It was for his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable” that the Norwegian writer Jon Fosse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023. His latest release, Morning and Evening, out now from Fitzcarraldo Editions, was first published in Norway back in 2000 and it has steadily been one of his most popular and enduring novels. It isn’t hard to imagine why.
Get the latest news and insight into how the Big Issue magazine is made by signing up for the Inside Big Issue newsletter
At the beginning of the novel we are introduced to a nervous father, Olai, as he anxiously awaits the birth of his son, who he has decided he will name after his own father, Johannes. After about 20 or so pages of the reader witnessing Johannes’s birth, the novel slips into its second part: Johannes on the day of his death.
It is a cunning experiment in linguistic prowess to attempt to tell the whole story of a life by only describing the day someone is born and the day that they die, but this is Jon Fosse and he has the unbelievable ability to pare language back to almost the bone. The prose throughout the novel is often
enjambed, line breaks sometimes happen randomly and punctuation comes and goes.
- Really Good, Actually review: ‘A much-needed breath of fresh air’
- Owlish review: ‘No ordinary tale of male angst and frustrated desire’
The result is a novel that feels as semi-lucid as Johannes himself on his dying day. In only 100 pages, Fosse more than proves exactly why he won the Nobel.
Morning and Evening by Jon Fosse is out now (Fitcarraldo Editions, £9.99). You can buy it from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.
Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. This Christmas, you can make a lasting change on a vendor’s life. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week. If you can’t reach them, buy a Vendor Support Kit.
