And then it started to fade and lost me. Shame.
just like the trees once the rain falls onto those wonderful yellow and red leaves…. 😉
Oh so true that. We are experiencing exactly that right this second.
We like Knausgård very much. We met him at several occasions here in the UK and in Norway and interviewt him once. He is intelligent and funny as his books are. We like especially his more philosophical essays and those four books about the seasons.
Thanks for quoting Knausgård
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks Klaus. I’m a big fan too. Love his writing. Must have been Something to interview him.
He is quite a character.
As Dina is Norwegian and our dear Master understands Norwegian too is was easy for us to talk to him.
That’s great Klaus
It’s good to be so alive! Thank you for igniting my day.
That it is Val! That it is!
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Early morning … nature!! … “Trees and water. Simple and beautiful. Beautiful and simple.”
— Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Morning Star: A Novel. (Martin Aitken, Translator.) (Penguin Press, September 28, 2021).
This passage made me think of Wim Hof and the benefits of icy plunges he so fervently touts… Bummer about the book.,😞
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/08/wim-hof-cold-water-immersion-cure-ice-man-outdoor-swimming
Thanks Lori. Will read tonight.
beautful photo! at first I was jealous that you had such a sunrise today, since it is so gloomy down here this morning. then I noticed it was from a few days ago…
I guess misery loves company… 🙂
Oh, it was tough out there today Jim. Here’s a few shots of this morning (from the CAR!)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfdE1pFnmx/
ok, now I feel better that you were having the same gray overcast weather we were having 🙂
Misery LOVES Company!
🙂