Has Karl Ove Knausgaard lost it?

Published January 30, 2026 4:21am ET



Toward the end of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s newly translated novel, The School of Night, the much-feted, but now uninspired, photographer Kristian Hadeland is told by his wife that he need not work so hard. Could he not, she says, spend more time with his son? “We’ve plenty of money, and you’ve already created a lifework.” 

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