The School of Night

A Novel

By: Karl Ove Knausgaard, Martin Aitken - translator

Narrated by: Rory Alexander

London. 1985. A city rife with possibility and desire. One young man who wants it all.

Kristian Hadeland, young and ambitious, has moved to London to study photography; he knows that he and his art are destined for more. His family never understood him, and his fellow photography students bore him. But when he meets Hans, an eccentric Dutch artist, the future he yearns for is possible—as long as he is willing to sacrifice everything and stop at nothing.

Twenty-four years later, Kristian sees his dreams come to fruition when a major retrospective of his work is held in New York City. As his past catches up to him, Kristian’s world begins to crumble. Success comes at a price, but is he prepared to pay it?

In a thrilling twist on Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Karl Ove Knausgaard masterfully spins a cautionary tale about the lengths that we will go to achieve success—and how far we are willing to fall. His most daring and macabre novel yet, The School of Night is an indelible tale about dark temptations and moral depravity, and what we forget when we bargain with the devil.


CREDIT: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

wonderful novel!

I got so emotional about this book. It will haunt me for good. I was rooting for the anti-hero.

Atmospheric, compelling, couldn’t stop listening

Love the entire series, each both nestling in surprising ways against the others and building a whole world of characters and experiences as rich as our own. Can’t wait for the final two books of the series

And where hell is, there must we ever be

I’m not completely sure how this work fits into larger tapestry of the Morningstar Series beyond the glimmer of suggestions that, while faint, suggest things of a potentially fantastical nature. Taken as a standalone work, School of Night is a brilliant evocation of Faust. The book can be appreciated fully on its own, but understanding that School of Night will likely provide important background information and contextual bridging for subsequent books renders this story and this series all the more intriguing.

Best performance I've heard on Audible

Excellent novel, really brought to life by an outstanding narrator. Although part of a larger sequence, this novel can easily be read as a stand-alone book.

Protagonist With Gnarly Personality

I have read numerous books by this author and I have enjoyed each one enough to want to read more, but this one was not a particularly enjoyable listen. Some of the photography talk was interesting. I could relate as I also studied and created photography in the 80’s. It is interesting that I was reading one of Patti Smith’s books concurrently when the author said he hated her. Right then and there, I realized that I had stopped resonating on any level with him. I find his writing soulless compared to hers. Patti Smith writes from her heart and maybe this author does too, but he writes from a place of emptiness. I actually found many stretches of this book really boring and uninspiring, just the opposite of Smith.