Min kamp 1 opens with a dizzying description of death. From there, it tells the story of author Karl Ove Knausgård's struggle to master life, himself, and his own ambitions for writing, as he interacts with the people around him.

The novel explores the experience of growing up and being thrust into a world that seems complete, finished, and closed. It captures the sensitivity and uncertainty of a young perspective, observing the presence and judgments of others with an openness that is both overwhelming and almost self-destructive in its consequence.

In a probing prose that seeks out the vulnerable, the embarrassing, and the existentially significant, this becomes a deeply personal novel, self-examining and controversial. An existential focal point is the death of the father, while another might be the protagonist's debut as a writer.