Description

The Other Name follows the lives of two men living close to each other on the west coast of Norway The year is coming to a close and Asle an aging painter and widower is reminiscing about his life He lives alone his only friends being his neighbor sleik a bachelor and traditional Norwegian fishermanfarmer and Beyer a gallerist who lives in Bjrgvin a couple hours drive south of Dylgja where he lives There in Bjrgvin lives another Asle also a painter He and the narrator are doppelgangerstwo versions of the same person two versions of the same life

Written in hypnotic prose that shifts between the first and third person The Other Name calls into question concrete notions around subjectivity and the self What makes us who we are And why do we lead one life and not another Through flashbacks Fosse deftly explores the convergences and divergences in the lives of both Asles slowly building towards a decisive encounter between them both A writer at the zenith of his career with The Other Name the first two volumes in his Septology Fosse presents us with an indelible and poignant exploration of the human condition that will endure as his masterpiece