My Struggle and the threat of a libel suit

Why is Karl Ove Knausgaard so upset in My Struggle Book 6 about his uncle's threat to sue for libel if kok proceeds w plan to publish an account of his father (Uncle Gunnar's older brother) death in alcoholic squalor (and Gunnar's indifference)? In the US such a threat would be easily dismissed - a writer has a great deal of leeway in writing about his or her own family life,especially, as in this case , in which the author is willing to use pseudonyms. Of course the laws may be different in Scandinavia and may restrict writers' freedom and tilt toward the protection of the privacy for private citizens the laws are quite different into U.K. For ex. - but I don't think it's the threat of the suit tha stirs him so deeply - esp in that his publisher seems to be all in on moving forward. His extreme reaction to the threat I think stems from his lifetime quest to be recognized and accepted as a good son and as a good, ordinary person. We have seen this "Struggle" throughout the five volumes to date : his drive to be a great writer constantly at war w his deep need for acceptance and praise: recognition versus resolution we might say, a Struggle at the heart of the work of almost every writer. Why write? For both expiation and recognition- but the are like opposing polar forces, one a Struggle to become exceptional and the other to put to rest the unique experiences that formed - and often tormented - the experience of the writer's life.

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