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A review by shauny_32
Victoria by Knut Hamsun
3.5
“Alas, love turns the human heart into a mildewed garden, a lush and shameless garden in which grow mysterious, obscene toadstools.”
Victoria is Knut Hamsun’s 1898 novel about a miller’s son and a noblewoman who fall in love. However, there is something always in the way that prevents them from being together.
Like his previous books, Pan and Shallow Soil, this is a short novel that starts very strong but slightly diminishes by the end. Maybe Knut gets bored but his opening passages seem to be the strongest.
There are some beautiful passages and the complexity of love is articulated in a way only a great writer like Hamsun can produce.
But it does also seem like Hamsun internally struggles with jealousy, resentment, and a deep cynicism that gets the better of him.
Basically, he was a bit of a shit and it shows. Nevertheless, he’s such a talented writer, reminiscent to Dostoyevsky, that it’s always a pleasure to witness a master at work.
I was chronologically working my way through his works, but I think I’ll skip a few and attempt what is considered his masterpiece, Growth of the Soil.
“Love was God's first word, the first thought that sailed across his mind. He said, Let there be light, and there was love.”
Read:
Hunger 4/5
Mysteries 4/5
Shallow Soil 3/5
Pan 3.5/5
Victoria 3.4/5
Victoria is Knut Hamsun’s 1898 novel about a miller’s son and a noblewoman who fall in love. However, there is something always in the way that prevents them from being together.
Like his previous books, Pan and Shallow Soil, this is a short novel that starts very strong but slightly diminishes by the end. Maybe Knut gets bored but his opening passages seem to be the strongest.
There are some beautiful passages and the complexity of love is articulated in a way only a great writer like Hamsun can produce.
But it does also seem like Hamsun internally struggles with jealousy, resentment, and a deep cynicism that gets the better of him.
Basically, he was a bit of a shit and it shows. Nevertheless, he’s such a talented writer, reminiscent to Dostoyevsky, that it’s always a pleasure to witness a master at work.
I was chronologically working my way through his works, but I think I’ll skip a few and attempt what is considered his masterpiece, Growth of the Soil.
“Love was God's first word, the first thought that sailed across his mind. He said, Let there be light, and there was love.”
Read:
Hunger 4/5
Mysteries 4/5
Shallow Soil 3/5
Pan 3.5/5
Victoria 3.4/5