Vickers wrote that "Knausgaard is at his best with finely observed natural description; he is also skilful with atmosphere", but the "theological and historical-sociological exegesis ... becomes a recurring, and increasingly distracting, strain.
... [I]t is hard not to wonder if [Knausgård] began this book as an academic theological study and halfway through decided to transform it into a hybrid fiction by giving his commentaries".
But it left me wanting to return to the spare and unpretentious tellings of the old stories that engendered it.
"[2] Anna Paterson of The Independent wrote: "This kind of speculative tale needs very good telling not to read like mad pedantry or utter tosh.
Yet the writing glows with an intense awareness of the here and now, and loving observations of landscapes and objects.