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Original Title:	Markens grøde
ISBN:	0394717813 (ISBN13: 9780394717814)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Isak, Inger, Brede Olsen, Geissler
Setting:	Norway

Growth of the Soil

Knut Hamsun

Paperback | Pages: 435 pages

Rating: 4.11 | 7985 Users | 564 Reviews

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Title	:	Growth of the Soil
Author	:	Knut Hamsun
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Special Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 435 pages
Published	:	May 12th 1972 by Vintage (first published 1917)
Categories	:	Fiction. Classics. Literature. Novels. European Literature. Scandinavian Literature. Nobel Prize. Drama

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“Growth of the soil was something different, a thing to be procured at any cost; the only source, the origin of all. A dull and desolate existence? Nay, least of all. A man had everything; his powers above, his dreams, his loves, his wealth of superstition.”

Having spent most of a weekend driving through the woods in Värmland, close to the Norwegian border, reflecting on the strange way in which time seems to have stopped there in the remote countryside, I remembered my phase of passionate Lagerlöf and Hamsun reading.

Those two understood the attraction and oppression of life lived on the harsh limits, dictated by nature's omnipresent volatility, and by a small community's shared values and superstitions, as well as power structures and intolerance, based on fear of things unknown.

The landscape in which hardworking farmers settled is breathtakingly beautiful in summer: dark green woods, light green fields, flowers of all colours and shapes around the glittery blue waters of the lakes, farms spread out between small churches.

But once you stop and talk to people (or spend time with relatives, as the case can be), the short time span of the beautiful summer sneaks into conversations within minutes. Even nowadays, dialogues circle around when the first flowers appeared this spring, when the last snow storm hit (in Stockholm, it was 11th May, and many apple trees - mine included - lost their budding flowers), how much rain is needed to make vegetables grow, but not rot over the short summer. Light hardly fades at night, but it is chilly, even in July, and people know instinctively that they have to catch each sun ray in order to steel themselves for winter.

You can still find traces of Knut Hamsun's epic tale of the quiet, monosyllabic farmer life in Norway in the rural dialects, superstitions and conservative mindset. A foreigner would be recognised immediately, in these remote woods.

There is something silently heroic in the constant fight against nature to make the soil fertile to feed hungry children, and Hamsun's love of his own cultural background shines through the prose on every page. However, his later identification with fascist Germany may also find an explanation in the worship of the Nordic, the fear of foreign influences, the focus on protecting national identity rather than accepting a range of new perspectives. The political stain of Hamsun's later years does not take away from his narrative power, but it should be mentioned as part of who he was, and what he developed into. Seeing both the brilliant writer and the Nazi supporter will give a nuanced picture of the different facets of life in Scandinavia at that time.

It is neither idealistic nor monstrous, just shaped by the conditions under which people lived, worked and mingled with each other. Understanding the dynamics of remote farmer communities is still relevant, and Hamsun's sharp perceptions and colorful descriptions open up a a strangely closed world and make it accessible to a wider, international audience.

Recommended!

Rating Out Of Books Growth of the Soil

Ratings: 4.11 From 7985 Users | 564 Reviews

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A book of humble means and beginnings that transforms itself into the complex tapestry of human beings conspiring with nature to at first, just exist. Then, if all is diligent perseverance and hard work, secondly, to succeed and grow not only the land but themselves as well. Well written, with characters that range from the steadfast and quixotic to the conniving... glorious characterizations that are truthful and yet not condemning, but understanding that life creates an infinite array of

Growth of the soil was something different, a thing to be procured at any cost; the only source, the origin of all. A dull and desolate existence? Nay, least of all. A man had everything; his powers above, his dreams, his loves, his wealth of superstition. Having spent most of a weekend driving through the woods in Värmland, close to the Norwegian border, reflecting on the strange way in which time seems to have stopped there in the remote countryside, I remembered my phase of passionate

Get this edition. On the front cover is a young man walking on plowed ground. Above is the book's modest title, "Growth of the Soil," and in smaller case "Knut Hamsun's Greatest Novel." Open it and you'll see the book's title again, the author's name and the information that it was translated from the Norwegian by W.W. Worster. From there, at once, as if it is a crime to make pleasure wait, you go straight to its first chapter. No introduction. Absolutely nothing about who the author is, or his

Despite the fact that this book won Hamsun a Nobel Prize in Literature, it is often Hamsun's most misunderstood novel. Not much seems to happen in the 400+ pages of Isak (a mysterious, near god-like figure) building his farm. Even when things do happen, Hamsun's writing is surprisingly calm despite the possibility of disaster. What I believe it comes down to is this: This books is not so much about Isak changing as it is about the "modern world" encroaching on Isak's life. From the strange

Expected proto-Nazi narrative propaganda. Instead found a mythic Norwegian backwoods agrarian Winesburg, Ohio emphasizing the virtue of hardwork/productivity for its own sake, cultivation (of soil and spirit), necessity over frivolity or desire for something more than nature provides, and literal/figurative rootedness. Loved the steady tone, how the tense switches within paragraphs (present tense for scenes, otherwise simple or continual past). Like in Tolstoy, POV able to access thoughts of so

Beautifully written and tedious. I never want to hear about potatoes again unless they're fried in the delectable trans fats of civilization. Oh civilization, you are so bad. Like the devil, or a moose, or a corrupting bottle of Devil Moose ale.For all of the detail Hamsun puts into Isak's farm work, we rarely get such dappled descriptions of how the women are making those cheeses or raising enough kids to make the Quiverful movement proud. I wondered if Oline and the sheriff's wife's wheedling

This is what made me want to read this book:From My Reading Life by Pat Conroy (pages 163-164):On this day, Norman removed a book from its shelf. Whenever he presented me with a book, it had a ceremonious feel, as though he were laying a sword on my shoulder inducting me into an ancient brotherhood.The book was Growth of the Soil by the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun. The copy he gave me had once belonged to Norma M. Saylor, who lived in Palmyra, New Jersey.Its an essential book. A necessary