Victoria (Penguin Classics)
by Knut Hamsun
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Book Summary Information
Author: Knut HamsunTranslator: Sverre Lyngstad
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2005-11-29
ISBN: 0143039377
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Book Reviews of Victoria (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: very powerful story in spite of its length
Summary: 5 Stars
I did not really know how Knut Hamsun was. Just for the sake of defeating the boredom, I looked over the each Nobel laureate in Literature. Surprisingly, there are many authors who are almost completely forgotten now. Where or not they deserved Nobel prize is not my concern and their falling in oblivion perhaps explains their overrated literary merit when they were bestowed the prize. I think one writer whose oblivion and dishonor was not brought by quality of his wrting but his belief is Knut Hamsun.
I first got to know him , when I was reading an auto biography of a certain waffen SS veteran who fought in Artic region. He brought his name several times and mentioned Hamsun was his favorite author. I was more than curious to know this author. Fortunately, Penguin recently published few of his works. The first one I read was "Pan" , another powerful story that shows Hamsun deserves the epithet of "Scandinavian Dostoevskii"(It is coincidence that both had strongly abohorrent character , namely Nazi sympathy for Hamsun and virlulent anti-semitism for Dostoevskii)
Then, I read "victoria". I was surprising that Hamsun can deliver this sort of love story that is so different from "Pan". If Glahn's untrammeled passion and Edvarda's unfaithfulness cause the demise of their love in Pan, Johanness and Victoria's love is predestined to doom due to their difference social standing. Hamsun's social critique is simple but powerful; "NO matter how talented and gifted you are, old class system can't be overcome"
Another thing that beckons me was lyrical descrption of town, city and surrounding Hamsun delivers in every single sentence. From begining I strongly notice that Hamsun must have influenced by Storm's "Immensee".
I can't judge whose work is superior .But after reading "Victoria" , I certainly say Hamsun not only deserved the notorious title of being norwegian "Dostoevskii", but also Norwegian "Georg Storm" who influenced so many posterity. It's simply pity that only handful of Hamsun's works have been translated in English. If his obscurity were derived from his political opinion, could we possibly seperate literary merit from politics ?
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