Want to know more about works by the literature laureates? The experts behind the Nobel Prize in Literature let you in on their reading recommendations.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
“A sharp portrait of a patriarchal society obsessed by careerism and rigid sometimes tyrannical social norms and conventions.”
Steve Sem-Sandberg
“The Vegetarian is Han Kang’s international breakthrough novel which won the International Booker prize in 2016. It’s the story of a middle aged Korean woman who one night suddenly decides not to eat meat anymore.”
Read all of Steve Sem-Sandberg’s recommendations for Han Kang
Read excerpts from Human Acts
I Remain in Darkness by Annie Ernaux
“I asked myself several times during the reading: ‘Is this really okay?’”
Anne Swärd
“I Remain in Darkness is the enigmatic title of one of the thinnest – but in my view also one of the most dense, poignant and vigorous – books of Annie Ernaux. It depicts the end of her mother’s life, those painful last years when the author saw this once so powerful mother of hers disappearing into the darkness called dementia.”
Read all of Anne Swärd’s recommendations for Annie Ernaux
Read excerpts from books by Annie Ernaux
Septology by Jon Fosse
“Fascinating is how the doppelgänger motif is inscribed in the painting that the narrator cannot be separated from …”
Anders Olsson
“Fosse’s magnum opus in prose, however, remains the late Septology he completed in 2021: the English titles of the three books are The Other Name, I is Another and A New Name. Extending to 1250 pages, the novel is written in the form of a monologue in which an elderly artist speaks about another person with the same name as himself.”
Read all of Anders Olsson’s recommendations for Jon Fosse
Read an excerpt from The Other Name. Septology I-II
Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah
“This scandalous affair is the starting point of a long and winding tale …”
Ellen Mattson
“It is a beautifully written novel about memory, loss and the mysterious ties that connect people even when they are separated by time and geographical distance.”
Read all of the Swedish Academy members’ recommendations for Abdulrazak Gurnah
Read an excerpt from By The Sea
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