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lisafall's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Such beautiful writing! Throughout my read I could clearly sense the anxiousness and unease Marta had been feeling alongside the early stages of her fulfilled marriage. I truly felt like Marta’s friend whilst reading this as the writing was so intimate. The scenery was beautiful captured really helped me immerse myself into Marta’s life as well.
I think anyone how liked Madame Bovary and Lady Chatterly’s Lover would enjoy this book. But unlike those two books, you could clearly sense that Marta Oulie was written by a female author as it captured a female voice in-depth which the other two works seemed to lack that readers today can still relate to (well at least I could relate to). I’d be interested to read Henrik’s perspective to see the double standards set in the era too.
*spoiler* As non religious person I found Ottos gradually acceptance towards religion very interesting as well. I wonder if I would feel the same way when I am near to death.
*spoiler* As non religious person I found Ottos gradually acceptance towards religion very interesting as well. I wonder if I would feel the same way when I am near to death.
I definitely would like to read this again when I get married and have my own children to further my appreciation towards the work. I really wish I could read Norwegian as I would have loved to read a non translated version. I’m looking forward to reading more of Sigrid Undset’s work.
Some of my favourite quotes
*”Our young love burned out, and I let it be extinguished, never seeing how easily I could have nourished the fire of a love that might have made things bright and warm for both of us, lasting our whole life. And yet I thought I was so clever.”
*”As I got undressed, the thought raced, hot and fearful, through me sever- al times: What if he doesn’t love me in that way? What if it’s merely passion? These words and thoughts belonged to someone else. They appeared for a second but vanished again; they had no meaning for me. I sank into my joyous intoxication.”
*”I’m tired of these useless words of mine. I use them to try and stanch the bleeding of my pain.”
martamelnyk's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.0
pturnbull's review against another edition
4.0
Undset's first novel, this story is told in diary form. Marta describes the early days of her love affair with her husband Otto, the conditions in her marriage that make her unhappy, and Otto's illness and death from tuberculosis. Both Marta Oulie and Undset's better known character Kristen Lavransdatter bear heavy loads of guilt after engaging in sexual relationships outside of marriage. Unfortunately, Marta's guilt and unhappiness dominate much of the novel, making it more interesting as a relic of Undset's talent than as a story.
My favorite part was Marta's description of her honeymoon in early 20th century Swedish countryside, a forest loaded with flowers, berries, and a rushing creek. Here and there we get enticing glimpses of a middle class Swedish household of the time, but the family's fortunes fall with their father's illness. After Otto dies, Marta rejects marriage with her erstwhile paramour and determines to raise her family of four children on a school teacher's salary.
This book is similar in theme to Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Doris Lessing's To Room Nineteen, and Ibsen's A Doll House, but Undset grants her heroine a way out of her misery, penurious though it may be. Marta's career means that she doesn't have to annihilate herself or abandon her children to become independent, a liberated point of view for the middle class in 1907.
My favorite part was Marta's description of her honeymoon in early 20th century Swedish countryside, a forest loaded with flowers, berries, and a rushing creek. Here and there we get enticing glimpses of a middle class Swedish household of the time, but the family's fortunes fall with their father's illness. After Otto dies, Marta rejects marriage with her erstwhile paramour and determines to raise her family of four children on a school teacher's salary.
This book is similar in theme to Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Doris Lessing's To Room Nineteen, and Ibsen's A Doll House, but Undset grants her heroine a way out of her misery, penurious though it may be. Marta's career means that she doesn't have to annihilate herself or abandon her children to become independent, a liberated point of view for the middle class in 1907.
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