Five years of blank pages: Karl Ove Knausgård opens up to BBC Global
The Norwegian author talks about the shame that kept him from writing about his father, and the six volumes of My Struggle that followed.
BBC GlobalStory of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
Inside the mind of Karl Ove Knausgård | BBC Global
What stopped one of the most talked-about writers of the century from writing? For Karl Ove Knausgård, by the description's account, it was shame. He sat at his desk every day for five years trying to write about his father and produced nothing, until he stopped shaping and protecting himself and simply let it come. What came was My Struggle, six volumes and some 3,600 pages, which the film says cost him his family's approval.
"Inside the mind of Karl Ove Knausgård" went up on Friday and is now past 150,000 views. It is easily the busiest thing on the channel, and it helped lift the daily pace to roughly twice its usual level. Much of the comment section is about the filmmaking itself, the camera work, the color, the editing. Some readers trade stories about the books, and a few newcomers say they are off to find a copy. One viewer jokes about spending the day on very Knausgårdian chores: cleaning, groceries, family.
The week's other upload, the second-season opener of The Interface, has BBC technology columnist Thomas Germain and new co-host Jessica Maddox handing an AI agent the keys to an inbox. It had a much quieter start.
Older films are still drawing viewers too. The look at Greenland's vanished Norse settlers, now more than a month old, has passed 1.7 million views, and the portrait of mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli is still finding listeners.
Among the TV and streaming channels of its size, BBC Global sits in the middle. Its sister channel BBC Archive and Channel 4 had busier weeks, while E4 ran well under its usual pace.
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What viewers say
This documentary is a work of art for itself.
@victormesserschmidtSee it on YouTubeToday I’m doing knausgaardian activities:
Cleaning, getting groceries, spending time with my family@ventanalila8185See it on YouTubeA great introduction to Knausgård's world, thank you!
@OliverJazzzSee it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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The videos drawing views on BBC Global right now
- Channel
- BBC Global
- Subscribers
- 801,000 ▲ 2,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,055,271
- Videos published this week
- 2
- Video published
- October 2, 2026
- Video views so far
- 154,102
- Views on its first day
- 48,747
The numbers
Here is how BBC Global's week looks in figures.
💡 Test your knowledge
In which country was Karl Ove Knausgård born?
Knausgård is a Norwegian author, born in Oslo in 1968, and My Struggle was first published in Norwegian.
