I enjoy reading books by Nobel laureates from time to time. So when I came across this novel, I had to check it out. It's a novella, so not very long. A bit more plot certainly wouldn't have hurt the story. I wasn't particularly impressed. The narrative jumped around, and the protagonists lacked any compelling qualities. It's simply a very old book that hasn't aged well.
And if it was meant as a satire, I would have expected some humor.
Bjørnson also wrote the Norwegian national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" (Yes, we love this country).
Book Description:
"Harald Kaas was sixty. He had given up his free, uncriticised bachelor life; his yacht was no longer seen off the coast in summer; his tours to England and the south had ceased; nay, he was rarely to be found even at his club in Christiania. His gigantic figure was never seen in the doorways; he was failing. Bandy-legged he had always been, but this defect had increased; his herculean back was rounded, and he stooped a little. His forehead, always of the broadest-no one else's hat would fit him-was now one of the highest, that is to say, he had lost all his hair, except a ragged lock over each ear and a thin fringe behind. He was beginning also to lose his teeth, which were strong though small, and blackened by tobacco; and now, instead of 'deuce take it' he said 'deush take it.'"
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1903 "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit".
I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.
The title of this comes from the Hebrew scriptures, I think, where one of the sons of King David commits treason against him, and inadvertently gets himself killed when his hair gets caught up in a tree or something. Were there any strong connections to that in this? It doesn't sound like it, but i find it interesting that Absalom also inspired a Southern writer, Faulkner, in his own "Absalom! Absalom!".
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Stephen. Yes, indeed, he was David's son. There were lots of connections. The protagonist had long hair that he cut off at one point and his life was never the same.
DeleteOne of the great authors of Norway. I think I read his Synnöve Solbakken when I was younger, but cannot remember anything. Maybe time to try him out.
ReplyDelete