Review: Boyhood Island

Boyhood Island by Karl Ove Knausgård
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this, Knausgaard's early years up to about 13 and probably a good place to start the series for newcomers. It lacks some of the more philosophical introspection that is peppered throughout the preceding volumes owing to being from his perspective as a child, but it's extremely readable and for me at least, very relatable at points to my own childhood (although I was nowhere near as successful with girls as him sadly). Still nothing much happens but I found it every bit as compelling as the previous novels, albeit lacking anything matching the sustained brilliance of the 2nd half of the first novel.

I love how important the layout of the house is to the young Karl Ove, especially in relation to avoiding his tyrannical father e.g. knowing that if he leaves a room within a certain time from hearing a door close downstairs he can remain unseen. I can remember all that kind of stuff vividly from my own youth; being able to differentiate parent's from the heaviness of their steps - even if they were in a good or bad mood. There's stuff like that throughout, I was completely transported back.

This is the first of the series I've experienced as an audiobook and it's fantastic, the narrator Edoardo Ballerini enlivens the text and works perfectly with the heightened language Knausgaard uses. Looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.

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