ISBN: 2940016291529

INTRODUCTION BY EDWIN BJORKMANSince the death of Ibsen and Strindberg, Hamsun is undoubtedly theforemost creative writer of the Scandinavian countries. Thoseapproaching most nearly to his… Mehr…

INTRODUCTION BY EDWIN BJORKMANSince the death of Ibsen and Strindberg, Hamsun is undoubtedly theforemost creative writer of the Scandinavian countries. Thoseapproaching most nearly to his position are probably Selma Lagerlöf inSweden and Henrik Pontoppidan in Denmark. Both these, however, seem tohave less than he of that width of outlook, validity of interpretationand authority of tone that made the greater masters what they were.His reputation is not confined to his own country or the twoScandinavian sister nations. It spread long ago over the rest of Europe,taking deepest roots in Russia, where several editions of his collectedworks have already appeared, and where he is spoken of as the equal ofTolstoy and Dostoyevski. The enthusiasm of this approval is acharacteristic symptom that throws interesting light on Russia as wellas on Hamsun.Hearing of it, one might expect him to prove a man of the masses, fullof keen social consciousness. Instead, he must be classed as anindividualistic romanticist and a highly subjective aristocrat, whoseforemost passion in life is violent, defiant deviation from everythingaverage and ordinary. He fears and flouts the dominance of the many, andhis heroes, who are nothing but slightly varied images of himself, areinvariably marked by an originality of speech and action that bringsthem close to, if not across, the borderline of the eccentric. Digital Content>E-books>Fiction>Fiction>Fiction, WDS Publishing Digital >16<

ISBN: 2940016291529

Hunger Hunger~~George-Egerton-Knut-Hamsun Fiction>Fiction>Fiction NOOK Book (eBook), WDS Publishing