Morning and Evening

Morning and Evening

Cover of the first edition
Author	Jon Fosse
Original title	Morgon og kveld
Translator	Damion Searls
Country	Norway
Language	Norwegian (Nynorsk)
Publisher	Det Norske Samlaget
Publication date	2000
Published in English	1 September 2015
Pages	115
ISBN	9788252156737

Morning and Evening (Nynorsk: Morgon og kveld) is a 2000 novella by the Norwegian writer Jon Fosse. It tells the story of a fisherman: the first part of the book is about his birth seen from the perspective of his father, and the second part is about his death, when he revisits important places and moments from his life. The book was published in English in 2015.

The book received the Melsom Prize. It was the basis for the 2015 opera Morgen und Abend with music by Georg Friedrich Haas.

Reception

Critical response

Ole Karlsen of Dag og Tid noted how Fosse had moved on from his early works, where he merely described problems related to gaps between language and reality, to actively trying to heal the problems he identified. Karlsen wrote about Morning and Evening: "Fosse's repetitive writing style has perhaps an even more clear Biblical intention than in his last novel – and thus the text becomes charged with meaning. Yes, Fosse is rightly a poet, he can remind of Vesaas and is thus far on Vesaas' level." Publishers Weekly wrote: "Indeed, the moments throughout the novel are simple, quotidian, yet Fosse's pared down, circuitous, and rhythmic prose skillfully guides readers through past and present. In this short, gripping novel, Fosse composes a hypnotic meditation on life and death."

Accolades

The book received the 2001 Melsom Prize for best book written in Nynorsk. It was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize and the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature.

External links

• Publicity page at the Norwegian publisher's website
• Publicity page at the American publisher's website