There is probably a good 400 page novel in these 800 pages, but being new to Karl Ove Knausgaard I was not able to dig it out. Here’s my understanding of what that story might be: 19-year-old Syvert returns home to his Norwegian town after completing his national service. It’s 1986, and there’s been an accident at a Soviet nuclear power plant. Syvert is a pretty feckless guy, dragging his feet even though his sick mother tells him he really needs to kick in to help support the household. His father died unexpectedly several years ago and he wants to be a support to his little brother. The ghost of Syvert’s father appears to him in a dream and the young man realized he never really knew his father. He finds letters written in Russian from a woman in the USSR. He gets these translated and suspects that his father had another family in Russia, Then there’s the story of the Soviet family, and they finally intersect.

I thought this sounded pretty interesting, but it wore me out trying to get to it, if that is actually what happens. I was smothered by the minutiae. Every action is recorded, and apparently these long, detailed descriptions of the most banal occurrences are the Knausgaard trademark. I love a big book but something has to move the narrative. I confess to being defeated and I did not finish.

Readers who are Karl Ove fans will probably be thrilled because there’s a lot of musing and mulling as well as watching Syvert make breakfast. I have learned that this is not my cup of tea, but if you stick with “The Wolves of Eternity” you’ll may learn what happens in the story wrapped so tight inside.