-
My Struggle, Book 4
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $23.47
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Eighteen years old and fresh out of high school, Karl Ove Knausgaard moves to a tiny fisherman's village far north of the polar circle to work as a schoolteacher. He has no interest in the job itself - or in any other job for that matter. His intention is to save up enough money to travel while finding the space and time to start his writing career. Initially everything looks fine: He writes his first few short stories, finds himself accepted by the hospitable locals, and receives flattering attention from several beautiful local girls. But then, as the darkness of the long polar nights start to cover the beautiful landscape, Karl Ove's life also takes a darker turn.
The stories he writes tend to repeat themselves, his drinking escalates and causes some disturbing blackouts, his repeated attempts at losing his virginity end in humiliation and shame, and to his own distress he also develops romantic feelings toward one of his 13-year-old students. Along the way there are flashbacks to his high school years and the roots of his current problems. And then there is the shadow of his father, whose sharply increasing alcohol consumption serves as an ominous backdrop to Karl Ove's own lifestyle.
Featured Article: The Best Audiobook Series of All Time by Genre
What makes a good audiobook series? There are as many answers to this question as there are listeners. For some, it might be epic battles. For others, it might be ongoing romantic twists and tensions. For still others, it might be elongated character studies or an in-depth analysis of a particular time and place. But the universal element of a truly great series is that it sticks with you long after the last word. These are our favorites from every major genre.
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
Sweet Sorrow
- The Long-Awaited New Novel from the Best-Selling Author of One Day
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of One Day comes a bittersweet and brilliantly funny coming-of-age tale about the heart-stopping thrill of first love - and how just one summer can forever change a life.
-
-
A delight in every way!
- By Jennifer on 04-24-22
By: David Nicholls
-
The Night She Disappeared
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite place for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
-
-
Oh my… gave me chills
- By Kelly on 09-10-21
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Time Traveler's Wife
- By: Audrey Niffenegger
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, Phoebe Strole
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clare and Henry have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was 36. They were married when Clare was 23 and Henry was 31. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.
-
-
One of my favorite books
- By Joey on 01-13-08
-
An Ocean Apart
- A Novel
- By: Robin Pilcher
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For six dreadful months, David Corstorphine has tried to come to terms with his young wife's death while caring for his three motherless children. Try as he may, David is unable to return to work, and his only form of solace comes from working in the garden of his parents' estate in the Scottish countryside. Dispatched unexpectedly to New York, David's family hopes that the impromptu business trip will help him get back on his feet. But the journey proves both disastrous and heartening.
-
-
Unbearable narration
- By Linda on 07-14-23
By: Robin Pilcher
-
Yours Until Death
- Varg Veum
- By: Gunnar Staalesen
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unbearably tense novel of revenge, murder, bereavement and the destructive force of passion. The single-mother families of the isolated community under the shadow of the Pyderhorn, Bergen's greatest mountain, are being terrorised by a teenage gang. But teenage violence is nothing compared to what awaits detective Varg Veum when he gets to know the blue-eyed Wenche Andersen.
-
-
Great Scandinavian Mystery!
- By Peoko on 07-12-17
By: Gunnar Staalesen
-
The Other Side of the Door
- A Novel
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Bonnie Graham arrives at her boyfriend’s apartment in London, she is horrified to discover a dead body in a pool of blood on the floor. But she doesn’t call the police. Bonnie hides the corpse and then carefully wipes away any evidence she was ever there. Bonnie is a music teacher who spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band to play at a friend’s wedding. It was supposed to be fun, but the band members find the complicated knots of their friendships - some old, some new - unraveling as the days themselves unwind.
-
-
Pass
- By Jessica Tenorio on 04-29-21
By: Nicci French
-
Sweet Sorrow
- The Long-Awaited New Novel from the Best-Selling Author of One Day
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of One Day comes a bittersweet and brilliantly funny coming-of-age tale about the heart-stopping thrill of first love - and how just one summer can forever change a life.
-
-
A delight in every way!
- By Jennifer on 04-24-22
By: David Nicholls
-
The Night She Disappeared
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite place for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
-
-
Oh my… gave me chills
- By Kelly on 09-10-21
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Time Traveler's Wife
- By: Audrey Niffenegger
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, Phoebe Strole
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clare and Henry have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was 36. They were married when Clare was 23 and Henry was 31. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.
-
-
One of my favorite books
- By Joey on 01-13-08
-
An Ocean Apart
- A Novel
- By: Robin Pilcher
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For six dreadful months, David Corstorphine has tried to come to terms with his young wife's death while caring for his three motherless children. Try as he may, David is unable to return to work, and his only form of solace comes from working in the garden of his parents' estate in the Scottish countryside. Dispatched unexpectedly to New York, David's family hopes that the impromptu business trip will help him get back on his feet. But the journey proves both disastrous and heartening.
-
-
Unbearable narration
- By Linda on 07-14-23
By: Robin Pilcher
-
Yours Until Death
- Varg Veum
- By: Gunnar Staalesen
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unbearably tense novel of revenge, murder, bereavement and the destructive force of passion. The single-mother families of the isolated community under the shadow of the Pyderhorn, Bergen's greatest mountain, are being terrorised by a teenage gang. But teenage violence is nothing compared to what awaits detective Varg Veum when he gets to know the blue-eyed Wenche Andersen.
-
-
Great Scandinavian Mystery!
- By Peoko on 07-12-17
By: Gunnar Staalesen
-
The Other Side of the Door
- A Novel
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Bonnie Graham arrives at her boyfriend’s apartment in London, she is horrified to discover a dead body in a pool of blood on the floor. But she doesn’t call the police. Bonnie hides the corpse and then carefully wipes away any evidence she was ever there. Bonnie is a music teacher who spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band to play at a friend’s wedding. It was supposed to be fun, but the band members find the complicated knots of their friendships - some old, some new - unraveling as the days themselves unwind.
-
-
Pass
- By Jessica Tenorio on 04-29-21
By: Nicci French
-
Clovenhoof
- By: Heide Goody, Iain Grant
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charged with gross incompetence, Satan is fired from his job as prince of Hell and exiled to that most terrible of places: English suburbia. Forced to live as a human under the name of Jeremy Clovenhoof, the dark lord not only has to contend with the fact that no one recognizes him or gives him the credit he deserves but also has to put up with the bookish war-gamer next door and the voracious man-eater upstairs.
-
-
This Series Is Phenomenal
- By Marcus on 10-27-19
By: Heide Goody, and others
-
The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir
- By: Lesley Allen
- Narrated by: Bríd Brennan
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Biddy Weir is a quirky girl. Abandoned by her mother as a baby, and with a father who's not quite equipped for the challenges of modern parenting, Biddy lives in her own little world, happy to pass her time painting by the sea and watching the birds go by. That is, until she meets Alison Flemming. Because there are a few things about Biddy that aren't normal, you see. And Alison isn't afraid to point them out to the world. All of a sudden, Biddy's quiet life is thrown into turmoil. If only there was someone to convince her that, actually, everyone's a little bit weird....
-
-
The Lonely Life Of Biddy Weir
- By George Criticos on 08-10-20
By: Lesley Allen
-
Fault Lines
- A Novel
- By: Emily Itami
- Narrated by: Lydia Wilson
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has a hardworking husband, two adorable children, and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. It’s everything a woman could want, yet sometimes she wonders whether she would rather throw herself off the high-rise balcony than spend another evening not talking to her husband and hanging up laundry.
-
-
Confused by the choice of narrator
- By Bri T. on 02-13-22
By: Emily Itami
-
A Slow Fire Burning
- A Novel
- By: Paula Hawkins
- Narrated by: Rosamund Pike
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim’s home. Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbor clearly keeping secrets from the police. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons – simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs done to them.
-
-
This book should have a DISCLAIMER!
- By Amazon Customer on 09-06-21
By: Paula Hawkins
-
Bad Habits
- By: Amy Gentry
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Claire "Mac" Woods—a professor enjoying her newfound hotshot status at an academic conference—finally has the acceptance and admiration she has long craved. But at the conference's hotel bar, Mac is surprised to run into a face from a past she'd rather forget: the moneyed, effortlessly perfect Gwendolyn Whitney, Mac's foil, rival, and former best friend.
-
-
Outstanding!
- By SLuzaz on 02-15-21
By: Amy Gentry
-
The Other Son
- By: Nick Alexander
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice has been lying to herself for years, holding fast to the belief that the needs of her family far outweigh her own. But her outwardly successful marriage hides dark secrets, and for much of her life the children were the only reason she stuck around. These days, though her successful banker son lives nearby, his young wife seems to do everything she can to keep Alice at bay. As for Alice's other son, he has always been something of a stranger and has been traveling for so long that Alice isn't even sure what continent he is on anymore.
-
-
Wonderfully Done!
- By Ann on 11-06-16
By: Nick Alexander
What listeners say about My Struggle, Book 4
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 12-20-15
Dancing in the Dark" or "Drunk, Cold & Unsatisfied
"But there was something about the darkness. There was something about this small, enclosed place. There was something about seeing the same faces every day. My class. My colleagues. The assistant at the shop. The occasional mother, the occasional father. Now and then the young fishermen. But always the same people, always the same atmosphere. The snow, the darkness, the harsh light inside the school."
- Karl Ove Knausgård, My Struggle: Book 4
Book four of Knausgård's literary six-pack centers on Karl Ove teaching at a small, remote school in Håfjord Norway. This isn't a simple narrative, so it jumps back to periods with both his mother, his brother, and his family. It also allows Karl Ove time to wallow in the premature ejaculations of his youth. At once, this is a novel about a young man working out who he is as an artist, a man, and a member of his family. He has gained some independence, but doesn't always use this independence wisely. He has started to publish musical reviews his last year in gymnasium and takes a job in Håfjord to save up money so he can later tour Europe. He struggles with girls. Like most men of 18, Karl Ove is super-focused on getting in the pants of the opposite sex, but circumstance, his own lack of control, and sometimes his own unwillingness to compromise makes this journey a long one for him.
Not my favorite book of the series, so far, but still an interesting one. This novel is both a Bildungsroman and a Künstlerroman of sorts. I would probably point to this novel as being primarily a coming of age novel (so Bildungsroman) and it sounds like the next book will focus more on his attempts at publishing his first novel (so Künstlerroman?), but since Knausgård jumps around and the boundaries between the books in this work are often arbitrary, I'm not too concerned with labeling. I enjoy how Karl Ove focuses on the darkness and claustrophobia of the place:
"I had always liked darkness. When I was small I was afraid of it if I was alone, but when I was with other I loved it and the change to the world it brought. Running around in the forest or between houses was different in the darkness, the world was enchanted, and we, we were breathless adventurers with blinking eyes and pounding hearts.
When I was older there was little I liked better than to stay up at night, the silence and the darkness had an allure, they carreid the promise of something immense. And autumn was my favorite season, wandering along the road by the river in the dark and the rain, not much could beat that.
But this darkness was different. This darkness rendered everything lifeless. It was static, it was the same whether you were awake or asleep, and it became harder and harder to motivate yourself to get up in the morning."
- Karl Ove Knausgård, My Struggle: Book 4
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Suramericana
- 03-04-18
I love his books
Karl Ove style for my is good. The story of the normal things in his life count in a way that you can smell and see everything around him, I feel that I am walking at his side. Do not get tire of his books.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- enya keshet
- 10-29-18
Telling a life
Even with all details different, I feel as if Knausgaard is telling my life too. It's a thrill to listen. Narator Ballerini is excellent, just right, very accurate in the level of emotion he expresses.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sher
- 02-17-23
Challenging life of an honest teenager
Ok didn’t know the male youth had to go through all this sexual stuff! Gosh , it was gross but do eye opening, thanks to Knausgaard’s genius candid language! I never would have imagined that I would listen a book with such seemingly trifle youth issues so eagerly!
He writes with a magic one can not just stop listening! The narrator was brilliant’!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- W Perry Hall
- 06-02-17
The Tormented Teen Male Mind
Press Release for Immediate Publication, June 2, 2017
Committee for Understanding Priapism In Development (CUPID)
Re: Award of 2017 Prize to Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard
The Committee for Understanding Priapism In Development ("CUPID") takes much pleasure in announcing that our 2017 Award will be presented to Karl Ove Knausgaard for his contributions to a better public understanding of the Chronic Hell of Uncontrollable Bulges that all men suffer in their formative years (CUPID's CHUB Award).
We selected Karl Ove for the first five volumes of his most upstanding My Struggle, recently published in the United States, primarily for his semi-autobiographical novel, My Struggle, Book 4: Dancing in the Dark, in which he accurately and brilliantly portrays the tormented mind of the male in his late teen years. In the novel, Mr. Knausgaard describes his year as a nineteen-year-old teacher on the northern coast of Norway during which his mind was chronically cluttered with carnal cacoethes, so much so that he developed a crush on one of his female students and allowed his virginity to be taken by a wanton woman a year his senior.
The Committee believes such truthful depictions of the male developing into manhood are much needed for females of the western world to gain a more complete understanding of the male's brain it matures under an ominous terror brought upon him by the constant conflict between his moral compass and chivalric aspirations on the one hand and, on the other, the involuntary demonic thoughts arising within him and the uncontrollable reaction of his body. As Sir William Osler, father of modern medicine, so veriloquently stated, "The natural man has only two primal passions -- to get and beget."
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ILAN COHEN
- 06-27-15
Brilliant
The saga continues ..
The most truly amazing, articulated every thought that occupied every male teen .. Sex sex sex, penetration, friends , life and alcohol and more and more .. Real life coming of age
Brilliant
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful