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lisanneheerschap's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
smithsmithsirisiri's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
spectracommunist's review against another edition
5.0
“I suffered no pain, my hunger had taken the edge off; instead, I felt pleasantly empty, untouched by everything around me and happy to be unseen by all. I put my legs up on the bench and leaned back, the best way to feel the true well-being of seclusion. There wasn't a cloud in my mind, nor did I feel any discomfort, and I hadn't a single unfulfilled desire or craving as far as my thought could reach. I lay with open eyes in a state of utter absence from myself and felt deliciously out of it.”
When I was reading this, I came to an afternoon scene where the protagonist describes his alienation at the Karl Johann Street of Christiana (Oslo, Norway) and I suddenly remembered that even Edward Munch had painted on that street and indeed his most famous "The Scream" was from that Christiana collection. The juxtaposition was so quite something. However, Munch painted his subjects on an evening scene and thus the combination looks quite complementary.
This book is a drastic account in the heights of despair and lowest of dignity in a semi-autobiographical sense of the author's own experience of tormented starving in Norway. As it turns out that what we call morality, is nothing but a luxury that people rotting on streets can't afford. And it even starts to seem that the major part of our public identity is based on the fortune that we have, and without that one is left alone like a stray dog to rot alone. And suffer endlessly for suffering's sake reasoned by sheer nihilism and yet one doesn't get killed but suffers indefinitely. This chronicles something that is so devoid and hollow of any privileges imaginable, whilst on the other end are the heaps and heaps of opulence and yet nothing changes. Only a few luckier get access to both sides.
When I was reading this, I came to an afternoon scene where the protagonist describes his alienation at the Karl Johann Street of Christiana (Oslo, Norway) and I suddenly remembered that even Edward Munch had painted on that street and indeed his most famous "The Scream" was from that Christiana collection. The juxtaposition was so quite something. However, Munch painted his subjects on an evening scene and thus the combination looks quite complementary.
This book is a drastic account in the heights of despair and lowest of dignity in a semi-autobiographical sense of the author's own experience of tormented starving in Norway. As it turns out that what we call morality, is nothing but a luxury that people rotting on streets can't afford. And it even starts to seem that the major part of our public identity is based on the fortune that we have, and without that one is left alone like a stray dog to rot alone. And suffer endlessly for suffering's sake reasoned by sheer nihilism and yet one doesn't get killed but suffers indefinitely. This chronicles something that is so devoid and hollow of any privileges imaginable, whilst on the other end are the heaps and heaps of opulence and yet nothing changes. Only a few luckier get access to both sides.
lora2295's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mayhm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
In a moment of wanting to let feelings pass by, an eye of the storm, me the city of Kansas, searching for bread that could fix my hunger. Lying in my shelf was Knut Hamsun’s similar fate, calling me to read him, pulling me from shallow waters.
An autobiography, the life of a failed writer coming from a flop in America, to his life as a wanderer in the cold streets, and a battle with extreme poverty and hunger. Despite the situation, his honor defers him from seeking help, after countless refusals from friends. Concealing the nature of his pain is his respectful, pious attitude towards the citizens of his locality, honorifics let to right, and an image of truthful labor. He has done everything from vacating his rental room and selling his only garments in an attempt to stave off the gnawing hunger and to write his piece in the newspaper that could provide him ten kroner.
Despite his obvious talent, the community never seemed to accept himself as a productive part of it. The dizzying steps one must go through to put food on the table is downright dystopian. A degradation of courage! He’s applied as a fireman, only to be disqualified due to his eyeglasses. A cashier, only to be removed minutes after an error in calculating, mainly due to his slowed mind as a symptom of malnourishment. Wasn’t everyone promised of equal opportunities? The proletariat’s plight of a livable reality is a poison that is slowly killing them. Emaciated fingers, a brittle back, an animal in a frenzy - burrowing into your pit and an early onset of hair fall. These are some immediate effects of intense hunger. It does not stop there! The deluge of mood swings, grandeur delusions, and cries of helplessness, a frequency only you can hear. Trampled ego grinded into dust. Lower than a pig!
Even the grace of God has neglected him, too. The fight for the daily bread is its own maze. Shouldn’t the prayer found on Matthew 6:11 a sufficient display of His love? Why he should be troubled for what he should eat or drink was one of Hamsun’s main platitudes, and a resonating echo across the globe. If God fed the minute birds, provided shade when it rains, then is man’s value, his lowly servant, so diminished that it escapes His memory?
His story reminds me of Job. Job 7: 16 (New World Translation) relays that “he loathed his life; did not want to go on living…For his days are like a breath.” One may be led astray from the road. Impoverished, without shelter, or a loss of job. Your friends might not even lend a hand. No one in sight to mend your fractured heart. In due time, this is how the light gets in. In the faces of kindness, from strangers to loved ones, would prove surprising and moving, With Hamsun, his editor gave him ten kroner and Ylayali, the same amount. His tears were abundant on those moments. Like gold gluing the lines of an olden vase, producing a more beautiful handicraft. You will come out a more suited man for the whole world to deter. Therefore, it is pivotal for someone to have his solid ground, a community to grasp his shaky hands, fill his water carrier, and grains of rice to ease the hunger.
An autobiography, the life of a failed writer coming from a flop in America, to his life as a wanderer in the cold streets, and a battle with extreme poverty and hunger. Despite the situation, his honor defers him from seeking help, after countless refusals from friends. Concealing the nature of his pain is his respectful, pious attitude towards the citizens of his locality, honorifics let to right, and an image of truthful labor. He has done everything from vacating his rental room and selling his only garments in an attempt to stave off the gnawing hunger and to write his piece in the newspaper that could provide him ten kroner.
Despite his obvious talent, the community never seemed to accept himself as a productive part of it. The dizzying steps one must go through to put food on the table is downright dystopian. A degradation of courage! He’s applied as a fireman, only to be disqualified due to his eyeglasses. A cashier, only to be removed minutes after an error in calculating, mainly due to his slowed mind as a symptom of malnourishment. Wasn’t everyone promised of equal opportunities? The proletariat’s plight of a livable reality is a poison that is slowly killing them. Emaciated fingers, a brittle back, an animal in a frenzy - burrowing into your pit and an early onset of hair fall. These are some immediate effects of intense hunger. It does not stop there! The deluge of mood swings, grandeur delusions, and cries of helplessness, a frequency only you can hear. Trampled ego grinded into dust. Lower than a pig!
Even the grace of God has neglected him, too. The fight for the daily bread is its own maze. Shouldn’t the prayer found on Matthew 6:11 a sufficient display of His love? Why he should be troubled for what he should eat or drink was one of Hamsun’s main platitudes, and a resonating echo across the globe. If God fed the minute birds, provided shade when it rains, then is man’s value, his lowly servant, so diminished that it escapes His memory?
His story reminds me of Job. Job 7: 16 (New World Translation) relays that “he loathed his life; did not want to go on living…For his days are like a breath.” One may be led astray from the road. Impoverished, without shelter, or a loss of job. Your friends might not even lend a hand. No one in sight to mend your fractured heart. In due time, this is how the light gets in. In the faces of kindness, from strangers to loved ones, would prove surprising and moving, With Hamsun, his editor gave him ten kroner and Ylayali, the same amount. His tears were abundant on those moments. Like gold gluing the lines of an olden vase, producing a more beautiful handicraft. You will come out a more suited man for the whole world to deter. Therefore, it is pivotal for someone to have his solid ground, a community to grasp his shaky hands, fill his water carrier, and grains of rice to ease the hunger.
flawed_ghost's review against another edition
3.75
Very stream-of-consciousness. Main character who makes bad choices and pities himself a bit too much. Well-written, sarcastic and witty. But you get the feeling that the main character sees himself as better than other poor people, even though he himself is starving. In the end, drags on for a bit too long, and the resolution is not very satisfying.
1ngrid's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
marieulvund's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is one of the most famous Norwegian books ever written. To me, it's always been a book I've heard of, especially in school, but always thought it would be a dull read. Boy was I wrong. I definitely understand why this book is such a big deal.
PS: I read in another review here that Norway should erect a big statue of the author, due to his fantastic writing. There already is one. Also he is controversial due to his support of a certain mustached man of the 1940s.
PS: I read in another review here that Norway should erect a big statue of the author, due to his fantastic writing. There already is one. Also he is controversial due to his support of a certain mustached man of the 1940s.
cookie_cat's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
willow_thewisp's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0