Reading Order
SeptologyFosse Septology Reading Order
Jon Fosse's Septology (2019–2021) is the masterwork of one of the most celebrated contemporary writers in the world — a seven-part novel told in a single long sentence that covers seven days in the life of an elderly Norwegian painter named Asle, who is also accompanied by a double named Asle who is drinking himself to death. Fosse's prose is unlike anything else in contemporary fiction: long, slow, circling sentences that move between present, past, and memory without transition or summary, organized around the experience of a deeply religious man who has found in his painting a way of expressing what he cannot say in ordinary language. Septology won the Nordic Council's Literature Prize, and Fosse won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023, 'for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.'
Where to start
Septology I-II: The Other Name
Complete Septology Book List
- 1Buy
Septology I-II: The Other Name
Jon Fosse·2019·The first two parts of the seven-part novel — Asle and his double, the first days of the action; the best starting point and sufficient to understand Fosse's method and whether his prose speaks to you - 2Buy
Septology III-V: I Is Another
Jon Fosse·2020·The middle section of the novel — the action continues and the two Asles's lives become more closely intertwined; for readers who want to continue after The Other Name - 3Buy
Septology VI-VII: A New Name
Jon Fosse·2021·The final two parts — the completion of the week-long action and the novel's extraordinary conclusion; for readers who have committed to the full project - 4Buy
Morning and Evening
Jon Fosse·2000·Fosse's short novel — two chapters: a man being born and the last day of his life; the best short introduction to Fosse's prose style and his characteristic concerns before committing to Septology
Septology — Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to read all of Septology?
No — the first volume, The Other Name, is a complete reading experience in itself. Many readers read the whole project in order, but you can stop after the first volume and have a full sense of Fosse's method. Morning and Evening, a very short novel, is also an excellent introduction to Fosse if you want to try his style before committing to Septology.
Is Septology difficult?
Fosse's prose is not difficult in the way that Ulysses or The Man Without Qualities is difficult — there is no word-level obscurity. But it is demanding in a different way: the sentences are very long, they move slowly and without dramatic incident, and they require a patience with the repetitive and the circling that some readers find meditative and others find frustrating. Many readers find that the prose becomes easier after twenty or thirty pages, once the rhythm is established.
What is Septology about?
Septology follows Asle, an elderly Norwegian painter and convert to Catholicism, over the course of seven days. The novel is structured by his routine — driving to Mass, painting in his studio, visiting his friend Åsleik — and by his memories of his past, his two marriages, and his relationship with the arts and with God. He is also accompanied throughout by thoughts of another man named Asle — his double, a painter who never found his way and is drinking himself to death in the town of Bjørgvin.
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