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Growth of the Soil
A grand, sweeping saga of sacrifice and struggle, this epic tale recaptures the world of Norwegian homesteaders at the turn of the 20th century. It created an international sensation upon first publication and led to the author's 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature. Rich in symbolism, it continues to resonate with modern readers today.
435 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1917
About the author
Knut Hamsun
738 books2,207 followersNovels of Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun, pen name of Knut Pedersen, include
Hunger
(1890) and
The Growth of the Soil
(1917). He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1920.
He insisted on the intricacies of the human mind as the main object of modern literature to describe the "whisper of the blood, and the pleading of the bone marrow." Hamsun pursued his literary program, debuting in 1890 with the psychological novel Hunger.
He insisted on the intricacies of the human mind as the main object of modern literature to describe the "whisper of the blood, and the pleading of the bone marrow." Hamsun pursued his literary program, debuting in 1890 with the psychological novel Hunger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 949 reviews
February 11, 2023
'Then comes the evening.' Those who have seen the film Hamsun, starring Max Von Sydow, will recall seeing several scenes with Marie Hamsun finishing a novel with this line at book readings. Growth of the Soil, Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun’s 1917 novel widely regarded as his masterpiece, is that novel. Powerful in its sublime simplicity, Growth is the life and times of Isak, following him as he cuts his legacy from the untamed wilds of Norway in a fight against Modernity.
Growth of the Soil—written 27 years after his other classic and debut novel, and one of my personal favorite books of all-time, Hunger—displays Hamsun at a much more matured writing style. While Hunger was gritty, raw and frantic, Growth delivers a very controlled and serene prose. The typical quirks of Hamsun are still present, and avid readers will find his unmistakable voice booming from the pages. It is quite impressive how so little yet so much seems to transpire in this relatively short novel (324pgs in the Penguin Classics edition) and the vast length of time that goes by. The novel begins with a youthful Isak setting out on his own and by the end he is reflecting upon old age as he begins to embrace the deterioration of his strength and body and leave the future in the hands of his full grown children. He masterfully manipulates time, as it passes in spurts sometimes burning quickly through chunks of years or slowly moving through a season, yet the pace and flow never falters as Hamsun seems to evenly disperse his timeline.
Characters have always been a strong point for Hamsun. Here readers will find a colorful cast of some of the most human characters since Tolstoy. Hamsun has a charm of seemingly bringing you into the ever growing Sellenara home of Isak and Inger and allowing you to cozy up by the fire with the family. You watch their struggles, successes, sadness and share in the local gossip over the course of generations, giving the novel a feel that will put fans of East of Eden or The Good Earth right at home. You feel as if characters—such as the comical busybody Oline
—are real neighborhood weirdos that you encounter and not just some name on a page, so when reading about their actions it causes you to laugh and say “oh she would say or do that!”. Geissler, the enigmatic manic-depressive who turns up from time to time, is the books most memorable character. His monologue near the end will echo within you for months to come and contains a message that is still timely today.
The real heart of this novel, however, is the land itself. The focus primarily remains out in the wilderness and usually stays behind amongst the fields and mountains even when characters travel into town. Hamsun seems to poke fun at more ‘civilized’ trifles as he juxtaposes city and country characters often through the lens of the backlands where a need for an impressive set of clothes and status icons such as a cane seem foolish and juvenile. He shows the land as being the true home and heart of a family, as the characters rely upon the land and live off the fruits of their blood and sweat. There is magical little moments where the natural world and the human world comingle spiritually; where Inger witnesses tiny fish singing to her or when the ducks seem to speak to the son with their voice passing through his soul. The poet Wisława Szymborska wrote “Even a simple “hi there,”/when traded with a fish,/makes both the fish and you/feel quite extraordinary” and these spiritual exchanges between man and the land greeting each other brings out a deep inner beauty of the novel.
I would recommend anyone with an interest in the author to view the film Hamsun, as Sydow delivers a stellar performance as usual, and it depicts an accurate enough portrayal of the Hamsun’s later years – particularly those involving his support for the Nazi's as opposed to the English. This gross alignment cost the author his wealth and social status, and well, rightfully so. Hamsun openly decried Hitler's anti-Semitism, but preferred a German occupation to working with the English which is still not great but that’s what is was. As a side note, however, he was reported to be one of the few people to ever talk down to Hitler, causing Hitler to dismiss him and bury himself away in rage for several days when Hamsun insisted upon releasing Norwegian prisoners of war who were sentenced to death by firing squad. On the other hand, Hamsun was a massive literary inspiration to many of his contemporaries, being highly praised by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse and even Charles Bukowski (that crew), and his novels do not reflect this ghastly political alignment though having read his biography it's not hard to see how someone so headstrong, confident and confrontational would end up aligning himself in terrible ways late in life. This novel was however issued in field editions to German soldiers during WWII, and as the novel exudes a deep love for ones homeland you can see how easily it could be hijacked for to stir feelings of nationalism. So take that as you will.. In short, this is a well-written book with an ugly history surrounding it, and I would completely understand any aversion to it or the author, as everyone has their own comfort level of separating artists from art and it’s all rather complex I think, ultimately, looking at all the facets of this helps get a better picture of the political climate of the times and the nuances in opinions.
Knut Hamsun has a power to take such a mundane chain of events and portray it in verbal majesty to rival the overgrown backlands of Norway. It is no surprise the Nobel committee honored him with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920 shortly after this novel achieved great success (the fucker gave his Nobel medallion away to Goebbels though...). If you want to take a trip to your roots and revert back to nature, which Hamsun would argue is the way it should be, this is a perfect novel for you (suddenly getting a clearer understanding on the Wellness community to fascism pipeline). It rewards a patient reader, as it slowly reveals its heart if you sit back, relax and let it unfold around you like a morning sunrise. This is could be a great introduction to Hamsun, although I would recommed Hunger over this as it is more accessible.
And then it was evening, and I need to go to sleep.
4.5/5
Growth of the Soil—written 27 years after his other classic and debut novel, and one of my personal favorite books of all-time, Hunger—displays Hamsun at a much more matured writing style. While Hunger was gritty, raw and frantic, Growth delivers a very controlled and serene prose. The typical quirks of Hamsun are still present, and avid readers will find his unmistakable voice booming from the pages. It is quite impressive how so little yet so much seems to transpire in this relatively short novel (324pgs in the Penguin Classics edition) and the vast length of time that goes by. The novel begins with a youthful Isak setting out on his own and by the end he is reflecting upon old age as he begins to embrace the deterioration of his strength and body and leave the future in the hands of his full grown children. He masterfully manipulates time, as it passes in spurts sometimes burning quickly through chunks of years or slowly moving through a season, yet the pace and flow never falters as Hamsun seems to evenly disperse his timeline.
Characters have always been a strong point for Hamsun. Here readers will find a colorful cast of some of the most human characters since Tolstoy. Hamsun has a charm of seemingly bringing you into the ever growing Sellenara home of Isak and Inger and allowing you to cozy up by the fire with the family. You watch their struggles, successes, sadness and share in the local gossip over the course of generations, giving the novel a feel that will put fans of East of Eden or The Good Earth right at home. You feel as if characters—such as the comical busybody Oline
—are real neighborhood weirdos that you encounter and not just some name on a page, so when reading about their actions it causes you to laugh and say “oh she would say or do that!”. Geissler, the enigmatic manic-depressive who turns up from time to time, is the books most memorable character. His monologue near the end will echo within you for months to come and contains a message that is still timely today.
The real heart of this novel, however, is the land itself. The focus primarily remains out in the wilderness and usually stays behind amongst the fields and mountains even when characters travel into town. Hamsun seems to poke fun at more ‘civilized’ trifles as he juxtaposes city and country characters often through the lens of the backlands where a need for an impressive set of clothes and status icons such as a cane seem foolish and juvenile. He shows the land as being the true home and heart of a family, as the characters rely upon the land and live off the fruits of their blood and sweat. There is magical little moments where the natural world and the human world comingle spiritually; where Inger witnesses tiny fish singing to her or when the ducks seem to speak to the son with their voice passing through his soul. The poet Wisława Szymborska wrote “Even a simple “hi there,”/when traded with a fish,/makes both the fish and you/feel quite extraordinary” and these spiritual exchanges between man and the land greeting each other brings out a deep inner beauty of the novel.
I would recommend anyone with an interest in the author to view the film Hamsun, as Sydow delivers a stellar performance as usual, and it depicts an accurate enough portrayal of the Hamsun’s later years – particularly those involving his support for the Nazi's as opposed to the English. This gross alignment cost the author his wealth and social status, and well, rightfully so. Hamsun openly decried Hitler's anti-Semitism, but preferred a German occupation to working with the English which is still not great but that’s what is was. As a side note, however, he was reported to be one of the few people to ever talk down to Hitler, causing Hitler to dismiss him and bury himself away in rage for several days when Hamsun insisted upon releasing Norwegian prisoners of war who were sentenced to death by firing squad. On the other hand, Hamsun was a massive literary inspiration to many of his contemporaries, being highly praised by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse and even Charles Bukowski (that crew), and his novels do not reflect this ghastly political alignment though having read his biography it's not hard to see how someone so headstrong, confident and confrontational would end up aligning himself in terrible ways late in life. This novel was however issued in field editions to German soldiers during WWII, and as the novel exudes a deep love for ones homeland you can see how easily it could be hijacked for to stir feelings of nationalism. So take that as you will.. In short, this is a well-written book with an ugly history surrounding it, and I would completely understand any aversion to it or the author, as everyone has their own comfort level of separating artists from art and it’s all rather complex I think, ultimately, looking at all the facets of this helps get a better picture of the political climate of the times and the nuances in opinions.
Knut Hamsun has a power to take such a mundane chain of events and portray it in verbal majesty to rival the overgrown backlands of Norway. It is no surprise the Nobel committee honored him with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920 shortly after this novel achieved great success (the fucker gave his Nobel medallion away to Goebbels though...). If you want to take a trip to your roots and revert back to nature, which Hamsun would argue is the way it should be, this is a perfect novel for you (suddenly getting a clearer understanding on the Wellness community to fascism pipeline). It rewards a patient reader, as it slowly reveals its heart if you sit back, relax and let it unfold around you like a morning sunrise. This is could be a great introduction to Hamsun, although I would recommed Hunger over this as it is more accessible.
And then it was evening, and I need to go to sleep.
4.5/5
February 16, 2020
“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!
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!
September 30, 2022
For someone who praised Hitler and his cronies - very much like Céline, whose Journey to the End of the Night was influenced by Hamsun's Hunger, I wouldn't have believed he could write a a beautiful sweeping backcountry epic that fully deserved the Nobel Prize in Literature. It's true, this novel very much felt like it carried a biblical power within its pages, as Hamsun sets out to tell of man's elemental bond with the earth. His vision of peasant life in Norway’s rural landscape was every bit as good as I expected it to be, but I didn't think it would have ended up eclipsing 'Pan', a novel I hugely admire. He switches from the first-person narrative of earlier novels to a stately, almost distant third person perspective which I found extraordinarily effective. Even though it's told with great simplicity, Hamsun’s eye for detail never faltered, and within only a matter of pages I had the feeling of something grand indeed. With incredibly rich characters that are always deep in thought or flustered with feelings, the truthful perspective of existence and experience resulted in a tour de force level of thoughtful and textured storytelling. Isak and Inger were characters I didn't want to leave; I miss them already. Growth of the Soil must be one the best novels about ancestors, there prosperous dreams, and the deepest yearning for a warm and loving Homecoming. For anyone interested in the day to day lives of early settlers then this novel is a must read. I would've scored this a 5/5 had he not wrote Hunger: which I do prefer.
March 10, 2021
Dobro često prođe bez traga, zlo uvijek povlači posljedice.
Ne pamtim kada sam čitao neku knjigu u kojoj se sve odvija sa jednom staloženošću, mirnoćom, bez potrebe da se nametne neki ideološki, religiozni ili politički pravac. Knut Hamsun svoje junake postavlja na selo i njihovim zajedničkim trudom i radom stvara opštežiće. Hamsun pruža jedan otpor prema prekomijernom individualističkom načinu življenja, koji polako nestaje kako se zajednica približava i raste. To zadovoljstvo koje oni osjećaju u neprestanoj sjetvi i žetvi, marljivim postignućima na njihovoj farm i smjenjivanju godišnjih doba i prolazu godina je nekako intertno i tiho. Oni su pomireni Adamovim izgnanstvom iz raja, kada mu Bog reče: ,,U znoju svog lica ješćeš hljeb svoj dok se ne vratiš u zemlju, od koje si i uzet...”(1. 3,19). Ali Hamsun ovo nevidi kao neko veliko proklestvo. Naprotiv, on iz ovoga izvlači ono najbolje. Naporan i opštekoristan rad, domaćinstvo, porodica i ljubav su polodovi zemlje. On vraća svoje junake iskonskim načelima života, oživljava ih i daje im poetske sokove. I zaista, kada čovjek bude na trenutak pohlepan i želi da što više kupuje ili prodaje, kada se osjeća gnjevno zbog nečega ili se osjeća loše, treba da uzme ovu knjigu da bi se podsjetio šta znači istinska jednostavnost i u čemu leži ono suštinsko.
Naime, u knjizi takođe postoji još jedan trenutak koji mnogo ostavlja prosotra za promišljanje. Pa se bar nadam da bi ovo pomoglo čitaocu da se malo zardrži na tom slučaju kada bude čitao knjigu. Ukratko, on se ogleda u tome što se junak po imenu Aksel nađe zarobljen pod borom koji se obrušio na njega te doziva pomoć. Kada ga poznanik Bred ugleda on jednostavno prođe pored njega kao da se ništa ne dešava. Ali jedna starica čuje krike i dolazi Akselu u pomoć. Kada mu je ona već pomogla, Bred u tom trenutku pritrčava i od tada kreće nadmetanje ko mu je pomogao. Bred se izvlačio da je ovaj samo tu ležao i da nije konkretno njega zvao u pomoć. Iako je starica Olina zaslužna za spašavanje života, Hamsun piše: ,,Sa obje strane je bila priprosta lukavost.“ On na volšeban način dovodi u pitanje ko je zaista učinio dobro djelo. Da li Bred koji se nije osvrtao na pomoć ili Olina koja je pomogla ali čija bi pomoć ,,zauvijek postala i skupa i tegobna,“ ako ostane na tome da mu je ona jedina spasila život. Vrlo opskurana tema za razmatranje. I da dodam da ako neko bude mislio da je ovo knjiga o čedomorstvu i da je uzima samo zbog toga, blago će se razočarati.
July 22, 2007
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 section in which Isak has to be led through the process of obtaining legal ownership of the land he has tilled for decades, to the son who appears less and less at the family estate, to finally Isak seeing an apparition of the Devil in the forest he has traversed for years, this book is ultimately not a story of a man who changes, but of changes circling a man of a dying breed.
December 4, 2013
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 other books, not even about his having won the Nobel Prize for Literature. No mention of whatever awards the novel or the author got. No blurbs. Ah, except the one at the back cover. One solitary praise, from another writer, H. G. Wells. He said:
"I do not know how to express the admiration I feel for this wonderful book without seeming to be extravagant. I am not usually lavish with my praise, but indeed the book impresses me as among the very greatest novels I have ever read. It is wholly beautiful; it is saturated with wisdom and humor and tenderness."
How many times have you heard this, when a fellow tasked to introduce a speaker before a crowd, he'll go: "Our next speaker needs no introduction..." I felt the same with this novel. It needed nothing before it. No preliminaries, no teasers, or encomium. It pulls you captive right at its powerful first paragraph, then pins you down helpless, your eyes riveted towards one beautiful page after another, 435 in all, an unending chorus of debilitating prose that would make you weak on your knees.
Eyah, Herregud! How can it ever be possible that someone could write amazingly like this, using the most humble materials for a story: Isak, the hairy, physically ugly, illiterate peasant; his wife Inger, the hare-lipped Amazon with nice legs; the family they raised in the Norwegian wilderness; their mundane farm life?
And yet only a 4.22 GR average rating out of 1,286 ratings and 146 reviews (excluding mine). Ho, ptro, huttch, hoy huit! A few lost souls gave it 2 stars, some 3. Mine was the strongest 5 I had given a book. But maybe it was just me? Was it because, long ago when I was much younger, I too lived by myself in a wild country (for a year), with my pig, chickens and dogs as daily companions? Was it perhaps because I also knew how a long hike feels with your shoulders groaning with a heavy load, or see people only occasionally and commune with these simplest of minds eagerly during these rare moments, get down sick and trust only in the rustic air and cool spring water for cure, and see the world as it was created and before man recreated it?
H'm, I don't know. I am "all but nothing in all humanity" and literature is a mystery to me.
"I do not know how to express the admiration I feel for this wonderful book without seeming to be extravagant. I am not usually lavish with my praise, but indeed the book impresses me as among the very greatest novels I have ever read. It is wholly beautiful; it is saturated with wisdom and humor and tenderness."
How many times have you heard this, when a fellow tasked to introduce a speaker before a crowd, he'll go: "Our next speaker needs no introduction..." I felt the same with this novel. It needed nothing before it. No preliminaries, no teasers, or encomium. It pulls you captive right at its powerful first paragraph, then pins you down helpless, your eyes riveted towards one beautiful page after another, 435 in all, an unending chorus of debilitating prose that would make you weak on your knees.
Eyah, Herregud! How can it ever be possible that someone could write amazingly like this, using the most humble materials for a story: Isak, the hairy, physically ugly, illiterate peasant; his wife Inger, the hare-lipped Amazon with nice legs; the family they raised in the Norwegian wilderness; their mundane farm life?
And yet only a 4.22 GR average rating out of 1,286 ratings and 146 reviews (excluding mine). Ho, ptro, huttch, hoy huit! A few lost souls gave it 2 stars, some 3. Mine was the strongest 5 I had given a book. But maybe it was just me? Was it because, long ago when I was much younger, I too lived by myself in a wild country (for a year), with my pig, chickens and dogs as daily companions? Was it perhaps because I also knew how a long hike feels with your shoulders groaning with a heavy load, or see people only occasionally and commune with these simplest of minds eagerly during these rare moments, get down sick and trust only in the rustic air and cool spring water for cure, and see the world as it was created and before man recreated it?
H'm, I don't know. I am "all but nothing in all humanity" and literature is a mystery to me.
February 24, 2017
It started off greatly. Great setting, close to nature and a farmer as protagonist. Isaac is a tiller of soil and loves his job passionately. And continues doing it, refusing better opportunities and while a whole town develops around him, he still continues to look down upon anything industrial. There are a couple of powerful scenes scattered around as well - such as one where he can't dig out a rock because of his ageing body and is embarrassed or where he must seek the legal ownership of land he thought he had owned for such a long time.
Books about lives close to nature are something I like but you need to have a plot in there somewhere. It is not that nothing happens in the novel, in fact a lot, too much happens in the novel - Humsun seems to have fit a Marathon ground in space of a 1000 meter track, but none of the action derives the message home, whatever the message is. There are, for example, two incidences of infanticides done by new mothers and I don't know what the point was - that new mothers should not be left alone with babies ? I mean who else would care for those little, ugly, smelling, foolish things?
It is same with rest of the novel, a lot of action that didn't prompt much of thinking in me. Moreover Isac was too self-sure and his confidence always found success. Bad seasons didn't distress him, as they would, IMO, any farmer, especially in days when artificial methods of harvesting weren't available - and there were so few of thoess bad seasons. The only source of problems, besides new mothers and women in general that is, was modernity and society. Those are like devilish inspirations which fill minds of people with all sorts of wicked wishes to live in them. I could like societies to move closer to nature - find a balance, more trees and more tolerance to animals and stuff, but returning to complete primitivism is totally another thing and that, unfortunately, was centeral theme of novel if you were to be believe Wiki. Isac was an Humsun's idea of an ideal man - and like all writers wanting to depict their idea of ideal man, Humsun seems to have forgotten that people are diverse. There is none of that beauty of his other novel 'Hungar' in here.
Books about lives close to nature are something I like but you need to have a plot in there somewhere. It is not that nothing happens in the novel, in fact a lot, too much happens in the novel - Humsun seems to have fit a Marathon ground in space of a 1000 meter track, but none of the action derives the message home, whatever the message is. There are, for example, two incidences of infanticides done by new mothers and I don't know what the point was - that new mothers should not be left alone with babies ? I mean who else would care for those little, ugly, smelling, foolish things?
It is same with rest of the novel, a lot of action that didn't prompt much of thinking in me. Moreover Isac was too self-sure and his confidence always found success. Bad seasons didn't distress him, as they would, IMO, any farmer, especially in days when artificial methods of harvesting weren't available - and there were so few of thoess bad seasons. The only source of problems, besides new mothers and women in general that is, was modernity and society. Those are like devilish inspirations which fill minds of people with all sorts of wicked wishes to live in them. I could like societies to move closer to nature - find a balance, more trees and more tolerance to animals and stuff, but returning to complete primitivism is totally another thing and that, unfortunately, was centeral theme of novel if you were to be believe Wiki. Isac was an Humsun's idea of an ideal man - and like all writers wanting to depict their idea of ideal man, Humsun seems to have forgotten that people are diverse. There is none of that beauty of his other novel 'Hungar' in here.
September 24, 2021
"Nature’s there, for you and yours to have and enjoy. Man and Nature don’t bombard each other, but agree; they don’t compete, race one against the other, but go together.
Growth of the Soil, which helped Knut Hamsun earn his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920, was his homage to the man of nature. It tells the story of Isak, a simple man, who without "a sword in hands, go through life bareheaded, barehanded, in the midst of a great kindliness (nature)". He is the first settler in a wilderness who begins life only with a "sack, containing provisions for the road and some implements.". He toils with the soil and grows as the soil grows. There are his trials, but his successes are many. The growth of the soil caters to all his physical needs and the surrounding wilderness feeds his soul. He is in harmony with nature, and as such, in peace. With time, several others come and settle in the surrounding lands, and copper mining begins paving the way for industrialization. None of these affect Isak, however. This man of nature, through all the "development", stays true to nature, and in doing so, he never loses his peace and contentment.
If you look at the Growth of the Soil from a novel perspective, it's neither plot-driven nor character-driven as is customary. Rather, it is theme-driven. The protagonist Isak is Hamsun's voice. Through Isak's story, Hamsun is advocating on the agrarian lifestyle which he considered the best mode of living since it helped man to live harmoniously with nature. He loathed modernization and saw industrialization as a threat to nature and the peace of man. The failure of the copper mining in the story and the financial downfall of the ones who depended on it was Hamsun's way of proving his point. But one mustn't misunderstand Hamsun. He was not against the development of agricultural methods and tools. It was industrialization that he was suspicious of, and it was industrialization that he saw as the enemy. Hamsun regarded the growth of the soil to be the natural habitat of the humans, and any foreign intervention to upset its balance was viewed as disastrous.
The theme expounded in Growth of the Soil has a present bearing. We, as humans, have utterly run against nature and are facing its dire consequences. Industrialization and modernization are needed for us to move forward. To that extent, I differ from Hamsun. But it shouldn't be in excess, and most certainly it shouldn't be contrary with nature. We, humans, have misjudged the power of nature, and we are paying dearly today for our error.
Before closing my review, one word must be said about Hamsun's writing. It is picturesque and soothing. With his clever pen, he brings the Norwegian wilderness beautifully to life and transports the readers into the setting. He goes through every season in such detail that it is not only Isak, his family, and neighbours who are living it; we readers are too. I like when a book can do that, when it can transport you to the settings of the story. Knut Hamsun is one of my late discoveries, and the Growth of the Soil is my first exposure to him. It certainly won't be the last.
Growth of the Soil, which helped Knut Hamsun earn his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920, was his homage to the man of nature. It tells the story of Isak, a simple man, who without "a sword in hands, go through life bareheaded, barehanded, in the midst of a great kindliness (nature)". He is the first settler in a wilderness who begins life only with a "sack, containing provisions for the road and some implements.". He toils with the soil and grows as the soil grows. There are his trials, but his successes are many. The growth of the soil caters to all his physical needs and the surrounding wilderness feeds his soul. He is in harmony with nature, and as such, in peace. With time, several others come and settle in the surrounding lands, and copper mining begins paving the way for industrialization. None of these affect Isak, however. This man of nature, through all the "development", stays true to nature, and in doing so, he never loses his peace and contentment.
If you look at the Growth of the Soil from a novel perspective, it's neither plot-driven nor character-driven as is customary. Rather, it is theme-driven. The protagonist Isak is Hamsun's voice. Through Isak's story, Hamsun is advocating on the agrarian lifestyle which he considered the best mode of living since it helped man to live harmoniously with nature. He loathed modernization and saw industrialization as a threat to nature and the peace of man. The failure of the copper mining in the story and the financial downfall of the ones who depended on it was Hamsun's way of proving his point. But one mustn't misunderstand Hamsun. He was not against the development of agricultural methods and tools. It was industrialization that he was suspicious of, and it was industrialization that he saw as the enemy. Hamsun regarded the growth of the soil to be the natural habitat of the humans, and any foreign intervention to upset its balance was viewed as disastrous.
The theme expounded in Growth of the Soil has a present bearing. We, as humans, have utterly run against nature and are facing its dire consequences. Industrialization and modernization are needed for us to move forward. To that extent, I differ from Hamsun. But it shouldn't be in excess, and most certainly it shouldn't be contrary with nature. We, humans, have misjudged the power of nature, and we are paying dearly today for our error.
Before closing my review, one word must be said about Hamsun's writing. It is picturesque and soothing. With his clever pen, he brings the Norwegian wilderness beautifully to life and transports the readers into the setting. He goes through every season in such detail that it is not only Isak, his family, and neighbours who are living it; we readers are too. I like when a book can do that, when it can transport you to the settings of the story. Knut Hamsun is one of my late discoveries, and the Growth of the Soil is my first exposure to him. It certainly won't be the last.
December 2, 2014
3.5/5
I'd like to say the controversy of the author's political beliefs does not affect my rating in the slightest, but that is almost certainly a lie. Saddening as it is, the knowledge made me a little more mindful and a lot less forgiving of the fundamental differences of opinion between the author and myself. Ultimately, it was the glorious reception that the book has been met with that made me decide on a lower rating. This is not one of those tomes that require my defense.
What I enjoyed was the easy pace, the healthy tendrils of culturally rich storyline, the understated poetry of humans fully committed to their landscape. What I didn't enjoy was the overt polemicizing, not out of any general dislike for such things but the fact of my many disagreements. Sometimes the naturalness of this occurring with certain authors dissuades me from thinking less of their books, but here it is impossible to belittle what I didn't like in order to portray the book in a better light to others.
If you know me, you know what's coming, and while I'd like to stop bothering myself over poor portrayal of women and other aspects correlating with my personal characteristics, it's not going to happen any time soon. However, there's something new added to my usual stew of complaints: Hamsun's portrayal of living in anything larger than a single farmstead, and the judgment he passes on those towns, cities, and all its citizens.
The cornerstone of this novel are the cares and characteristics of one Isak: strong, single-minded, and wholly subsumed in his desire to make his living on the soil. Unlike Independent People, all of his work bears fruit to an extraordinary degree, as does everyone and everything else around him so long as it submits to his way of living. Anything that goes against this is wrong, weak, spoiled and unnatural with the blame for such often lying in the midst of many an urbanized center. It happens to his wife Inger, it happens to his son Eleseus, over and over again Hamsun builds up these straw efforts to live on something other than rural fortitude and knocks them down again. I wouldn't have minded it nearly so much if Hamsun hadn't been so smug about the misfortunes of his characters whenever they deviate from the superhuman farmer mentality. I also wouldn't have minded had he at least been consistent about his lauding and condemnations.
Geissler. It gets my goat when all the life threatening dangers and complex issues of giving birth in rural areas are bundled off into sensationalist accounts of infanticide and demonized women with severely belittled arguments galore, while the insufferably proud and corrupt politician Geissler is turned into a glorified trickster god simply because he makes Isak happy. What is Geissler if not the hallmark of urban power, his wealth and fame built off of deceitful machinations, his only reason for cozening himself with Isak being revenge on the town that justly indicted him, all of this portrayed by Hamsun as not just acceptable, but heroic?
I have to wonder how the story would have gone if Isak had been truly left to living solely off his land; how well it would have gone had Geissler yet again abused the rural landowner's lack of real estate knowledge and traded their copper mine for a far paltrier sum that ran out far before the book was through. It's also funny to note that while everyone else becomes more twisted and malformed the longer they stay in urban centers, Geissler simply wanders unscathed through some sort of mysterious unknown when he's not dropping in to coddle his investment in Isak. He's not writing his letters to get Inger a lighter sentence and negotiating with his wife's family for financial assurance out in the rural home so esteemed in the book, that's for sure. So where's the something "rotting him from within" akin to the case of Elesus? Nowhere Hamsun can tell.
All of this amounts to a single issue: Hamsun obviously has a message, and I'm not buying it. Not everyone has the physical strength and soul consuming interest in building and growing and shiny tools to take the path Isak did and become rich in the process. Not everyone has the sheer luck to claim copper ridden land and not be cheated of it due to complete ignorance, or have that luck and ignorance extend to the realities of childbirth and just what physical and psychological traumas can occur due to having a womb, a male home provider who wants sex, and no contraception. The rating would have done better had I liked the prose or setting or cultural saturation more, or not read the far more complex and nonjudgmental Independent People beforehand. However, if you want to convince me of positives of bucolic living, making a big deal out of certain issues at the expense of others that I hold close to my heart is not the way to do it.
I'd like to say the controversy of the author's political beliefs does not affect my rating in the slightest, but that is almost certainly a lie. Saddening as it is, the knowledge made me a little more mindful and a lot less forgiving of the fundamental differences of opinion between the author and myself. Ultimately, it was the glorious reception that the book has been met with that made me decide on a lower rating. This is not one of those tomes that require my defense.
What I enjoyed was the easy pace, the healthy tendrils of culturally rich storyline, the understated poetry of humans fully committed to their landscape. What I didn't enjoy was the overt polemicizing, not out of any general dislike for such things but the fact of my many disagreements. Sometimes the naturalness of this occurring with certain authors dissuades me from thinking less of their books, but here it is impossible to belittle what I didn't like in order to portray the book in a better light to others.
If you know me, you know what's coming, and while I'd like to stop bothering myself over poor portrayal of women and other aspects correlating with my personal characteristics, it's not going to happen any time soon. However, there's something new added to my usual stew of complaints: Hamsun's portrayal of living in anything larger than a single farmstead, and the judgment he passes on those towns, cities, and all its citizens.
The cornerstone of this novel are the cares and characteristics of one Isak: strong, single-minded, and wholly subsumed in his desire to make his living on the soil. Unlike Independent People, all of his work bears fruit to an extraordinary degree, as does everyone and everything else around him so long as it submits to his way of living. Anything that goes against this is wrong, weak, spoiled and unnatural with the blame for such often lying in the midst of many an urbanized center. It happens to his wife Inger, it happens to his son Eleseus, over and over again Hamsun builds up these straw efforts to live on something other than rural fortitude and knocks them down again. I wouldn't have minded it nearly so much if Hamsun hadn't been so smug about the misfortunes of his characters whenever they deviate from the superhuman farmer mentality. I also wouldn't have minded had he at least been consistent about his lauding and condemnations.
Geissler. It gets my goat when all the life threatening dangers and complex issues of giving birth in rural areas are bundled off into sensationalist accounts of infanticide and demonized women with severely belittled arguments galore, while the insufferably proud and corrupt politician Geissler is turned into a glorified trickster god simply because he makes Isak happy. What is Geissler if not the hallmark of urban power, his wealth and fame built off of deceitful machinations, his only reason for cozening himself with Isak being revenge on the town that justly indicted him, all of this portrayed by Hamsun as not just acceptable, but heroic?
I have to wonder how the story would have gone if Isak had been truly left to living solely off his land; how well it would have gone had Geissler yet again abused the rural landowner's lack of real estate knowledge and traded their copper mine for a far paltrier sum that ran out far before the book was through. It's also funny to note that while everyone else becomes more twisted and malformed the longer they stay in urban centers, Geissler simply wanders unscathed through some sort of mysterious unknown when he's not dropping in to coddle his investment in Isak. He's not writing his letters to get Inger a lighter sentence and negotiating with his wife's family for financial assurance out in the rural home so esteemed in the book, that's for sure. So where's the something "rotting him from within" akin to the case of Elesus? Nowhere Hamsun can tell.
All of this amounts to a single issue: Hamsun obviously has a message, and I'm not buying it. Not everyone has the physical strength and soul consuming interest in building and growing and shiny tools to take the path Isak did and become rich in the process. Not everyone has the sheer luck to claim copper ridden land and not be cheated of it due to complete ignorance, or have that luck and ignorance extend to the realities of childbirth and just what physical and psychological traumas can occur due to having a womb, a male home provider who wants sex, and no contraception. The rating would have done better had I liked the prose or setting or cultural saturation more, or not read the far more complex and nonjudgmental Independent People beforehand. However, if you want to convince me of positives of bucolic living, making a big deal out of certain issues at the expense of others that I hold close to my heart is not the way to do it.
April 16, 2017
3.5
The rugged man stood there with a miracle before him; a thing created first of all in a sacred mist, showing forth now in life with a little face like an allegory.
The writing style of Hamsun’s ‘epic’ is quite different from the other two (earlier period) Hamsun novels I've read, and in some ways it reminded me of Buck's The Good Earth, though Hamsun is much more intrusive as a narrator. The above sentence is from early on in the novel and is easily my favorite, though it is with the allegorical aspects of this novel that I struggled. I struggled even more so with some of Hamsun's ideas, especially those embodied in the female characters.
The ending is beautifully written, if too romantic (of the land) for my tastes. Or perhaps it’s merely that, my preferences run less to this:
and much more to this:
The rugged man stood there with a miracle before him; a thing created first of all in a sacred mist, showing forth now in life with a little face like an allegory.
The writing style of Hamsun’s ‘epic’ is quite different from the other two (earlier period) Hamsun novels I've read, and in some ways it reminded me of Buck's The Good Earth, though Hamsun is much more intrusive as a narrator. The above sentence is from early on in the novel and is easily my favorite, though it is with the allegorical aspects of this novel that I struggled. I struggled even more so with some of Hamsun's ideas, especially those embodied in the female characters.
The ending is beautifully written, if too romantic (of the land) for my tastes. Or perhaps it’s merely that, my preferences run less to this:
and much more to this:
August 23, 2022
رواية كلاسيكية في أجواء طبيعية وبدائية في بداية القرن العشرين
يكتب كنوت هامسن حكاية رجل يُعمر البرية على حدود النرويج
حياته كلها عمل وجهد ومثابرة وتحدي في أرض نائية
في زمن كان فيه الزراعة والنقل والبناء صعب وشاق
لكن بالتدريج تخضر الأرض وينمو الزرع وتكبر العائلة
حياة طويلة تتفرع فيها الحكايات والشخصيات والأحداث
هامسن يزهو باسحاق بطل روايته القوي الذي يبني مزرعة كبيرة من لا شيء
كمثال للعمل الجاد والارتباط بالأرض والطبيعة والبعد عن الحداثة
سرد طويل وتفصيلي وبطئ
يكتب كنوت هامسن حكاية رجل يُعمر البرية على حدود النرويج
حياته كلها عمل وجهد ومثابرة وتحدي في أرض نائية
في زمن كان فيه الزراعة والنقل والبناء صعب وشاق
لكن بالتدريج تخضر الأرض وينمو الزرع وتكبر العائلة
حياة طويلة تتفرع فيها الحكايات والشخصيات والأحداث
هامسن يزهو باسحاق بطل روايته القوي الذي يبني مزرعة كبيرة من لا شيء
كمثال للعمل الجاد والارتباط بالأرض والطبيعة والبعد عن الحداثة
سرد طويل وتفصيلي وبطئ
July 10, 2016
6 Estrelas Épicas
”Aquela vereda comprida, compridíssima que atravessa os pântanos e a floresta: quem a abriu ao percorrê-la? O homem, um ser humano, o primeiro que aqui surgiu. Antes da sua chegada, não havia caminho.” (Pág. 7) – assim começa ”Os Frutos da Terra”, esse homem, esse ser humano é Isak; ”Um homem caminha vindo de norte. Transporta um saco – o primeiro saco – que contém um farnel e alguns apetrechos. O homem é forte e rude, e tem uma barba de um vermelho-ferro e pequenas cicatrizes no rosto e nas mãos, testemunhos de velhas feridas – obteve-as a trabalhar ou em brigas? (…) Caminha (…) Quando, (…), alcança um sítio agradável, um espaço aberto na floresta, (…) caminha (…) O homem anui, a fim de confirmar que se estabelecerá ali – e, de facto, é o que faz, é ali que assenta arraiais. (…) A pior parte fora encontrar o sítio mais propício, aquela terra de ninguém que, contudo, lhe pertence; agora os seus dias preenchem-se com trabalho.” (Pág. 7 – 8) – Isak encontrou a sua “terra”; através de um lapão errante pretende encontrar a sua "mulher": ”Não conheces, por acaso uma mulher que me possa ajudar? – Não. Mas posso espalhar a palavra por onde viajar. – Fá-lo! Diz que tenho animais e ninguém que cuide deles.” (Pág. 9) – essa mulher será Inger, que chegou e nunca partiu - ”O amor transforma os sábios em tolos (…)”. (Pág. 14) – uma companheira com a boca desfigurada, o lábio leporino, desembaraçada e diligente, uma bênção.
Isak (Amund Rydland) - Filme "Markens grøde" (1921) de Gunnar Sommerfeldt
Isak edifica uma habitação: “uma cabana de turfa, apertada e quente” e a família aumenta: primeiro nascem dois rapazes, Eleseus e Sivert, dois filhos muito diferentes no comportamento e na atitude; mais tarde duas raparigas, Leopoldina e Rebecca.
Isak (Amund Rydland) e Inger (Karen Poulsen) - Filme "Markens grøde" (1921) de Gunnar Sommerfeldt
Knut Hamsun constrói a narrativa de ”Os Frutos da Terra” em duas partes: a Parte I e a Parte II, duas histórias interligadas; na Parte I o relato centra-se, essencialmente, em Isak, um homem trabalhador e determinado, excepcionalmente virtuoso e individualista, com códigos de honra e conduta irrepreensíveis, humilde e honesto, com uma reputação imaculada, conquista o respeito de todas as pessoas; detesta as tarefas burocráticas, começa por desbravar uma área inóspita e pantanosa, tornando-a arável, adora a terra, os animais e as árvores, gerindo ambientalmente a floresta, um verdadeiro empreendedor, que investe, sistematicamente, na construção e ampliação das suas instalações agrícolas e pecuárias, que se moderniza, nomeadamente, na aquisição e utilização das novas tecnologias agrícolas e florestais, tornando Sellanraa, numa quinta modelo e Isak num homem rico, com notoriedade e sucesso, apesar de não saber ler e escrever.
Independentemente das vicissitudes e da extrema dificuldade do trabalho agrícola e florestal, Isak e Inger, enfrentam as adversidades decorrentes dessas tarefas e das contrariedades climatéricas inerentes à localização da sua quinta no norte da Noruega, sempre com um sorriso nos lábios.
Na Parte II, Knut Hamsun estrutura a narrativa, basicamente, nas vivências de Aksel Strom, proprietário da quinta Maaneland, na relação conturbada com a sua criada, Barbro, filha de Brede Olsen, um agricultor falhado que acaba por perder a sua propriedade Breidablik.
Das inúmeras personagens secundárias, destaco uma: o meirinho Geissler, mais tarde, ex-funcionário local, que se torna num empreendedor, um “sonhador” inveterado, que mantém com Isak uma mútua relação de amizade e confiança.
Após a publicação em 1917 de ”Os Frutos da Terra”, no original ”Markens Grøde”, Knut Hamsun é galardoado em 1920 com o Prémio Nobel da Literatura.
Há uma questão controversa directamente relacionada com Knut Hamsun: o facto de ter sido simpatizante nazista e admirador de Adolf Hitler e de Joseph Goebbels, a quem ofereceu a medalha recebida pelo Prémio Nobel da Literatura. Um comportamento político controverso que determina sentimentos ambivalentes em relação à genialidade da sua produção literária.
”Os Frutos da Terra” deveria ser um livro de leitura obrigatória nas Universidades portuguesas, na área da Gestão, da Ética e do Empreendedorismo, no domínio da Agricultura e da Floresta; para os que valorizam a preservação da família, independentemente, dos percalços amorosos e da felicidade, para os leitores que adoraram Gente Independente.
Por fim, dois destaques: primeiro, o excepcional trabalho de tradução do norueguês do amigo GR João Reis – não é fácil traduzir um livro escrito em 1917, com singularidades próprias na linguagem e nos diálogos e, sobretudo, num romance repleto de termos técnicos ligados à agricultura e à floresta que evoluíram na sua especificidade e na sua utilização (só tenho dúvida na “cortiça da bétula”); segundo, no notável trabalho editorial da Cavalo de Ferro, a melhor editora portuguesa.
”Os Frutos da Terra” é um livro deslumbrante, uma “história” comovente e dramática, verdadeiramente inesquecível…
”Aquela vereda comprida, compridíssima que atravessa os pântanos e a floresta: quem a abriu ao percorrê-la? O homem, um ser humano, o primeiro que aqui surgiu. Antes da sua chegada, não havia caminho.” (Pág. 7) – assim começa ”Os Frutos da Terra”, esse homem, esse ser humano é Isak; ”Um homem caminha vindo de norte. Transporta um saco – o primeiro saco – que contém um farnel e alguns apetrechos. O homem é forte e rude, e tem uma barba de um vermelho-ferro e pequenas cicatrizes no rosto e nas mãos, testemunhos de velhas feridas – obteve-as a trabalhar ou em brigas? (…) Caminha (…) Quando, (…), alcança um sítio agradável, um espaço aberto na floresta, (…) caminha (…) O homem anui, a fim de confirmar que se estabelecerá ali – e, de facto, é o que faz, é ali que assenta arraiais. (…) A pior parte fora encontrar o sítio mais propício, aquela terra de ninguém que, contudo, lhe pertence; agora os seus dias preenchem-se com trabalho.” (Pág. 7 – 8) – Isak encontrou a sua “terra”; através de um lapão errante pretende encontrar a sua "mulher": ”Não conheces, por acaso uma mulher que me possa ajudar? – Não. Mas posso espalhar a palavra por onde viajar. – Fá-lo! Diz que tenho animais e ninguém que cuide deles.” (Pág. 9) – essa mulher será Inger, que chegou e nunca partiu - ”O amor transforma os sábios em tolos (…)”. (Pág. 14) – uma companheira com a boca desfigurada, o lábio leporino, desembaraçada e diligente, uma bênção.
Isak (Amund Rydland) - Filme "Markens grøde" (1921) de Gunnar Sommerfeldt
Isak edifica uma habitação: “uma cabana de turfa, apertada e quente” e a família aumenta: primeiro nascem dois rapazes, Eleseus e Sivert, dois filhos muito diferentes no comportamento e na atitude; mais tarde duas raparigas, Leopoldina e Rebecca.
Isak (Amund Rydland) e Inger (Karen Poulsen) - Filme "Markens grøde" (1921) de Gunnar Sommerfeldt
Knut Hamsun constrói a narrativa de ”Os Frutos da Terra” em duas partes: a Parte I e a Parte II, duas histórias interligadas; na Parte I o relato centra-se, essencialmente, em Isak, um homem trabalhador e determinado, excepcionalmente virtuoso e individualista, com códigos de honra e conduta irrepreensíveis, humilde e honesto, com uma reputação imaculada, conquista o respeito de todas as pessoas; detesta as tarefas burocráticas, começa por desbravar uma área inóspita e pantanosa, tornando-a arável, adora a terra, os animais e as árvores, gerindo ambientalmente a floresta, um verdadeiro empreendedor, que investe, sistematicamente, na construção e ampliação das suas instalações agrícolas e pecuárias, que se moderniza, nomeadamente, na aquisição e utilização das novas tecnologias agrícolas e florestais, tornando Sellanraa, numa quinta modelo e Isak num homem rico, com notoriedade e sucesso, apesar de não saber ler e escrever.
Independentemente das vicissitudes e da extrema dificuldade do trabalho agrícola e florestal, Isak e Inger, enfrentam as adversidades decorrentes dessas tarefas e das contrariedades climatéricas inerentes à localização da sua quinta no norte da Noruega, sempre com um sorriso nos lábios.
Na Parte II, Knut Hamsun estrutura a narrativa, basicamente, nas vivências de Aksel Strom, proprietário da quinta Maaneland, na relação conturbada com a sua criada, Barbro, filha de Brede Olsen, um agricultor falhado que acaba por perder a sua propriedade Breidablik.
Das inúmeras personagens secundárias, destaco uma: o meirinho Geissler, mais tarde, ex-funcionário local, que se torna num empreendedor, um “sonhador” inveterado, que mantém com Isak uma mútua relação de amizade e confiança.
Após a publicação em 1917 de ”Os Frutos da Terra”, no original ”Markens Grøde”, Knut Hamsun é galardoado em 1920 com o Prémio Nobel da Literatura.
Há uma questão controversa directamente relacionada com Knut Hamsun: o facto de ter sido simpatizante nazista e admirador de Adolf Hitler e de Joseph Goebbels, a quem ofereceu a medalha recebida pelo Prémio Nobel da Literatura. Um comportamento político controverso que determina sentimentos ambivalentes em relação à genialidade da sua produção literária.
”Os Frutos da Terra” deveria ser um livro de leitura obrigatória nas Universidades portuguesas, na área da Gestão, da Ética e do Empreendedorismo, no domínio da Agricultura e da Floresta; para os que valorizam a preservação da família, independentemente, dos percalços amorosos e da felicidade, para os leitores que adoraram Gente Independente.
Por fim, dois destaques: primeiro, o excepcional trabalho de tradução do norueguês do amigo GR João Reis – não é fácil traduzir um livro escrito em 1917, com singularidades próprias na linguagem e nos diálogos e, sobretudo, num romance repleto de termos técnicos ligados à agricultura e à floresta que evoluíram na sua especificidade e na sua utilização (só tenho dúvida na “cortiça da bétula”); segundo, no notável trabalho editorial da Cavalo de Ferro, a melhor editora portuguesa.
”Os Frutos da Terra” é um livro deslumbrante, uma “história” comovente e dramática, verdadeiramente inesquecível…
July 8, 2013
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 many characters thanks to steadiness. Loved the setting, the various character types, the morality, the petty power ploys, the longing for more than life in the woods, the vision of the devil with shivering pines nearby, the mines, Inger's randiness, the fallen tree, the big stone toward the end, the infanticides (and the overall overarching transcendent theme about achieving eternal life through cultivation of self, society, and soil). Only one anti-semitic comment toward the end uttered by one of the book's most charismatic characters -- he also rips Americans too -- whatever tempts settlers from life in synch with trees and mountains is dissed in this. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to join a back-to-the-land movement. Otherwise, not only is this enjoyable on a what happens next/story-progression level, it's instructive in terms of providing a positive model of perservence, dedication, hard work, even if Isak is pretty thick. Overall, this novel offers access to such a well-drawn world, a sort of Eden that's probably now (~120–150 years later) crossed with highways and strip malls. Wish I'd read this soon after Hunger back in 1994 or so. Hope to get to Pan and Mysteries before the end of the year.
March 11, 2024
I believe it’s fair to make a statement after reading three books by the author.
I state the following:
Knut Hamsun is the greatest writer in the modern era.
Diverse , influential and writes beautifully.
He doesn’t belong to the 19th Century, nor does he belong to the 20th. He is a phase in literature by his own.
A case can be made that no other author influenced more people than him except maybe Dante, Homer, Gothe and Shakespeare.
In this book he as usual tackles Man & Nature. But this time I believe Nature is the main topic. In Hunger and Pan the main topic is the protagonist and his thoughts and emotions meanwhile her it’s the man and his land.
Not only the writing is beautiful and immersive but also the characters are very well written. It doesn’t come as a surprise in a Hamsun book because I have always found his character interesting and compelling. Naturally Isak comes to mind because he is the protagonist of the book ( after the land) but personally I found Geissler to be the most interesting and well written of all the characters in this book.
I state the following:
Knut Hamsun is the greatest writer in the modern era.
Diverse , influential and writes beautifully.
He doesn’t belong to the 19th Century, nor does he belong to the 20th. He is a phase in literature by his own.
A case can be made that no other author influenced more people than him except maybe Dante, Homer, Gothe and Shakespeare.
In this book he as usual tackles Man & Nature. But this time I believe Nature is the main topic. In Hunger and Pan the main topic is the protagonist and his thoughts and emotions meanwhile her it’s the man and his land.
Not only the writing is beautiful and immersive but also the characters are very well written. It doesn’t come as a surprise in a Hamsun book because I have always found his character interesting and compelling. Naturally Isak comes to mind because he is the protagonist of the book ( after the land) but personally I found Geissler to be the most interesting and well written of all the characters in this book.
May 20, 2013
واخضرت الأرض الرواية التي حصل بعدها كنوت هامبسون على نوبل عام 1929
وهي الرواية التي حريّ بكل نرويجي أن يتفاخر بها
لا أعرف إن كان يالإمكان اعتبار هذه الرواية هي رواية تاريخية ولكنني أظنها كذلك فهي ملحمة تبين تاريخ استصلاح الأراضي في شمال النيرويج تحديدا في المنطقة الواقعة على الحدود وهي تحكي قصة رجل أراد أن ينشأ مزرعة في السفوح البرية مع زوجته أنجر والتي التحقت به وهي تعاني من شفة مشقوقة فلم تجد أحدا يتزوجها غير رجل يسكن في البرية ينتظر أن تلتحق به إمرأة تستطيع أن تتخلى عن الحياة المدنية وتعيش معه بعيدا عن المناطق المأهولة وتساعده في تحقيق الحلم بتأسيس مملكة زراعية
أعطى كنوت بطل الرواية اسم اسحق ربما ليضيف مسحة دينية على بطل الرواية ويبدو أن كنوت اراد أن يكون هذا الكتاب دليلا لكل مواطن نرويجي يعتز بأرضه خاصة وأن كنوت نشأ نشأة زراعية واكتسب ثقافة المزارع وقد بدا ذلك واضحا في تعاطيه لكل تفاصيل الحياة الدقيقة من العناية بالحيوانات إلى أعمال الحفر والبناء والزراعة والحصاد وما إلى ذلك
شخصيات الرواية شخصيات بسيطة جدا خالية من تعقيدات المدن لذلك جاء الحوار معبرا جدا عن هذه الحياة ، التي لا تدور سوى حول حياة الريف
حياة أشبه بالبدائية وكأنك ترى آدم وحواء في مشاهد بدء الخليقة واسحق بشخصيته القوية صاحب عمل دؤوب لا يكل ولا يمل وهو بالمقابل عاجز عن التعبير عن أبسط المشاعر إن الحوار الذي كتبه كنوت والخفايا التي تعتمل في صدر اسحق أو انجر يعرضها بشكل جميل أسلوب لطيف ومحبب فهو يستخدم مثل ولماذا عساه يفعل كذا ولماذا أفعل كذا ومثل هذا النوع من الأسئلة التي يطرحها المرء على نفسه ومثل التفسيرات التي يتركها المرء لنفسه ليشعر بالطمأنينة وكم كان أسلوبا أخاذا جعلني أشعر بالفقد الكبير لعالم اسحق وزوجته بعد انتهاء الرواية
الرواية ناقشت قضايا كثيرة تهم المجتمع النيرويجي النقطة الأساسية كانت هي إحياء الأرض ومسألة تحقيق الإكتفاء الذاتي ، وقضايا إجتماعية مثل الطبقات الإجتماعية المتمثلة بالسيد والخادم والعلاقة بينهما ومثل قضايا الإجهاض وقتل الأطفال من غير زواج شرعيوطريقة تعاطي القضاء مع هذه المسائل الأخلاقية ، المجتمعات الصناعية التي بدأت تنمو على حساب المجتمعات الزراعية قصة دخول الإتصالات كالتلغراف والبريد التغيرات والتحديثات التي مرّ بها المجتمع وأخيرا قصة الأحلام التي يودعها الآباء في أبنائهم ومنها ما ينبت
ومنها ما يتحول لغبار
من الشخصيات المثيرة للإهتمام جايزلر إنه يشبه الشخصيات الأسطورية إنه السوبر مان في الرواية الشخصية التي تظهر من مكان ما لتحرك السواكن إن شخصية جايزلر كانت أشبه بمحرك لآلة زراعية كما هي شخصية أولين تدفع الأحداث بإتجاه اليمين وبإتجاه اليسار شخصيات ثرية ستجد منها أشخاص مشابهون في مكان ما أجاد كنوت في تحميلها عبء هذه الأدوار
حقيقة هذه الرواية جمالها في هذا البناء الشامخ من الصفر إن كنوت لم يكن يبني رواية فقط بل بنى حياة بأكملها أنت لا تقرأ ولكن تشاهد هذا البناء يعلو من أمامك تسمع صوت ضرب الأحجار وصوت إطلاق القنابل لاستخراج عروق النحاس تسمع صيحات انجر وهي تلد أطفالها وترى وجه ابنتها وهي تحمر حياءا وتشفق لرؤية إكسل وهو يصارع الموت وإليزيوس وهو ينظر لمظروف والدته الذي خلا من المال
الرواية جميلة بإنسانيتها بحميميتها ببساطتها ببدائيتها .. بتكريمها لقيمة الإنسان العامل بارتباطه بالأرض بالأرض وبإخضرارها
وهي هكذا
اخضرّت الأرض
وهي الرواية التي حريّ بكل نرويجي أن يتفاخر بها
لا أعرف إن كان يالإمكان اعتبار هذه الرواية هي رواية تاريخية ولكنني أظنها كذلك فهي ملحمة تبين تاريخ استصلاح الأراضي في شمال النيرويج تحديدا في المنطقة الواقعة على الحدود وهي تحكي قصة رجل أراد أن ينشأ مزرعة في السفوح البرية مع زوجته أنجر والتي التحقت به وهي تعاني من شفة مشقوقة فلم تجد أحدا يتزوجها غير رجل يسكن في البرية ينتظر أن تلتحق به إمرأة تستطيع أن تتخلى عن الحياة المدنية وتعيش معه بعيدا عن المناطق المأهولة وتساعده في تحقيق الحلم بتأسيس مملكة زراعية
أعطى كنوت بطل الرواية اسم اسحق ربما ليضيف مسحة دينية على بطل الرواية ويبدو أن كنوت اراد أن يكون هذا الكتاب دليلا لكل مواطن نرويجي يعتز بأرضه خاصة وأن كنوت نشأ نشأة زراعية واكتسب ثقافة المزارع وقد بدا ذلك واضحا في تعاطيه لكل تفاصيل الحياة الدقيقة من العناية بالحيوانات إلى أعمال الحفر والبناء والزراعة والحصاد وما إلى ذلك
شخصيات الرواية شخصيات بسيطة جدا خالية من تعقيدات المدن لذلك جاء الحوار معبرا جدا عن هذه الحياة ، التي لا تدور سوى حول حياة الريف
حياة أشبه بالبدائية وكأنك ترى آدم وحواء في مشاهد بدء الخليقة واسحق بشخصيته القوية صاحب عمل دؤوب لا يكل ولا يمل وهو بالمقابل عاجز عن التعبير عن أبسط المشاعر إن الحوار الذي كتبه كنوت والخفايا التي تعتمل في صدر اسحق أو انجر يعرضها بشكل جميل أسلوب لطيف ومحبب فهو يستخدم مثل ولماذا عساه يفعل كذا ولماذا أفعل كذا ومثل هذا النوع من الأسئلة التي يطرحها المرء على نفسه ومثل التفسيرات التي يتركها المرء لنفسه ليشعر بالطمأنينة وكم كان أسلوبا أخاذا جعلني أشعر بالفقد الكبير لعالم اسحق وزوجته بعد انتهاء الرواية
الرواية ناقشت قضايا كثيرة تهم المجتمع النيرويجي النقطة الأساسية كانت هي إحياء الأرض ومسألة تحقيق الإكتفاء الذاتي ، وقضايا إجتماعية مثل الطبقات الإجتماعية المتمثلة بالسيد والخادم والعلاقة بينهما ومثل قضايا الإجهاض وقتل الأطفال من غير زواج شرعيوطريقة تعاطي القضاء مع هذه المسائل الأخلاقية ، المجتمعات الصناعية التي بدأت تنمو على حساب المجتمعات الزراعية قصة دخول الإتصالات كالتلغراف والبريد التغيرات والتحديثات التي مرّ بها المجتمع وأخيرا قصة الأحلام التي يودعها الآباء في أبنائهم ومنها ما ينبت
ومنها ما يتحول لغبار
من الشخصيات المثيرة للإهتمام جايزلر إنه يشبه الشخصيات الأسطورية إنه السوبر مان في الرواية الشخصية التي تظهر من مكان ما لتحرك السواكن إن شخصية جايزلر كانت أشبه بمحرك لآلة زراعية كما هي شخصية أولين تدفع الأحداث بإتجاه اليمين وبإتجاه اليسار شخصيات ثرية ستجد منها أشخاص مشابهون في مكان ما أجاد كنوت في تحميلها عبء هذه الأدوار
حقيقة هذه الرواية جمالها في هذا البناء الشامخ من الصفر إن كنوت لم يكن يبني رواية فقط بل بنى حياة بأكملها أنت لا تقرأ ولكن تشاهد هذا البناء يعلو من أمامك تسمع صوت ضرب الأحجار وصوت إطلاق القنابل لاستخراج عروق النحاس تسمع صيحات انجر وهي تلد أطفالها وترى وجه ابنتها وهي تحمر حياءا وتشفق لرؤية إكسل وهو يصارع الموت وإليزيوس وهو ينظر لمظروف والدته الذي خلا من المال
الرواية جميلة بإنسانيتها بحميميتها ببساطتها ببدائيتها .. بتكريمها لقيمة الإنسان العامل بارتباطه بالأرض بالأرض وبإخضرارها
وهي هكذا
اخضرّت الأرض
March 3, 2019
divno, divno, divno. pastorala pisana 1917. o težačkom životu u norveškoj, o Čovjeku i Zemlji, u trudu i muci, o Bogu koji daje i ne daje. u sjajnom prijevodu a. b. šimića koji svakom rječju dočarava ljepotu atmosfere i vješto koristi riječi koje smo možda putem zaboravili: krasuljak, vjedrica, rublje, sukno, pašnjak, krčevina, špranjica... rečenice su toliko jednostavne, a bogate značenjima... hamsun kaže malo, a ispriča sve. čitanje ove knjige je putovanje u norvešku u nekom drugom vremenu, a ljudi - njihovi strahovi, misli, ljubomore, čežnje i težnje - ostaju svevremeni.
July 23, 2018
A ten star book and a true masterpiece. What more can one possibly say?
I will state what H. G. Wells said:
"I do not know how to express the admiration I feel for this wonderful book without seeming to be extravagant. I am not usually lavish with my praise, but indeed the book impresses me as among the very greatest novels I have ever read. It is wholly beautiful: it is saturated with wisdom and humor and tenderness".
I follow his thoughts entirely.
This novel is divided into two books.
Isak goes into the wilderness in Norway. He is way into the hinterland. He finds a place that suits him, not even thinking that the land belongs to the state. This is a book of survival but with a man who is so happy with his new found state. He cultivates land, does a little building, acquires livestock and tells a passing Lapp that he would like to meet a woman. His wish is granted with the arrival of Inger. She has a hairlip and there's an old saying that if you are given a hare, well a hairlip is going to arrive. She gets on well with Isak, too well in fact as soon she has two boys. But the odd thing is that she has to be alone at each birth and always ensures that Isak is not there. Everything is fine until the arrival of the third child, a girl. I was mesmerised by this part of the book. Anyway, life continues and Inger proves to be quite a fascinating individual who finds that her world suddenly takes a completely different direction that will influence her entire life.
Anyway all in all this is yes a depressing, multi-faceted, but brilliant book and I'm not at all surprised that Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920. I had loved "Hunger" by him but this book indeed surpasses it.
I will state what H. G. Wells said:
"I do not know how to express the admiration I feel for this wonderful book without seeming to be extravagant. I am not usually lavish with my praise, but indeed the book impresses me as among the very greatest novels I have ever read. It is wholly beautiful: it is saturated with wisdom and humor and tenderness".
I follow his thoughts entirely.
This novel is divided into two books.
Isak goes into the wilderness in Norway. He is way into the hinterland. He finds a place that suits him, not even thinking that the land belongs to the state. This is a book of survival but with a man who is so happy with his new found state. He cultivates land, does a little building, acquires livestock and tells a passing Lapp that he would like to meet a woman. His wish is granted with the arrival of Inger. She has a hairlip and there's an old saying that if you are given a hare, well a hairlip is going to arrive. She gets on well with Isak, too well in fact as soon she has two boys. But the odd thing is that she has to be alone at each birth and always ensures that Isak is not there. Everything is fine until the arrival of the third child, a girl. I was mesmerised by this part of the book. Anyway, life continues and Inger proves to be quite a fascinating individual who finds that her world suddenly takes a completely different direction that will influence her entire life.
Anyway all in all this is yes a depressing, multi-faceted, but brilliant book and I'm not at all surprised that Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920. I had loved "Hunger" by him but this book indeed surpasses it.
April 30, 2015
Introduction
Suggestions for Further Reading
--Growth of the Soil
Explanatory Notes
Textual Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
--Growth of the Soil
Explanatory Notes
Textual Notes
September 15, 2020
To fully appreciate Knut Hamsun, one has to first get beyond his political stance during WWII, a veneration of sorts of the strength & the seeming force of will of Nazi Germany. Many gifted writers have been guilty of falling prey to the lure of power, fascist or otherwise & to antisemitism, including Ezra Pound and Jack Kerouac. While it is impossible to overlook Hamsun's post-Nobel award life and his precipitous fall from literary grace, eventually becoming poor & dispossessed, one has to attempt to view the author's novels and most of all, Growth of the Soil, on their own merits.
Isak, the novel's main character perhaps reflects Hamsun's view of the curative power of the soil and begins working on land that belongs to the state, later building a sod hut and eventually gaining title to the land, becoming in the process a sort of archetype of the "natural man" who takes his cues from the soil while remaining adaptable to the vagaries of weather & climate.
Gradually, he fashions the acres into an estate, "Sellanra". A woman named Inger, wanders onto Isak's compound to become his common law wife, though in time they marry & have children but not without some misfortune that causes a rift in their relationship, including a period when Inger is sent away to prison near Trondheim, using that time away to learn to read & to appreciate a world beyond her life in a small Norwegian village.
In Isak's view of himself: "the ground was there, the forest was there; he had tilled & cleared, built up a homestead in the midst of natural wilderness, winning bread for himself & his family, asking nothing of any man but always working, working alone." He taught his sons "about stones, how the white stone was harder than the gray; but when he found a flint, he must make tinder & then could strike fire with it".
Always, the natural man prevails if he works hard enough and "a man of the wild was not put out by things he could not get; art, newspapers, luxuries, politics & such-like were worth just what folk were willing to pay for them, no more". Meanwhile, the growth of the soil was something different, "a thing to be procured at any cost; the only origin of all."
Isak's children are a mixed lot, with Eleseus gifted & worldly but not at home on the family estate, while his brother Sivert is a "jester", rough-hewn & suited to the farm. In time, Eleseus takes over a store but has no business sense, loses money & eventually takes a steamer to America, never to return.
There is also Geisler, a kind of mystery figure, keen on the value of the mine he owns, holding out against a conglomerate. He declares, "I'm something, I'm the fog, as it were, floating around, sometimes coming like rain on dry ground, while my son is like lightening, the modern type & honestly believes all the age, all the Jew & Yankee have taught". The author infers that "modern types" somehow avoid the lessons of the soil.
Growth of the Soil is a kind of extended parable in which those who work with their hands & tend the soil will prevail, all else being speculation & idleness. One might say that in Knut Hamsun's view of the world, simplicity & hard manual labor are the keys to success and the growth of the soil leads to the growth of the soul.
Isak, the novel's main character perhaps reflects Hamsun's view of the curative power of the soil and begins working on land that belongs to the state, later building a sod hut and eventually gaining title to the land, becoming in the process a sort of archetype of the "natural man" who takes his cues from the soil while remaining adaptable to the vagaries of weather & climate.
Gradually, he fashions the acres into an estate, "Sellanra". A woman named Inger, wanders onto Isak's compound to become his common law wife, though in time they marry & have children but not without some misfortune that causes a rift in their relationship, including a period when Inger is sent away to prison near Trondheim, using that time away to learn to read & to appreciate a world beyond her life in a small Norwegian village.
In Isak's view of himself: "the ground was there, the forest was there; he had tilled & cleared, built up a homestead in the midst of natural wilderness, winning bread for himself & his family, asking nothing of any man but always working, working alone." He taught his sons "about stones, how the white stone was harder than the gray; but when he found a flint, he must make tinder & then could strike fire with it".
Always, the natural man prevails if he works hard enough and "a man of the wild was not put out by things he could not get; art, newspapers, luxuries, politics & such-like were worth just what folk were willing to pay for them, no more". Meanwhile, the growth of the soil was something different, "a thing to be procured at any cost; the only origin of all."
Isak's children are a mixed lot, with Eleseus gifted & worldly but not at home on the family estate, while his brother Sivert is a "jester", rough-hewn & suited to the farm. In time, Eleseus takes over a store but has no business sense, loses money & eventually takes a steamer to America, never to return.
There is also Geisler, a kind of mystery figure, keen on the value of the mine he owns, holding out against a conglomerate. He declares, "I'm something, I'm the fog, as it were, floating around, sometimes coming like rain on dry ground, while my son is like lightening, the modern type & honestly believes all the age, all the Jew & Yankee have taught". The author infers that "modern types" somehow avoid the lessons of the soil.
Growth of the Soil is a kind of extended parable in which those who work with their hands & tend the soil will prevail, all else being speculation & idleness. One might say that in Knut Hamsun's view of the world, simplicity & hard manual labor are the keys to success and the growth of the soil leads to the growth of the soul.
July 7, 2021
Στους χερσότοπους, τους βαλτότοπους, στην γεμάτη έλη και καλαμιές μέσα σε νεκροταφεία απο βούρκους, ανάμεσα σε τεράστιες πέτρες που ξεχερσώνονται σε άγονα, λασπωμένα και σκληρά απο χιόνι και παγους εδάφη, στα βόρεια της Νορβηγίας, εκεί, κάπου εκεί,
στα ακατοίκητα και απερίφραχτα στρέμματα συντελείται μια ευλογημένη μακαριότητα μόχθου και ανάγκης.
Εμφανίζεται κάποιο ομιχλώδες πρωινό ενός βαρύ χειμώνα του 19ου αιώνα ένας έποικος, ένα υπαρξιακό άξεστο φάντασμα, ένα δυνατό ανθρώπινο πλάσμα, άσχημο φαινομενικά, με αγγέλους στην ψυχή, φτιαγμένο για σχέσεις πίστης και αφοσίωσης, δύναμης, κούρασης, προκοπής και εγκαρτέρησης με την αιώνια νομοτέλεια της φύσης.
Τα βουνά, ο ουρανός, το χώμα της γης που πατάει, οι πέτρες που σπάει, οι κομμένοι κορμοί των δέντρων που σέρνονται δεμένα απο το σαρκίο του είναι αυτά και
μόνο που τον γειώνουν στωικά και τον βαπτίζουν δούλο της γης, χωρικό του εδάφους, θεριστή της άγριας φύσης, της παγωμένης ψυχής και του γόνιμου σώματος.
Ένας άνδρας που έρχεται απο την άβυσσο της δημιουργίας, απο τα πυκνά σκοτάδια των καιρών και απο τα απροσμέτρητα βάθη του χρόνου και του απολίτιστου παράδεισου των προσδοκιών του.
Οι προσευχές του γίνονται ευχές της αναπαραγωγής, ελπίδες της καρποφορίας, κατάρες των χυδαίων μετεωρολογικών που καταστρέφουν και δυσκολεύουν τον αιώνιο, τον πρωτόγονο έρωτα ανάμεσα σε φύση και επιβίωση, ανάμεσα στην Αγία γραφή και το καθαρτήριο της συνείδησης, ανάμεσα στην χαμένη γη της επαγγελίας και την υπέρλαμπρη αλήθεια που η κοσμοθεωρία του ανθρώπου φιλάει με πάθος και αγκαλιάζει την πλάση, πλάθει μικρόκοσμους και τους χαρίζει υπομονή, επιμονή, πείσμα, μαζί με όλα τα άχραντα μυστήρια που συνθέτουν το ουράνιο τόξο. Αυτό το φυσικό φαινόμενο που αρχίζει και τελειώνει αθώρητο μα υπαρκτό και αφόρητα συνδεδεμένο με στοιχεία απλής, πλουσιοπάροχα φτωχής ζωής και πρωτόγονα υβριδικής καρποφορίας φυτών και ζώων.
Η ερημιά της σκανδιναβικής ορεινής γης αγαλλιάζει με την αγκαλιά της έναν χειρώνακτα της γης έναν αγρότη, έναν καλλιεργητή που γίνεται κτηνοτρόφος και καταλήγει σε μεγαλοκτηματίας, γαιοκτήμονας, σύζυγος και πατέρας, ευλογημένος στα γεννήματα και τους καρπούς, μα, καταραμένος να βιώσει όλη την χρονική ύπαρξη της οντότητας του φυλακισμένος ανάμεσα σε βουνά, δέντρα. βράχους, χωμάτινα οχυρά που χτίστηκαν και εξελίχθηκαν μαζί με μυρωδιές, γκρεμούς, γεύσεις και ζεστές αγκαλιές αφής, με την υγρασία των μακρινών φιόρδ να θυμιατίζει τον κόσμο που αποίκησε αργά και σταθερά την οικιστική κοινότητα.
Καθώς περνούν τα χρόνια και η προ - βιομηχανική εποχή πλησιάζει κοντά στους χωρικούς με μηχανήματα και ανακαλύψεις που διευκολύνουν τον κάματο τους, μα αφήνουν την αίσθηση πως τους απομακρύνουν απο την πραγματική μαγεία της άγριας φύσης.
Στο πέρασμα των καιρών η οικογένεια που πρωταγωνιστεί στην ευλογία της γης φορτίζεται με εμπειρίες, γνωριμίες, με ηθικές συνιστώσες που τεκμαίρονται απο βρεφοκτονίες και αλλά σκληρά ζωώδη ένστικτα τα οποία αντιπαραβάλλονται με νόμους και θεσμούς όμως τελικά ακόμη και η πιο προκλητική σκέψη ιδιοτέλειας είναι ένας κύκλος τόσο των μεμονωμένων ανέκφραστων απο συναισθηματική ευφορία ανθρώπους μέχρι την ευρύτερη πολιτική και πολιτισμική κοινότητα.
Πλάσματα της γης πρωταγωνιστούν σε αυτό το επικό ανάγνωσμα, όχι αφεντικά της.
Στα τέλη του 19ου αιώνα η Νορβηγία έρχεται σε αντίθεση με μια βαθιά ριζωμένη σύνδεση - γείωση, με το έδαφος, πρωτόγνωρα συναπαντήματα με τον πρόσφατα αναδυόμενο ρηχό υλισμό της επιβίωσης και την ιστορική πομπή της αστικής ζωής, σε μια ωδή προς την ανθρωπιά. Ανιδιοτελή θυσία έναντι της προσωπικής απόλαυσης και της προσποίησης που δεν επιτρέπει συναισθηματικά ξεσπάσματα για πάθη και τρυφηλότητα. Ταπεινότητα έναντι εγωισμού και η ματαιότητα της ανθρώπινης υπερηφάνειας. Η αποδοχή και η χαρά της ανθρώπινης ανισότητας παρέχουν στον Χάμσουν μια ποιητική σύνδεση με το έδαφος που είναι πέρα από την πνευματικότητα. Επιπροσθέτως σε αυτό ο συγγραφέας προσυπογράφει τα αιώνια συμβόλαια αναφορικά με την μοναδική κατανόηση της ανθρώπινης ψυχής και της καλλιτεχνικής ανάπτυξης χαρακτήρων, χαρίζοντας ένα λόγιο αρχέγονο, ένα κλασικό της σύγχρονης λογοτεχνίας.
Καλή ανάγνωση
Πολλούς και σεμνούς ασπασμούς.
στα ακατοίκητα και απερίφραχτα στρέμματα συντελείται μια ευλογημένη μακαριότητα μόχθου και ανάγκης.
Εμφανίζεται κάποιο ομιχλώδες πρωινό ενός βαρύ χειμώνα του 19ου αιώνα ένας έποικος, ένα υπαρξιακό άξεστο φάντασμα, ένα δυνατό ανθρώπινο πλάσμα, άσχημο φαινομενικά, με αγγέλους στην ψυχή, φτιαγμένο για σχέσεις πίστης και αφοσίωσης, δύναμης, κούρασης, προκοπής και εγκαρτέρησης με την αιώνια νομοτέλεια της φύσης.
Τα βουνά, ο ουρανός, το χώμα της γης που πατάει, οι πέτρες που σπάει, οι κομμένοι κορμοί των δέντρων που σέρνονται δεμένα απο το σαρκίο του είναι αυτά και
μόνο που τον γειώνουν στωικά και τον βαπτίζουν δούλο της γης, χωρικό του εδάφους, θεριστή της άγριας φύσης, της παγωμένης ψυχής και του γόνιμου σώματος.
Ένας άνδρας που έρχεται απο την άβυσσο της δημιουργίας, απο τα πυκνά σκοτάδια των καιρών και απο τα απροσμέτρητα βάθη του χρόνου και του απολίτιστου παράδεισου των προσδοκιών του.
Οι προσευχές του γίνονται ευχές της αναπαραγωγής, ελπίδες της καρποφορίας, κατάρες των χυδαίων μετεωρολογικών που καταστρέφουν και δυσκολεύουν τον αιώνιο, τον πρωτόγονο έρωτα ανάμεσα σε φύση και επιβίωση, ανάμεσα στην Αγία γραφή και το καθαρτήριο της συνείδησης, ανάμεσα στην χαμένη γη της επαγγελίας και την υπέρλαμπρη αλήθεια που η κοσμοθεωρία του ανθρώπου φιλάει με πάθος και αγκαλιάζει την πλάση, πλάθει μικρόκοσμους και τους χαρίζει υπομονή, επιμονή, πείσμα, μαζί με όλα τα άχραντα μυστήρια που συνθέτουν το ουράνιο τόξο. Αυτό το φυσικό φαινόμενο που αρχίζει και τελειώνει αθώρητο μα υπαρκτό και αφόρητα συνδεδεμένο με στοιχεία απλής, πλουσιοπάροχα φτωχής ζωής και πρωτόγονα υβριδικής καρποφορίας φυτών και ζώων.
Η ερημιά της σκανδιναβικής ορεινής γης αγαλλιάζει με την αγκαλιά της έναν χειρώνακτα της γης έναν αγρότη, έναν καλλιεργητή που γίνεται κτηνοτρόφος και καταλήγει σε μεγαλοκτηματίας, γαιοκτήμονας, σύζυγος και πατέρας, ευλογημένος στα γεννήματα και τους καρπούς, μα, καταραμένος να βιώσει όλη την χρονική ύπαρξη της οντότητας του φυλακισμένος ανάμεσα σε βουνά, δέντρα. βράχους, χωμάτινα οχυρά που χτίστηκαν και εξελίχθηκαν μαζί με μυρωδιές, γκρεμούς, γεύσεις και ζεστές αγκαλιές αφής, με την υγρασία των μακρινών φιόρδ να θυμιατίζει τον κόσμο που αποίκησε αργά και σταθερά την οικιστική κοινότητα.
Καθώς περνούν τα χρόνια και η προ - βιομηχανική εποχή πλησιάζει κοντά στους χωρικούς με μηχανήματα και ανακαλύψεις που διευκολύνουν τον κάματο τους, μα αφήνουν την αίσθηση πως τους απομακρύνουν απο την πραγματική μαγεία της άγριας φύσης.
Στο πέρασμα των καιρών η οικογένεια που πρωταγωνιστεί στην ευλογία της γης φορτίζεται με εμπειρίες, γνωριμίες, με ηθικές συνιστώσες που τεκμαίρονται απο βρεφοκτονίες και αλλά σκληρά ζωώδη ένστικτα τα οποία αντιπαραβάλλονται με νόμους και θεσμούς όμως τελικά ακόμη και η πιο προκλητική σκέψη ιδιοτέλειας είναι ένας κύκλος τόσο των μεμονωμένων ανέκφραστων απο συναισθηματική ευφορία ανθρώπους μέχρι την ευρύτερη πολιτική και πολιτισμική κοινότητα.
Πλάσματα της γης πρωταγωνιστούν σε αυτό το επικό ανάγνωσμα, όχι αφεντικά της.
Στα τέλη του 19ου αιώνα η Νορβηγία έρχεται σε αντίθεση με μια βαθιά ριζωμένη σύνδεση - γείωση, με το έδαφος, πρωτόγνωρα συναπαντήματα με τον πρόσφατα αναδυόμενο ρηχό υλισμό της επιβίωσης και την ιστορική πομπή της αστικής ζωής, σε μια ωδή προς την ανθρωπιά. Ανιδιοτελή θυσία έναντι της προσωπικής απόλαυσης και της προσποίησης που δεν επιτρέπει συναισθηματικά ξεσπάσματα για πάθη και τρυφηλότητα. Ταπεινότητα έναντι εγωισμού και η ματαιότητα της ανθρώπινης υπερηφάνειας. Η αποδοχή και η χαρά της ανθρώπινης ανισότητας παρέχουν στον Χάμσουν μια ποιητική σύνδεση με το έδαφος που είναι πέρα από την πνευματικότητα. Επιπροσθέτως σε αυτό ο συγγραφέας προσυπογράφει τα αιώνια συμβόλαια αναφορικά με την μοναδική κατανόηση της ανθρώπινης ψυχής και της καλλιτεχνικής ανάπτυξης χαρακτήρων, χαρίζοντας ένα λόγιο αρχέγονο, ένα κλασικό της σύγχρονης λογοτεχνίας.
Καλή ανάγνωση
Πολλούς και σεμνούς ασπασμούς.
September 26, 2018
Growth of the Soil, is a novel by Knut Hamsun which won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. It follows the story of a Norwegian man who settles on undeveloped wooded land in rural Norway. The author clearly wanted to make the point that the soil is the source of true value, and that hard work consistently applied over many years was required to turn that inherent value into wealth. As part of the plot the author shows that the apparent easy wealth from mining is illusory.
To illustrate the importance of work, the book's cast of characters includes a variety of personalities illustrating how those who don't work will most likely not succeed. It is also made clear that those who are content of live simply will fare better than those with expensive living habits.
The role of women is also highlighted, and two instances of infanticide are included as part of the plot. In the first case the guilty woman spends six years in a prison where she learns how to sew and the hare-lip with which she was born is corrected by surgery. This is clearly an assertion that prisons function best when they emphasize reformation over punishment.
The second case of infanticide that's part of the book is that of a single woman who felt driven to it my societal pressures. At the trial there's a local woman—the sheriff's wife—who demands the opportunity to give testimony regarding the case. The following is a portion of what she told the court.
Unfortunately, the author Knut Hamsun in latter years fell out of favor with the literary world because of his support for the Nazis after the German invasion of Norway in 1940.
To illustrate the importance of work, the book's cast of characters includes a variety of personalities illustrating how those who don't work will most likely not succeed. It is also made clear that those who are content of live simply will fare better than those with expensive living habits.
The role of women is also highlighted, and two instances of infanticide are included as part of the plot. In the first case the guilty woman spends six years in a prison where she learns how to sew and the hare-lip with which she was born is corrected by surgery. This is clearly an assertion that prisons function best when they emphasize reformation over punishment.
The second case of infanticide that's part of the book is that of a single woman who felt driven to it my societal pressures. At the trial there's a local woman—the sheriff's wife—who demands the opportunity to give testimony regarding the case. The following is a portion of what she told the court.
"We women," the sheriff's wife said, "we are an unhappy and subjugated half of mankind. Men make the laws; we women have no influence on this. But can any man imagine what it means to a woman to have a child? Has he experienced the anxiety, has he felt the excruciating pain and woe and screams? In this case, a maid has had a child. She is unmarried, so she is supposed to bear this child in her body while trying to hide it. Why hide it? Because of society. Society has contempt for the unmarried woman who is pregnant. Not only does it not protect her, it persecutes her with contempt and shame. Isn't that awful? It is enough to infuriate any person with a beating heart. The young woman is not only going to bring a child into the world, which may seem bad enough, but she is also to be treated as a criminal because of it. I venture to say that it was sheer luck that this young woman sitting here in the dock, that her child accidentally was born in that creek and drowned. It was fortunate both for her and the child. As long as society is the way it is, no unmarried mother should be punished, even if she killed her child."The above is a less than subtle message to the reader that role of women needs to be improved. This impresses me as a quite enlightened point of view for the time in which it was written.
Unfortunately, the author Knut Hamsun in latter years fell out of favor with the literary world because of his support for the Nazis after the German invasion of Norway in 1940.
July 4, 2016
"... — nascera e, agora, morrera..."
Os Frutos da Terra conta a história de um homem que numa floresta norueguesa, onde nada existe, constrói, ao longo de anos e à força de braços, um lugar para viver e constituir família.
A primeira parte do romance foi muito emocionante, mas a partir de um determinado episódio, que me pareceu inconsistente, pus o coração ao largo e li o restante apenas com a cabeça, apreciando a escrita e o desenvolvimento do enredo. E foi bom...
Apenas uma personagem - Geissler - me encantou; a única que achei genuína, porque surpreendente e intrigante, e com um comportamento não linear. As outras achei-as sempre iguais, ao longo dos anos e entre si.
"O homem e a natureza não se bombardeiam um ao outro, vivem em acordo, não competem nem correm atrás de nada; caminham juntos."
Têm tudo porque viver, tudo com que viver, tudo em que acreditar, nascem e dão à luz, e são essenciais à terra. Sustentam a vida. Persistem de geração em geração e sentem-se completos ao simplesmente procriar; quando morrem, os filhos tomam o vosso lugar. É este o significado da vida eterna."
Não acredito que este seja o caminho para a felicidade, ou para a vida ideal.
E Knut Hamsun também não creio que acreditasse, preferindo criar Arte em vez de semear a terra; para prazer dos seus leitores, que não se sentem "completos ao simplesmente procriar".
Os Frutos da Terra conta a história de um homem que numa floresta norueguesa, onde nada existe, constrói, ao longo de anos e à força de braços, um lugar para viver e constituir família.
A primeira parte do romance foi muito emocionante, mas a partir de um determinado episódio, que me pareceu inconsistente, pus o coração ao largo e li o restante apenas com a cabeça, apreciando a escrita e o desenvolvimento do enredo. E foi bom...
Apenas uma personagem - Geissler - me encantou; a única que achei genuína, porque surpreendente e intrigante, e com um comportamento não linear. As outras achei-as sempre iguais, ao longo dos anos e entre si.
"O homem e a natureza não se bombardeiam um ao outro, vivem em acordo, não competem nem correm atrás de nada; caminham juntos."
Têm tudo porque viver, tudo com que viver, tudo em que acreditar, nascem e dão à luz, e são essenciais à terra. Sustentam a vida. Persistem de geração em geração e sentem-se completos ao simplesmente procriar; quando morrem, os filhos tomam o vosso lugar. É este o significado da vida eterna."
Não acredito que este seja o caminho para a felicidade, ou para a vida ideal.
E Knut Hamsun também não creio que acreditasse, preferindo criar Arte em vez de semear a terra; para prazer dos seus leitores, que não se sentem "completos ao simplesmente procriar".
February 8, 2022
Um perfeito retrato de vidas em plena união com o céu e a terra.
“Ali está o primeiro homem a habitar a região remota. Quando ali chegou, o lodo subia-lhe até aos joelhos e depois encontrou uma ladeira e aí se instalou. Seguiram-se-lhe outros, que percorreram um caminho nos baldios vazios, que foram seguidos por outros, e o caminho tornou-se uma estrada por onde agora avançavam com carroças.
Isak deveria estar satisfeito, orgulhoso. Era o fundador da povoação, era ele o margrave.”
Gente simples. Tão simples!
Gente humilde. Por vezes, ingénuos às trapaças alheias.
Trabalhadores. Tão trabalhadores!
“A vida era composta por trabalho e sono, amor e sonhos.”
“Deram-se grandes mudanças em Sellanraa. Nada era como nos primórdios, e a quinta estava irreconhecível: havia edifícios de todos os géneros, uma serração e um moinho, e o mato bravio tornara-se um lar para alguns seres humanos.”
Parcos discursos. Palavras veladas. Sentimentos ocultos.
A formatação dos diálogos ao longo do livro obedece, segundo o tradutor, ao texto original, e que bem que ficou, sendo incomum tornou-se em mais um desafio na leitura.
Eram assim, e assim eram felizes, até um dia fatídico que acabou por ter consequências que mudaram as suas vidas.
“Curioso como a visão que se tinha do mundo podia mudar!”
“… se vira transformada numa palradora, pronta a cavaquear com qualquer um. Não, já não era a Inger inocente e genuína que costumava ser.”
“Inger, amíude, voltava a ser como era nos velhos tempos e fazia um belo trabalho no curral ou nos campos – era como se apercebesse da sua conduta errada e regressasse ao seu eu compassivo. Nessas ocasiões, Isak olhava para a esposa com os olhos repletos de gratidão, e fosse ele homem de expressar as suas opiniões …”
Mas não era e a mudança tardava.
Contudo, ninguém consegue viver embrenhado no mato e, ao mesmo tempo, distrair-se a todo o tempo com futilidades.
“Basta ver-vos em Sellanraa: olham todos os dias para as montanhas azuis, que não são coisas inventadas, mas montanhas antigas, bem enraizadas no passado. Olhem, ali está a natureza, pertence-vos e aos vossos. O homem e a natureza não se bombardeiam um ao outro, vivem em acordo, não competem nem correm atrás de nada; caminham juntos. Vocês, de Sellanraa, vivem e possuem a vossa essência no meio de tudo isto. As montanhas, a floresta, as charnecas, os prados, o céu e as estrelas: não há nada de pomposo ou artificial em tudo isto, e é tudo incomensurável. Têm tudo porque viver, tudo com que viver, tudo em que acreditar, nascem e dão à luz, e são essenciais à terra. Sustentam a vida.”
Achei surreal o feito deste colono, de nada ter além das suas mãos e a sua força exponencial, transformando um pântano numa quinta onde nada faltava num perfeito respeito e equilíbrio com a natureza.
Uma narrativa simples, com pessoas boas e menos boas e um vislumbre das divergências da vida no campo e na cidade.
“Ali está o primeiro homem a habitar a região remota. Quando ali chegou, o lodo subia-lhe até aos joelhos e depois encontrou uma ladeira e aí se instalou. Seguiram-se-lhe outros, que percorreram um caminho nos baldios vazios, que foram seguidos por outros, e o caminho tornou-se uma estrada por onde agora avançavam com carroças.
Isak deveria estar satisfeito, orgulhoso. Era o fundador da povoação, era ele o margrave.”
Gente simples. Tão simples!
Gente humilde. Por vezes, ingénuos às trapaças alheias.
Trabalhadores. Tão trabalhadores!
“A vida era composta por trabalho e sono, amor e sonhos.”
“Deram-se grandes mudanças em Sellanraa. Nada era como nos primórdios, e a quinta estava irreconhecível: havia edifícios de todos os géneros, uma serração e um moinho, e o mato bravio tornara-se um lar para alguns seres humanos.”
Parcos discursos. Palavras veladas. Sentimentos ocultos.
A formatação dos diálogos ao longo do livro obedece, segundo o tradutor, ao texto original, e que bem que ficou, sendo incomum tornou-se em mais um desafio na leitura.
Eram assim, e assim eram felizes, até um dia fatídico que acabou por ter consequências que mudaram as suas vidas.
“Curioso como a visão que se tinha do mundo podia mudar!”
“… se vira transformada numa palradora, pronta a cavaquear com qualquer um. Não, já não era a Inger inocente e genuína que costumava ser.”
“Inger, amíude, voltava a ser como era nos velhos tempos e fazia um belo trabalho no curral ou nos campos – era como se apercebesse da sua conduta errada e regressasse ao seu eu compassivo. Nessas ocasiões, Isak olhava para a esposa com os olhos repletos de gratidão, e fosse ele homem de expressar as suas opiniões …”
Mas não era e a mudança tardava.
Contudo, ninguém consegue viver embrenhado no mato e, ao mesmo tempo, distrair-se a todo o tempo com futilidades.
“Basta ver-vos em Sellanraa: olham todos os dias para as montanhas azuis, que não são coisas inventadas, mas montanhas antigas, bem enraizadas no passado. Olhem, ali está a natureza, pertence-vos e aos vossos. O homem e a natureza não se bombardeiam um ao outro, vivem em acordo, não competem nem correm atrás de nada; caminham juntos. Vocês, de Sellanraa, vivem e possuem a vossa essência no meio de tudo isto. As montanhas, a floresta, as charnecas, os prados, o céu e as estrelas: não há nada de pomposo ou artificial em tudo isto, e é tudo incomensurável. Têm tudo porque viver, tudo com que viver, tudo em que acreditar, nascem e dão à luz, e são essenciais à terra. Sustentam a vida.”
Achei surreal o feito deste colono, de nada ter além das suas mãos e a sua força exponencial, transformando um pântano numa quinta onde nada faltava num perfeito respeito e equilíbrio com a natureza.
Uma narrativa simples, com pessoas boas e menos boas e um vislumbre das divergências da vida no campo e na cidade.
December 26, 2022
i più navigati sanno che hamsun fu un simpatizzante del nazismo e questo destò non poco imbarazzo ai norvegesi all'indomani del '45 quandi non tutti ma molti cercorono di darsi una "verginità" politica e sociale... insomma la Voce della Norvegia non poteva essere nazista ah giustamente il premio nobel non gli fu ritirato (sempre scindere la persona dalla sua opera letteraria), comunque germogli della terra al giorno d'oggi potrebbe essere il romanzo d'elezione dei friday for future, e greta thumberg la Mao tze tung ecologista e Germogli della Terra il suo Mein Kampf, perché sì Germogli della Terra è una battaglia si può dire la più antica dell'umanità quella tra uomo e natura. i paesaggi sono idilliaci e la vita è dettata non dall'uomo ma dalla natura. chi raggiunge certe zone ma come attività principale ha il commercio fa valanghe di soldi nel primo periodo perché l'ambiente è carente di certe cose ma sul lungo andare l'offerta non cala ma a calare è la domanda ecco che il negoziante deve alzare i tacchi in cerca di altro e a rimanere è solo chi ha nell'agricoltura il mezzo di sostentamento. si può dire che sia il trionfo dell'agricoltura sul capitalismo. ovviamente era un tempo in cui l'agricoltura intensiva non esisteva e si coltivava unicamente per se stessi.
June 2, 2023
Publicado em 1917, "os frutos da terra" conta a saga de Isak, um homem forte fisicamente e de carácter, que se estabelece sozinho numa região isolada na Noruega e, através do seu trabalho, cria uma família e uma quinta, tornando-se assim auto-suficiente.
É um livro estranho ao princípio, ou foi estranho para mim porque nunca tinha lido nada assim. Mas depois, percebemos que o livro não tem um propósito, não tem um objectivo final. É "só" a descrição da vida de uma família que vive no meio do nada e a evolução desse nada que ao longo dos anos se vai transformando em algo. E é esta descrição, é esta família que nós não conseguimos largar.
As descrições da Natureza são lindas de se ler, consegui imaginar-me no meio do mato no Norte da Noruega. A construção da narrativa é tão bonita, há qualquer coisa, uma sensibilidade que se sente durante toda a leitura, algo que ainda não consigo explicar. Este é um livro muito completo, muito complexo e ao mesmo tempo muito simples.
Traições, dramas, infanticídios, fofocas, invejas e intrigas, este é um livro que não se foca só na relação do homem com a natureza (algo que é central no livro) mas do homem com o outro.
Nos anos 30/40, Hamsun assumiu-se como simpatizante do regime nazi, encontrou-se com Hitler e Goebbles, e até chegou a oferecer a medalha do Nobel à "causa nazi" 🤮🤮
Knut Hamsun era uma personagem controversa, o facto de ser apoiante dos nazis é repugnante e algo imperdoável, mas ainda assim eu escolho ler os livros dele. Não por causa disto, nem apesar disto.
Neste livro dá para perceber que o autor era brilhante e "os frutos da terra" é, na minha opinião, uma obra-prima. A tradução do @joaoreis.author também está excelente.
Vocês sabem quando terminam um livro (e mesmo durante a leitura) e pensam "este livro é brilhante, é majestoso, é soberbo"? Quando percebem que acabaram de ler uma obra-prima, algo tão bem escrito que pensam "é por isto que eu leio". É por livros assim que eu leio, livros tão bem escritos, tão fascinantes
É um livro estranho ao princípio, ou foi estranho para mim porque nunca tinha lido nada assim. Mas depois, percebemos que o livro não tem um propósito, não tem um objectivo final. É "só" a descrição da vida de uma família que vive no meio do nada e a evolução desse nada que ao longo dos anos se vai transformando em algo. E é esta descrição, é esta família que nós não conseguimos largar.
As descrições da Natureza são lindas de se ler, consegui imaginar-me no meio do mato no Norte da Noruega. A construção da narrativa é tão bonita, há qualquer coisa, uma sensibilidade que se sente durante toda a leitura, algo que ainda não consigo explicar. Este é um livro muito completo, muito complexo e ao mesmo tempo muito simples.
Traições, dramas, infanticídios, fofocas, invejas e intrigas, este é um livro que não se foca só na relação do homem com a natureza (algo que é central no livro) mas do homem com o outro.
Nos anos 30/40, Hamsun assumiu-se como simpatizante do regime nazi, encontrou-se com Hitler e Goebbles, e até chegou a oferecer a medalha do Nobel à "causa nazi" 🤮🤮
Knut Hamsun era uma personagem controversa, o facto de ser apoiante dos nazis é repugnante e algo imperdoável, mas ainda assim eu escolho ler os livros dele. Não por causa disto, nem apesar disto.
Neste livro dá para perceber que o autor era brilhante e "os frutos da terra" é, na minha opinião, uma obra-prima. A tradução do @joaoreis.author também está excelente.
Vocês sabem quando terminam um livro (e mesmo durante a leitura) e pensam "este livro é brilhante, é majestoso, é soberbo"? Quando percebem que acabaram de ler uma obra-prima, algo tão bem escrito que pensam "é por isto que eu leio". É por livros assim que eu leio, livros tão bem escritos, tão fascinantes
January 26, 2013
القراءة للحائزين على جوائز نوبل في الآداب كانت سببا في قراءتي هذه الرواية، للكاتب النرويجي كنوت هامسون الملقب بـ "الطفل المتعب"، والحائز على تلك الجائزة عن ذات الرواية عام 1920، والذي شكلت كتاباته إلهاما للعديد من الكتاب من أمثال: بوكوفسكي وميللر وكافكا...لأكتشف فيها على مدى 500 صفحة عالما شكله هامسون في عمق الأرض البكر
كانت الفقرة الأولى في الكتاب محرضة على اكتشاف ما بعدها، ولكن الأحداث سارت برتم سردي هادئ حتى آخر الرواية، رغم تلك الأحداث التي شكلت منعطفات في حياة إسحق وإنجر بطلا الرواية..كقتل إنجر لطفلتها وقضائها سنوات خلف سجن تعلمت فيه التحضر، وعودتها بهيئة مختلفة لزوجها، و محاولاتها الاندماج بالبيئة أو محاولة تغييرها لما تراه أفضل..وهذا ما خصم نجمة من تقييمي للرواية، وكانت الترجمة ستحسم نجمة ثانية فقد شعرت بحرفيتها وغرابتها أحيانا، ولكنني تركتها حتى لا أحاكم الرواية بناء على لغتها المترجمة
أجواء الطبيعة التي وصفها هامسون ساحرة، وقد شكلت الأرض جزءا كبيرا من بطولة الرواية...واللغة سهلة سلسة...والفكرة جميلة وخالدة، والتي ركزت على الحياة في الطبيعة وإعادة استغلال ثرواتها بعيدا عن حياة المدينة وتكلفها. وعلى التغييرات التي تتركها المدنية على عالم نشأ في مثل تلك البيئة، معتبرا إياها خطرا على الإنسان وعلى الطبيعة
وقد صحبنا هامسون في كل التحولات التي عاشها إسحق وهو يبني قريته من لا شيء، في أرض قفر...باستغلال البيئة المحيطة به، وبعمله الشاق والدؤوب، وتفكيره الدائم بما سيضيفه لها...ليشكل عالما ثريا من منزل وحظائر ومبان وأ��رة كبيرة...ومن ثم يشجع غيره على استيطان المكان ليتسع عالمه.
هي قصة الإنسان بمواجهة الطبيعة...والتحديات التي يستطيع التغلب عليها...مهما اشتدت خطورتها..والتي قد يكون بعضها مجرد وهم تغذيه خيالات الإنسان.
النقلات الزمنية في الرواية كانت في غاية الروعة، مراوحا بين البطء أحيانا...وقطع سنوات في صفحات أحيانا أخرى... بدءا من إسحق الشاب القوي البنية...مرافقا إياه للشيخوخة وضعف جسمه وترك المستقبل بأيدي أبنائه
هامسون نوع شخوص روايته، وجعل الكثير منها متفردة الصفات، ومنح كل منها ميزات متنوعة...بحيث تتابع التطورات الداخلية والنفسية لكل منها بترقب
هامسون نشأ في مزرعة صغيرة في شمال النرويج، وسطع نجمه بعد نشره لروايته الجوع، وفي عام1917 نشر روايته هذه والتي تعتبر أكبر نجاحاته على المستوى العالمي، وعرف بمواقفه السياسية المثيرة للجدل
وقد انعكست جذوره الريفية واعتزازه بها على كتاباته في ابتكار ما يسمى "الرومانسية الزراعية" المضادة لصخب المدينة الحديثة وللحضارة المادية كما قال عنه "انغارسلاتن كولو"...وهو ما انعكس تماما في هذه الرواية
هذه الرواية من أكثر الروايات التي توقفت عند تقييمها مطولا...فقد أخذت مني قراءتها وقتا طويلا...وتوقفت خلالها مرات كثيرة على غير عادتي
رواية قوتها في بساطتها وعمق فكرتها وتنوع شخوصها...تستحق بلا شك جائزة نوبل وتحويلها لفيلم سينمائي
وهي برأيي من الروايات التي يتفاوت تقييمها...فمن لا يحب الرتم الهادئ وكثرة التفاصيل لن تعجبه الرواية
ولكن...لا بد وأن تقرأها لتعرف...
March 23, 2017
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.
‘It’s an essential book. A necessary one,’ Norman Berg said in that throaty catechist voice. ‘It’s the most important book I’ve ever read. I named my farm Sellanraa in honor of Isak the man who builds his home and raises a family out of nothing.’
‘I’ll read it.’
‘You don’t just read this book,’ Norman said. ‘You must enter in. Live it. It contains the great truth.’
‘Which is?’
‘Everything of virtue springs from the soil. Civilization always comes along to ruin it. But you can always find the truth if it comes from the earth.’
‘It sounds like the most boring book ever written.’
‘Read it. Then decide.’”
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.
‘It’s an essential book. A necessary one,’ Norman Berg said in that throaty catechist voice. ‘It’s the most important book I’ve ever read. I named my farm Sellanraa in honor of Isak the man who builds his home and raises a family out of nothing.’
‘I’ll read it.’
‘You don’t just read this book,’ Norman said. ‘You must enter in. Live it. It contains the great truth.’
‘Which is?’
‘Everything of virtue springs from the soil. Civilization always comes along to ruin it. But you can always find the truth if it comes from the earth.’
‘It sounds like the most boring book ever written.’
‘Read it. Then decide.’”
August 26, 2019
بر خلاف چیزی که تصور کرده بودم، خوندنش لذت چندانی نداشت. یک رمان کلاسیکِ رئال بود که به یقین، ارزشمنده اما امروزه مثل زمان نگارشش(در حدود یک قرن پیش) دیگه زیبا به نظر نمی رسه.
February 14, 2017
Me parece que este libro no contiene una de esas historias que nos llenan de emoción o que la trama llegue a tocar extremos estimulantes, esto lo atribuyo básicamente a que el personaje principal es un personaje un tanto especial: tranquilo, impasible, que siempre está ahí, en apariencia inerte, que no sufre alteraciones, que no nos habla y que llega a parecer rutinario. El personaje principal está constituido por la silenciosa pero tenaz naturaleza, por los bosques y ciénagas de algún remoto e indomable lugar de Noruega.
Tratando de hacer una analogía, tenemos que así como en su momento John Dos Passos (1896-1970) erigió a la ciudad de New York como el personaje principal de su novela Manhattan Transfer; o bien, así como Alfred Doblin (1878-1957) hizo que de la ciudad de Berlín tuviese el papel protagónico en su obra Berlin Alexanderplatz, así más o menos y toda proporción guardada, Kurt Hamsun (1859-1952) le da un papel muy especial no a una ciudad, sino a esa tierra que nunca cesa de prodigar bendiciones a la humanidad.
Al principio me ha costado un poco de trabajo meterme a la historia, debido a lo rutinario de la acción, pero a medida que van apareciendo y tomando fuerza otros personajes, como por ejemplo ese solitario colono que habita en los agrestes bosques de Noruega llamado Isak, o su esposa Inger, o algunos otros colonos, mi disposición fue mejorando.
A pesar de la falta de interés en algunos pasajes de la novela, considero que hay que darle la valía que merece a toda esa prosa derramada en honor a la naturaleza que sólo la pluma de Nobel de Literatura de 1920 sabe hacer.
El relato cobra más fuerza cuando conocemos los quehaceres y afanes cotidianos de ese tozudo colono llamado Isak, quien es una persona asocial, pero emprendedora, que vive aislado en las profundidades de la naturaleza, lejos de la población. Isak es un incansable titán en el trabajo del campo, podríamos decir que forma parte de todo ese paisaje, como si él mismo fuese un tronco. Su entorno es la naturaleza en su estado más primitivo y rudimentario de la que sabe sacar provecho a base de esfuerzo, constancia y fe en sí mismo.
Isak levanta de la nada, a través de los años y sólo con sus manos, una granja que llega a ser la envidia de la región. Él conoce el valor de la tierra y desdeña otras actividades más volubles y menos nobles. Está convencido de que viviendo en la naturaleza se disfruta de todo lo que Dios ha creado y viviendo en la ciudad se lucha por todo lo que el hombre fabrica. En el campo se está a salvo de toda clase de banalidades y envidias.
El trasfondo del libro es enaltecer las bondades de la existencia en contacto con la naturaleza, esto nos lleva a apreciar los contrastes entre la vida en el campo en contra de la vida sofisticada y complicada de la ciudad. El argumento está soportado por las historias de los personajes que construye al autor caracterizadas por una vida sencilla, a veces agotadora, pero fuera de las necesidades creadas por la sociedad o de las envidias de la gente de la ciudad o del pueblo. Una vida que, además, no requiere dinero; el dinero es para manejarse en las ciudades, para complicarse la vida, para sofisticarse innecesariamente. El dinero es para correr toda la vida tras él, olvidando lo que de veras vale la pena.
Los parajes, el trabajo, las estaciones del año y las cosechas constituyen el mundo de Isak, de su familia y de otros colonos que viven relativamente cerca de la granja de éste.
En general, la obra de este escritor noruego se caracteriza por destacar la vida sencilla del campo y hace énfasis en el conflicto que existe con el gran mundo del progreso, que nos conduce a la sofisticación y a una serie de superficialidades. Al mismo tiempo nos sume en un mundo pletórico de naturaleza y podemos entrever una lejana sombra del gran pensador francés del siglo XVIII, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, quien pregonaba que el hombre en su estado natural es bueno, que la convivencia en sociedad va cambiando esa esencia humana de manera negativa.
El escritor Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) conoció la fama y la admiración en su tiempo, pero también la ignominia, incluso el desprecio, debido a su presunto colaboracionismo con Hitler. A pesar de todo, ejerció con pasión esa actividad que le brindaba refugio de la sociedad, una actividad huidiza: la escritura.
Tratando de hacer una analogía, tenemos que así como en su momento John Dos Passos (1896-1970) erigió a la ciudad de New York como el personaje principal de su novela Manhattan Transfer; o bien, así como Alfred Doblin (1878-1957) hizo que de la ciudad de Berlín tuviese el papel protagónico en su obra Berlin Alexanderplatz, así más o menos y toda proporción guardada, Kurt Hamsun (1859-1952) le da un papel muy especial no a una ciudad, sino a esa tierra que nunca cesa de prodigar bendiciones a la humanidad.
Al principio me ha costado un poco de trabajo meterme a la historia, debido a lo rutinario de la acción, pero a medida que van apareciendo y tomando fuerza otros personajes, como por ejemplo ese solitario colono que habita en los agrestes bosques de Noruega llamado Isak, o su esposa Inger, o algunos otros colonos, mi disposición fue mejorando.
A pesar de la falta de interés en algunos pasajes de la novela, considero que hay que darle la valía que merece a toda esa prosa derramada en honor a la naturaleza que sólo la pluma de Nobel de Literatura de 1920 sabe hacer.
El relato cobra más fuerza cuando conocemos los quehaceres y afanes cotidianos de ese tozudo colono llamado Isak, quien es una persona asocial, pero emprendedora, que vive aislado en las profundidades de la naturaleza, lejos de la población. Isak es un incansable titán en el trabajo del campo, podríamos decir que forma parte de todo ese paisaje, como si él mismo fuese un tronco. Su entorno es la naturaleza en su estado más primitivo y rudimentario de la que sabe sacar provecho a base de esfuerzo, constancia y fe en sí mismo.
Isak levanta de la nada, a través de los años y sólo con sus manos, una granja que llega a ser la envidia de la región. Él conoce el valor de la tierra y desdeña otras actividades más volubles y menos nobles. Está convencido de que viviendo en la naturaleza se disfruta de todo lo que Dios ha creado y viviendo en la ciudad se lucha por todo lo que el hombre fabrica. En el campo se está a salvo de toda clase de banalidades y envidias.
El trasfondo del libro es enaltecer las bondades de la existencia en contacto con la naturaleza, esto nos lleva a apreciar los contrastes entre la vida en el campo en contra de la vida sofisticada y complicada de la ciudad. El argumento está soportado por las historias de los personajes que construye al autor caracterizadas por una vida sencilla, a veces agotadora, pero fuera de las necesidades creadas por la sociedad o de las envidias de la gente de la ciudad o del pueblo. Una vida que, además, no requiere dinero; el dinero es para manejarse en las ciudades, para complicarse la vida, para sofisticarse innecesariamente. El dinero es para correr toda la vida tras él, olvidando lo que de veras vale la pena.
Los parajes, el trabajo, las estaciones del año y las cosechas constituyen el mundo de Isak, de su familia y de otros colonos que viven relativamente cerca de la granja de éste.
En general, la obra de este escritor noruego se caracteriza por destacar la vida sencilla del campo y hace énfasis en el conflicto que existe con el gran mundo del progreso, que nos conduce a la sofisticación y a una serie de superficialidades. Al mismo tiempo nos sume en un mundo pletórico de naturaleza y podemos entrever una lejana sombra del gran pensador francés del siglo XVIII, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, quien pregonaba que el hombre en su estado natural es bueno, que la convivencia en sociedad va cambiando esa esencia humana de manera negativa.
El escritor Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) conoció la fama y la admiración en su tiempo, pero también la ignominia, incluso el desprecio, debido a su presunto colaboracionismo con Hitler. A pesar de todo, ejerció con pasión esa actividad que le brindaba refugio de la sociedad, una actividad huidiza: la escritura.
February 2, 2024
Prieš imdama skaityt romaną TIKRAI maniau, kad bus sudėtingas, pretenzingas, megasuperduper intelektualus, nes gi gavęs Nobelį ir panašiai. O nė velnio. Nesuklyskit ir jūs taip manydami apie knygą - ji neįtikėtinai lengvai ir įdomiai skaitosi, o kiekvienas sakinys - literatūros grožio įrodymas. Ši knyga man buvo gyvas įrodymas ir priminimas kodėl aš taip dievinu skaitymą ir kiek daug knygos mums duoda.
Iš esmės, negaliu jums nei papasakot apie įvykius knygoje, nei kažkokio siužeto. Čia tiesiog yra lėta, rami, nuo gamtos priklausoma žemdirbių gyvenimo tėkmė. Drabštus, dievobaimingas ir iš sielos teisingas Izaokas vienas pats negyvenamoje žemėje įsikuria namus. Labai pamažu, bet nenuilstant ir devynis prakaitus liejant jis sukuria ūkį, susiranda moterį, ir užmirštas, apleistas, kalnuotas žemės lopinėlis virsta namais. Atsikrausto ir kitų šeimų, tačiau viskas pagrinde sukasi apie Izaoko gyvenimą, džiaugsmus, vargus ir žemę.
Kaip gražiai parašyta ir išversta knyga. Kiek margų lietuviškų žodžių yra: pasturlaka, apveidesnis, stamantresnis, bėdinas, įteikliai, kęsmas... Kiek daug gėrio yra palikta tarp eilučių. Išvis - kaip šilta skaityti apie paprastus žmones, jų paprastus vargus, paprastus gyvenimus ir nuklydimus. Apie tą bendryste su žeme, be kurios ir šiandien neturėtume nei ką valgyti, nei kuo apsrengti. Nuostabių nuostabaiusia knyga, kuriai visas danmgaus žvaigzdes duodu. Susišuakė su jausmu, kurį patyriau skaitydama „Rūstybės kekes“. Abi vienodai puikios.
Iš esmės, negaliu jums nei papasakot apie įvykius knygoje, nei kažkokio siužeto. Čia tiesiog yra lėta, rami, nuo gamtos priklausoma žemdirbių gyvenimo tėkmė. Drabštus, dievobaimingas ir iš sielos teisingas Izaokas vienas pats negyvenamoje žemėje įsikuria namus. Labai pamažu, bet nenuilstant ir devynis prakaitus liejant jis sukuria ūkį, susiranda moterį, ir užmirštas, apleistas, kalnuotas žemės lopinėlis virsta namais. Atsikrausto ir kitų šeimų, tačiau viskas pagrinde sukasi apie Izaoko gyvenimą, džiaugsmus, vargus ir žemę.
Kaip gražiai parašyta ir išversta knyga. Kiek margų lietuviškų žodžių yra: pasturlaka, apveidesnis, stamantresnis, bėdinas, įteikliai, kęsmas... Kiek daug gėrio yra palikta tarp eilučių. Išvis - kaip šilta skaityti apie paprastus žmones, jų paprastus vargus, paprastus gyvenimus ir nuklydimus. Apie tą bendryste su žeme, be kurios ir šiandien neturėtume nei ką valgyti, nei kuo apsrengti. Nuostabių nuostabaiusia knyga, kuriai visas danmgaus žvaigzdes duodu. Susišuakė su jausmu, kurį patyriau skaitydama „Rūstybės kekes“. Abi vienodai puikios.
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