Jutro i večer

"Morning and Evening" (Morgon og kveld, in Croatian translation published by Ljevak) is one of the most famous and powerful literary works by Norwegian Nobel laureate Jon Fosse. This short, but extremely deep and poignant novel deals with the very essence of human existence, analyzing life through its two inevitable and extreme poles: the moment of entering this world and the moment of final departure from it. The first part of the book ("Morning") brings a moving account of the birth of the boy Johannes into a modest fishing family on the Norwegian coast. Through the thoughts of his father, Fosse masterfully evokes the miracle of the emergence of a new life, fear, hope and the immense mystery of existence. The second part ("Evening") depicts Johannes as an old man at the end of his life's journey. In an extremely atmospheric and hypnotic prose rhythm, Johannes goes through a completely ordinary, and actually miraculous, day in which the boundaries between reality and memory, the living and the deceased, and the material and spiritual worlds slowly blur and merge into one. Written in Fosse's signature minimalist, rhythmic style, reminiscent of a musical composition, this book brings a deep inner peace. "Morning and Evening" is a superb meditative work about the simplicity of life, transience, love for one's fellow man, and the acceptance of death as a natural and dignified end to the cycle of existence.