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adrianlwaller's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
akaozymandias's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
daja57's review
5.0
"It was in those days when I wandered about hungry in Kristiania [now Oslo], that strange city which no one leaves before it has set its mark upon him." This is the start of a strange novel about an anonymous penniless writer with nothing left to pawn, who can't pay his rent and cannot afford to eat. He gets so hungry that he even tries wood shavings and bites his own finger. His only source of income is from selling unsolicited articles to newspaper editors, but when he is hungry and homeless he finds it difficult to concentrate enough to write: "I had noticed distinctly that every time I went hungry for a long time it was as though my brain trickled quietly out of my head, leaving me empty." (part one). To add to this vicious circle he has an unquenched pride which makes it impossible for him to accept charity; fundamentally self-destructive (eg the finger-biting incident), he lies to protect himself from the humiliation of poverty, he insults those who try to help him and then further impoverishes himself by giving money and possessions away when he has them. As Paul Auster (1970) says in the Afterword: "Order has disappeared for him; everything has become random. His actions are inspired by nothing but whim and ungovernable urge, the weary frustration of anarchic discontent."
In one section, the protagonist invents a new word but cannot think of what it means, although he knows a lot of things it doesn't mean. Somehow this epitomises the meaning of his life.
The protagonist echoes Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (with the inner monologue, teetering on the edge of insanity, of the narrator in Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground).
Published in 1890, Hunger heralds modernism. The style is early 'stream of consciousness' and the motif of a protagonist wandering around a city would later be echoed in mature 'stream of consciousness' novels Ulysses by James Joyce and Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, though in both of these the timescale is collapsed into a single day. The no-frills narration reminded me of Kafka (eg The Trial). Perhaps the closest parallel I have read are the four novellas by Samuel Beckett: The Expelled, The Calmative, The End, & First Love.
One interesting style feature is that some paragraphs switch tense between past and present, eg
"The sea stretched away like blue mother-of-pearl, and small birds flew silently from one place to another. A policeman is patrolling his beat some distance off, otherwise there is not a soul to be seen and the entire harbour is quiet." (part two) This confusion between then and now, and the meandering of the protagonist through the city, and the way his attention is always being distracted, seem to represent the way we think.
This sort of book isn't easy to read. As Paul Auster (1970) says in the Afterword, "it is a work in which nothing happens". There is no obvious plot and the skeletal structure seemed to be a spiral into which the protagonist plunges; there was little character development except for the protagonist; the end was abrupt; much of the 'action' seems meaningless and repetitive. Nevertheless, I think it will be one of those books which I will remember for a long time.
Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920.
In one section, the protagonist invents a new word but cannot think of what it means, although he knows a lot of things it doesn't mean. Somehow this epitomises the meaning of his life.
The protagonist echoes Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (with the inner monologue, teetering on the edge of insanity, of the narrator in Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground).
Published in 1890, Hunger heralds modernism. The style is early 'stream of consciousness' and the motif of a protagonist wandering around a city would later be echoed in mature 'stream of consciousness' novels Ulysses by James Joyce and Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, though in both of these the timescale is collapsed into a single day. The no-frills narration reminded me of Kafka (eg The Trial). Perhaps the closest parallel I have read are the four novellas by Samuel Beckett: The Expelled, The Calmative, The End, & First Love.
One interesting style feature is that some paragraphs switch tense between past and present, eg
"The sea stretched away like blue mother-of-pearl, and small birds flew silently from one place to another. A policeman is patrolling his beat some distance off, otherwise there is not a soul to be seen and the entire harbour is quiet." (part two) This confusion between then and now, and the meandering of the protagonist through the city, and the way his attention is always being distracted, seem to represent the way we think.
This sort of book isn't easy to read. As Paul Auster (1970) says in the Afterword, "it is a work in which nothing happens". There is no obvious plot and the skeletal structure seemed to be a spiral into which the protagonist plunges; there was little character development except for the protagonist; the end was abrupt; much of the 'action' seems meaningless and repetitive. Nevertheless, I think it will be one of those books which I will remember for a long time.
Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920.
shaz66's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
castral's review against another edition
2.0
The MC seems to me a wholly detestable sort of person: arrogant, vain, prideful, and virtue signalling. His entire attitude shows a complete lack of self-awareness of his own dire situation, as well as his disdain for the people around him constantly offering help. None of it matters, so long as he continues to receive deus ex machina-like events of good fortune to keep the story moving. I know it's autobiographical in some sense, that the author's similar trials spanned 10 years rather than the approximate few months of the novel, but surely he learned far more real life lessons than what we are shown in Hunger.
I find it odd that the story is as glorified as it is. You might like it if you enjoy reading about loathsome characters with no redeeming qualities and no ability to learn from their experiences.
I find it odd that the story is as glorified as it is. You might like it if you enjoy reading about loathsome characters with no redeeming qualities and no ability to learn from their experiences.
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
5.0
The whisper of Blood
Knut Hamssun, the receiver of Nobel Prize for literature in 1920 for his novel 'Growth of Soil' have remarked that literature should try to study the working of human mind - "whisper of the blood, and the pleading of the bone marrow".
His novel 'Hunger' is based on personal experiences from days when he was suffering high financial crisis and had to go at stteches of days with out food.
The first person narration brings you his extreme moodiness during those days,he starts having crazy ideas and hauliciations. He would curse god, do strange things. It was a wonder he could actually hold on to morality to the extent he did. Hunger can easily screw anyone's idea of honour. He never even begged.
But not everyone will have strength. I personally won't and I'm not even now sure that it is a crime for a starving person to steal, is it? Most of us never were hungry for such long time. People will eat something even when they fast (I'm cooking as I write).Though it could be greatly educative experience to force starvation on oneself for some days - specially for politicians and moralists. Then most of what we have, is inherited (atleast educational opportunities),then are we worthier than a starving person, who didn't have such luck, Of food we eat? If not, than isn't the thief for food just takng his right.
The past tense shows that narrator has survived the worst, the small love affair probably had a role. Though there is no denying of his moral strength. The novel ends with narrator undertaking a sea journey as a sailor. The novel was published soon after author's return from similar journey.
A very simple book and a greatly experimental work given the time it was written in. Its use of interior monologuas are beautiful. The author is known to be a great inspiration on big guys such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Hermann Hesse, and Ernest Hemingway.
Knut Hamssun, the receiver of Nobel Prize for literature in 1920 for his novel 'Growth of Soil' have remarked that literature should try to study the working of human mind - "whisper of the blood, and the pleading of the bone marrow".
His novel 'Hunger' is based on personal experiences from days when he was suffering high financial crisis and had to go at stteches of days with out food.
The first person narration brings you his extreme moodiness during those days,he starts having crazy ideas and hauliciations. He would curse god, do strange things. It was a wonder he could actually hold on to morality to the extent he did. Hunger can easily screw anyone's idea of honour. He never even begged.
But not everyone will have strength. I personally won't and I'm not even now sure that it is a crime for a starving person to steal, is it? Most of us never were hungry for such long time. People will eat something even when they fast (I'm cooking as I write).Though it could be greatly educative experience to force starvation on oneself for some days - specially for politicians and moralists. Then most of what we have, is inherited (atleast educational opportunities),then are we worthier than a starving person, who didn't have such luck, Of food we eat? If not, than isn't the thief for food just takng his right.
The past tense shows that narrator has survived the worst, the small love affair probably had a role. Though there is no denying of his moral strength. The novel ends with narrator undertaking a sea journey as a sailor. The novel was published soon after author's return from similar journey.
A very simple book and a greatly experimental work given the time it was written in. Its use of interior monologuas are beautiful. The author is known to be a great inspiration on big guys such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Hermann Hesse, and Ernest Hemingway.
_anna_esque_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
yuyubuu's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25