Four boys growing up in Oslo from 1965 to 1972. They collect Beatles records first in awe of their brilliance then slowly more critical as their tastes and preference in music widen. The narrator is Kim. He is quick with a quip and tells too many liars. He is a drifter and is not all that stable. His friends include a stutterer, a spiritualist and a protector. They play soccer and gradually find girlfriends. They smoke a bit which for some of them turn into hard drugs, they drink a lot. All come...

I must admit, that I´ve borrowed this from the library just because of the title. But even if it was about "Beatles" it wasn´t about them at all...and that was surprisingly the best thing about it. Bittersweet norvegian story from amazing era which went together with amazing music. You start to read it yesterday and then you suddenly realise it´s tomorrow. Need a sixth star for this. Howgh

I remember seeing this book in my home since 2005, which the date of release of the portuguese translation. I've just decided to read it this summer, in late June, at the breaks of some study for the university exams. Sometimes, it was hard to stop reading to sleep a bit, and sometimes, without noticing it, it was already 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. Now about the book, it was great, and one of the best things I have ever read in my life. A good and very well told story, moving in some parts,

This is largely a book I know because of its being namechecked by (and clearly an inspiration to) Karl Ove "Fuck You and Fuck My Dad" Knausgaard. While it is likewise is a deep investigation into the life of an ordinary Norwegian kid, it's more overtly (at least for this Yank reader) an extended exercise in boomer nostalgia, something I find almost uniquely repulsive. Christensen's career was spawned at the same time The Big Chill and The Wonder Years were foisted upon the world. He's not a bad

A wonderfully written coming of age story that I highly recommend to anyone. I would have given it five stars, but the I found the ending a bit off-putting.

A novel that is so difficult to review. A book that shares a fine laugh, stupid lyricism, tragedies and tragic characters, a deep presense of The Beatles and Jim Morrison, 1960s perception of global politics etc etc etc. A fine piece of art - an example of a true literary architecture!

Wavering between 3.5 and 4 ...Notice the absence of the The in the title: there are The Beatles and then there are Gunnar, Kim, Seb and Ola -- four good-hearted, The Beatles-loving teenagers growing up in Oslo in the mid-60s. But what might seem like a mischievous comic romp of a novel turns deadly serious as politics, police brutality and drugs become a part of the boys' lives into the very early 70s.I loved the concept and greatly enjoyed the Oslo setting (as I'd recently been there); but what...

This writer he doesn't just write a good story, he works a lot with the reader as well. I was so into this book that at a certain point, when the main character does something that really disappoints me, I stopped reading for several days. I was annoyed at him! That is great writing!

Why didn't I like this book which so many people feel captures so well the spirit of a generation?I think this novel has a very "cheap" approach to its story. I have only read one other (much shorter) book by this author, so I don't know if this reflects his writing abilities or if it is a calculated way of "bottom trawling", i.e. using the lowest common denominator approach to catch the widest audience possible. To me the result becomes unacceptable. The characters completely lack any psycholog...

I never wanted it to end. My heart still aches after reading the ending. Such a good book! Especially for someone who loves music and cares for friendship.

The book is about four boys growing up in Oslo in th 60's. I think I can relate to this book because I lived by the place it was written about. It's a really funny story that made me laugh lots of times.

This book is called Beatles and yet (view spoiler)[they never listen to Let It Be and he sells all his Beatles records at the end... I mean, I understand why he had to sell them, but it just annoys me (hide spoiler)]All in all, a good coming of age story, but I picked it up because I thought it was gonna be more about The Beatles. I liked the first part way better than the second.

Back in 2014 I had the opportunity to see the Norwegian film that was based on this book at the PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. I loved it so much that I found a copy of the book (in ENGLISH--not easy to find) as it was an International Best-Seller in Europe. I finally took the time to read it. I loved how each chapter was titled after a BEATLES song and the growing-up trials and tribulations (some humorous and some challenging) of four young boys in the Oslo area named KIM, OLA, SEB a...

And although I don’t think about it, the reel behind my eyes stops at a particular frame, I hold it for a few seconds, freeze it, then let it roll, for I am all-powerful. I give it voices, sound, smell and light. *[...] time lay over us like a huge lid and we were a pot that had to explode at any minute.*Then we headed home. Talking about all the things we were going to do. [...] About summer, even though winter had barely begun. About all the summers of our lives. [...] We became effusive and b...

Fun read

Nobody writes with such originality about the shift from boyhood to adolescence and beyond as this author. I loved young Kim’s description of the theatre as ‘worse than church and gymnasium combined’ as he endured an outing with his mother. Down the road a few years and Kim and his friends travel back home from Paris ‘through a stinking Europe that lay on our skin like grey dirt’. For me, the most beautiful part of the book is the encounter that the boys have with Fred’s mother at the same time

My favorite book of all time, and probably the best of all Norwegian books ever written.

Reading 'Beatles' was another long walk I took down Memory Lane.Bless Lars Saabye Christensen for setting another novel in that specific area of Oslo I remember so fondly! The English edition I owe boasts that 'Beatles' is 'The International Bestseller' and in fact this is the book that made Mr Christensen famous in Norway and abroad. Not to mention that a few months ago I spotted a hoodie eagerly leafing through this same book at a bus stop in the sleepy English town of Hereford (just don't ask...

You know it ain't easyWhat is this book about? I can see why most of the reviewers are having trouble. It's got laugh-out-loud slapstick, heartbreaking tragedy, unforgettable characters, ridiculous stereotypes, breathtaking lyricism, flat ultrarealist prose... you see the problem. But one thing's clear. There's a whole lot about the Beatles.So let me introduce to youKim Karlsen is 11 when Love me do comes out. He and his three friends are immediate converts, and identify with John, Paul, George

This is a really problematic book to talk about, after almost 600 pages I still can't decide if and how much I actually liked it.I definitely got bored in several occasions, mainly because of the abundance of repetitive situations (a trait common to many Scandinavian narrators, apparently) but I was also enthralled, moved and touched more often than not.What hooked me in the beginning was the title: I grew up with The Beatles, just like the Kim, Gunnar, Seb and Ola, but without "the revolution"