Melancholy I & II

Summary

From Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature, comes an aching exploration of life, death, time, memory, and the artistic temperament.

Initially published separately and brought together here in a single volume, Melancholy I & II are essential entries in the oeuvre of one of the world's most celebrated living writers. Fosse explores the life and work of Lars Hertervig (1830–1902), a troubled painter of dreamlike landscapes who was diagnosed with "melancholy" but is now widely regarded as a major Norwegian artist.

Melancholy I  focuses on Hertervig's time as a student—a period he spent tortured by doubts about his artistic abilities and torn between his studies, his art, and his unrequited love, culminating in a mental breakdown. Melancholy II, marking an important shift in Fosse's trademark stream-of-consciousness style, is narrated by Hertervig's sister, slipping in time through memories of her brother on the day of her own death.