The Other Name: Septology I-II

Written by Jon Fosse

Narrated by Kyle Snyder

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, Åsleik, a bachelor and traditional Norwegian fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in Bjørgvin, a couple hours drive south of Dylgja, where he lives. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter. He and the narrator are doppelgangers-two 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Translator: Damion Searls
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798765048986

Jon Fosse

Jon Fosse was born in 1959 on the west coast of Norway and is the recipient of countless prestigious prizes, both in his native Norway and abroad. Since his 1983 fiction debut, Raudt, svart [Red, Black], Fosse has written prose, poetry, essays, short stories, children’s books, and over forty plays, with more than a thousand productions performed and translations into fifty languages.

Reviews for The Other Name

[MyFirstName MyLastName · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It may be a masterpiece but when he uses the words "he thinks" once or twice in most sentences , even when used very purposefully, it's so annoying that I found it impossible to listen to. Maybe reading it would be easier because I could skip right over those but it's torture and so just 10 minutes and I'm having to throw in the towel on the audio version. The concept of course is fascinating and I'm sure the glowing reviews and descriptive such as "masterpiece" suggest it is one we should not miss. But I'll take mine and print (if at all), thank you.

[Sue Dupont · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Not my cup of tea. Just couldn’t get into it.

[bilgeone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In "The Other Name" Fosse, 2023 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, offers psychological fiction extending Virginia Woolf's interior monologues, stream of consciousness and combines with Proustian time and perspective shifts, introspection and much more . Know before starting it's not an allegory, but like the best poetry, may be read in different ways.

Some complex books are better read than heard. Fortunately, scribd offers both.
"The Other Name" (Parts I-II of Septology)
AUDIOBOOK:  https://www.scribd.com/listen/586989705
EBOOK:  https://www.scribd.com/book/449616658/The-Other-Name-Septology-I-II

"I Is Another" ( Parts III - V of Septology)
AUDIOBOOK:  https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/662285308/I-is-Another-Septology-III-V
EBOOK:  https://www.scribd.com/search?query=I%20IS%20ANOTHER

"A New Name"  ( Parts VI-VII of Septology)
AUDIOBOOK:  https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/662285391/A-New-Name-Septology-VI-VII
EBOOK:  https://www.scribd.com/book/556435046/A-New-Name-Septology-VI-VII