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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Kul og interessant setting, fascinerende å lese om små fiksesamfunn i Nordland! Friskt språk! Tross dette var plottet kjedelig. Tror kanskje det har en sammenheng med at så og si alt Hamsun skrev tidlig i sin karriere var ganske kort, og at man derfor ikke rekker å bli kjent med karakterene eller historien. Det er liksom over før det har begynt nesten. Gleder meg til å komme til de litt nyere verkene!
"Dreamers" is a delightful, comedic tale full of colorful characters. At first, I thought that the book was just a sweet little story and the perfect snack for a summer's evening. However, after letting the book marinate in my mind for a few days, it occurs to me that the sudden switches in point of view make the quality of the story more dreamlike.
Near the end of the book, oafish and endearing Ove Rolandsen says: "Summer is the time for dreaming, and then you have to stop. But some people go on dreaming all their lives, and cannot change." There are characters in the book who are of the former stripe (Ove, Elise Mack) and those who are of the latter flavor (Miss van Loos, the curate's wife). Thus, the story suggests that living life instead of always imagining what may be is the path to success.
Despite dreamlike elements, the dialogue crackles with realism over 100 years after original publication and I found myself laughing out loud in several spots.
Near the end of the book, oafish and endearing Ove Rolandsen says: "Summer is the time for dreaming, and then you have to stop. But some people go on dreaming all their lives, and cannot change." There are characters in the book who are of the former stripe (Ove, Elise Mack) and those who are of the latter flavor (Miss van Loos, the curate's wife). Thus, the story suggests that living life instead of always imagining what may be is the path to success.
Despite dreamlike elements, the dialogue crackles with realism over 100 years after original publication and I found myself laughing out loud in several spots.
‘Summer is the time for dreaming, and then you have to stop. But some people go on dreaming all their lives, and cannot change.
Hamsun has always favored the eccentrics. Those set apart from society by their volatile nature, the mysterious strangers whose behavior and whims set an entire village upside down, and those who become a force of nature all themselves. Hamsun’s 1904 novella, Dreamers, is no exception in its depiction of an eccentric man whose womanizing, drinking, and clever schemes pit him as a solitary force acting within and against his tiny, isolated fishing village. Told in a pleasant, bleary-eyed conversational pace and tone, it is as if it were a late-night tale from the protagonist himself over a bottle of his brandy. While Dreamers is a minor work in Hamsun’s impressive catalogue, feeling a bit like a bloated short story and lacking some of the poetic depth that marked his greater works, all the classic Hamsun motifs and quirks come together to create this charmingly simplistic and comedic tale that examines the changing morality in a rapidly modernizing world.
All the joys of a Hamsun novel come together in this tiny piece. The novellas anti-hero is classic Hamsun, reminding the reader of the booze-soaked eccentricities that characterized Nagel in [b:Mysteries|32586|Mysteries|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729068s/32586.jpg|32747], as well as the flirtatious woodman in [b:Pan|32590|Pan|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309211757s/32590.jpg|132237]. The link between man and nature, which characterizes much of Hamsun’s work, also plays a large role. As the turning of seasons is reflected in the actions of the characters, be it their passions or the ways they are reliant on nature to make their living such as the fishermen and farmers having their destinies forever linked to the land, we find man either succumbing to the whims of nature, or becoming a force of nature themselves. ‘It was weather for dreamers, for young people to flit about in restless excitement.’ Spring is the season of new, young love, and serves as a perfect setting for this story. It’s refreshing warmth loosening the icy grip on our hearts and setting our instinctive passions to bloom. The powerful, handsome and musically talented Rolandsen has already had his season, already engaged to a woman he avoids (‘it was a burden to have a fiancée who did not understand a clean break’. Despite his failed attempts at infidelity and his standoffish nature to push her away, she refuses to leave him), and the awkwardness and impotence in chasing the younger girls in their season of romance sets him apart, pains him, and puts him to drinking and scheming.
Rolandsen is not one pushed by natural order and to blow the winds of fate himself and seeks his own place in the world.
It is the dreamers who brought this new era, the scientists (like Rolandsen and his experiments) and the innovators, and gives man the upper hand towards nature. It calls into question all sorts of moral issues, much like in the modern day where scientific advancements are still a battleground for moral debate, and Hamsun examines this effortlessly, the reader hardly noticing the serious weight of moral quandaries as they glide across this comical story. What is God’s place in a world where man creates his own morals, he poses to the reader. ‘Obviously He’s Lord over all Creation, but it can’t be anything special to be a god of animals and mountains. It’s really us human beings that make Him what He is. So why shouldn’t He be with us?’ Rolandsen asks the curate’s wife when she tells him ‘God be with you.’ If there aren’t people to worship Him, would he be a God? This paradox is a bit cliché in the modern world, but would have seemed an intriguing point to find nestled in a 1904 comedic novella. Hamsun shows man as being one with nature, yet being able to rise above it.
This novella is certainly not without its faults. The poetic beauty that Hamsun so easily pours into many of his novels is absent here and the tone and prose is very simple and rarely dips away from the story to allow some abstract train of though to stretch out and grow. It contains all the charms of a Hamsun novel, including the doomed love motif as Rolandsen chases woman who find him beneath themselves (there is a touching conclusion however, but it seems slightly tacked on), and the neurotic anti-hero, yet they aren’t fleshed out and as vibrant as in most of his stories. However, for those who enjoy Hamsun, this quick little book is wholly satisfying and makes for a wonderful weekend read. It is a quick dip into the mind of a great novelist, and while the story is a bit inconsequential, he manages to tackle heavy subject matters with great ease and deliver it all in an upbeat and charming manner. It reads much like his short stories, yet he manages to encompass the actions of all the townsfolk, weaving in many amusing side-stories that are engaging, yet cause it to feel a bit like a bloated short story. Had he expanded on it into a full novel though, it would have seemed like overdoing it, and had he trimmed much it wouldn’t have had much impact. Hamsun pokes fun at us all, we all appear fools in his eyes, but it is nice to laugh at oneself.
Despite it’s flaws, this was a very enjoyable short read. I adore Hamsun’s works, they always feel very close to my heart and I always enjoy finding bits of myself in his works, even though they aren’t the most admirable qualities. Hamsun has a gift for making the eccentrics seem so loveable, despite focusing more of their deficiencies and letting their good traits permeate through the peripheries. While this is a minor work, it was fun and I always enjoy a trip back into the word of Nobel Laureate Knut Hamsun. Recommended for those already seduced by his quirky ways, and, as always, for those unfamiliar with the man I urge you to make your acquaintance with the mercurial narrator of [b:Hunger|3104354|Hunger|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1339753547s/3104354.jpg|3135610].
3/5
‘But now it was spring again, and spring was almost unbearable for sensitive hearts. It drove creation to its utmost limits, it wafted its spice-laden breath even into the nostrils of the innocent.’
Hamsun has always favored the eccentrics. Those set apart from society by their volatile nature, the mysterious strangers whose behavior and whims set an entire village upside down, and those who become a force of nature all themselves. Hamsun’s 1904 novella, Dreamers, is no exception in its depiction of an eccentric man whose womanizing, drinking, and clever schemes pit him as a solitary force acting within and against his tiny, isolated fishing village. Told in a pleasant, bleary-eyed conversational pace and tone, it is as if it were a late-night tale from the protagonist himself over a bottle of his brandy. While Dreamers is a minor work in Hamsun’s impressive catalogue, feeling a bit like a bloated short story and lacking some of the poetic depth that marked his greater works, all the classic Hamsun motifs and quirks come together to create this charmingly simplistic and comedic tale that examines the changing morality in a rapidly modernizing world.
All the joys of a Hamsun novel come together in this tiny piece. The novellas anti-hero is classic Hamsun, reminding the reader of the booze-soaked eccentricities that characterized Nagel in [b:Mysteries|32586|Mysteries|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729068s/32586.jpg|32747], as well as the flirtatious woodman in [b:Pan|32590|Pan|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309211757s/32590.jpg|132237]. The link between man and nature, which characterizes much of Hamsun’s work, also plays a large role. As the turning of seasons is reflected in the actions of the characters, be it their passions or the ways they are reliant on nature to make their living such as the fishermen and farmers having their destinies forever linked to the land, we find man either succumbing to the whims of nature, or becoming a force of nature themselves. ‘It was weather for dreamers, for young people to flit about in restless excitement.’ Spring is the season of new, young love, and serves as a perfect setting for this story. It’s refreshing warmth loosening the icy grip on our hearts and setting our instinctive passions to bloom. The powerful, handsome and musically talented Rolandsen has already had his season, already engaged to a woman he avoids (‘it was a burden to have a fiancée who did not understand a clean break’. Despite his failed attempts at infidelity and his standoffish nature to push her away, she refuses to leave him), and the awkwardness and impotence in chasing the younger girls in their season of romance sets him apart, pains him, and puts him to drinking and scheming.
Rolandsen is not one pushed by natural order and to blow the winds of fate himself and seeks his own place in the world.
’There was a weathercock on the roof of the telegraph station on an iron pole. When Rolandsen got home, he climbed up on to the roof and gave the role a blow with his own hands. The cock reeled backwards, and looked as if it were crowing. That was how it should look. It was very apt that the cock should crow.’Hamsun uses this opportunity to comment of the modernization of his times. The telegraph is a motif in his oeuvre, being used most prominently in this novella as well as in [b:Growth of the Soil|1428604|Growth of the Soil|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348297385s/1428604.jpg|2435698] to represent the growth of technology that binds us all together, creating a worldwide community as opposed to isolated communities that is made possible by the telegraphs ability to transmit news and other information across distances. Rolandsen’s status as telegraph operator allows him to be a representation of mans creative power, a power allowing us to cut out our own destinies, break free from the bonds of tradition, and not being under the thumb of nature. While Rolandsen is the symbol of change, the curate serves as a symbol of the tradition. This preacher comes to town impoverished, not wealthy as they had suspected, and attempts to tidy up the morality of the town (his annoyance with his wife’s messiness and having to always clean up after her is a comical metaphor of his obdurate religiousness. It is shown that people want to have fun and to be themselves, and don’t mind living in a mess as long as it isn’t too harmful). Hamsun enjoys playing with morality and probing the underlying currents of our actions. As in [b:Mysteries|32586|Mysteries|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729068s/32586.jpg|32747] where there is much commentary on how there are no unselfish-actions, what we discern on the surface level of the townspeople’s actions are often not indicative of their underlying motives and true character. The curate fires his hardworking and honest layman because the man’s sister sleeps around and therefor he should not employ someone so close to immorality. He instead hires humble Enoch, however, Enoch quiet humbleness may turn out to be a front to disguise his sinful nature. Rolandsen gladly accepts shame and a sinful reputation in order to achieve his true goals, taking blame for actions he hadn’t committed. Traditional morality is questioned, obstinate religious judgment is shown as an impoverished and fallible outlook on humanity, as Hamsun offers an existential viewpoint on morality as subjective.
It is the dreamers who brought this new era, the scientists (like Rolandsen and his experiments) and the innovators, and gives man the upper hand towards nature. It calls into question all sorts of moral issues, much like in the modern day where scientific advancements are still a battleground for moral debate, and Hamsun examines this effortlessly, the reader hardly noticing the serious weight of moral quandaries as they glide across this comical story. What is God’s place in a world where man creates his own morals, he poses to the reader. ‘Obviously He’s Lord over all Creation, but it can’t be anything special to be a god of animals and mountains. It’s really us human beings that make Him what He is. So why shouldn’t He be with us?’ Rolandsen asks the curate’s wife when she tells him ‘God be with you.’ If there aren’t people to worship Him, would he be a God? This paradox is a bit cliché in the modern world, but would have seemed an intriguing point to find nestled in a 1904 comedic novella. Hamsun shows man as being one with nature, yet being able to rise above it.
This novella is certainly not without its faults. The poetic beauty that Hamsun so easily pours into many of his novels is absent here and the tone and prose is very simple and rarely dips away from the story to allow some abstract train of though to stretch out and grow. It contains all the charms of a Hamsun novel, including the doomed love motif as Rolandsen chases woman who find him beneath themselves (there is a touching conclusion however, but it seems slightly tacked on), and the neurotic anti-hero, yet they aren’t fleshed out and as vibrant as in most of his stories. However, for those who enjoy Hamsun, this quick little book is wholly satisfying and makes for a wonderful weekend read. It is a quick dip into the mind of a great novelist, and while the story is a bit inconsequential, he manages to tackle heavy subject matters with great ease and deliver it all in an upbeat and charming manner. It reads much like his short stories, yet he manages to encompass the actions of all the townsfolk, weaving in many amusing side-stories that are engaging, yet cause it to feel a bit like a bloated short story. Had he expanded on it into a full novel though, it would have seemed like overdoing it, and had he trimmed much it wouldn’t have had much impact. Hamsun pokes fun at us all, we all appear fools in his eyes, but it is nice to laugh at oneself.
Despite it’s flaws, this was a very enjoyable short read. I adore Hamsun’s works, they always feel very close to my heart and I always enjoy finding bits of myself in his works, even though they aren’t the most admirable qualities. Hamsun has a gift for making the eccentrics seem so loveable, despite focusing more of their deficiencies and letting their good traits permeate through the peripheries. While this is a minor work, it was fun and I always enjoy a trip back into the word of Nobel Laureate Knut Hamsun. Recommended for those already seduced by his quirky ways, and, as always, for those unfamiliar with the man I urge you to make your acquaintance with the mercurial narrator of [b:Hunger|3104354|Hunger|Knut Hamsun|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1339753547s/3104354.jpg|3135610].
3/5
‘But now it was spring again, and spring was almost unbearable for sensitive hearts. It drove creation to its utmost limits, it wafted its spice-laden breath even into the nostrils of the innocent.’
lighthearted
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
No one writes like Hamsun. He sees things others don't. Conjures stories from a change in the breeze. Shakes out stale ideas and makes them new. He is good for the soul.
