Emigrants: The Emigrant Novels Book 1 (The Emigrant Novels / Vilhelm Moberg, Book 1) [Paperback]

Vilhelm Moberg (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Emigrant Novels / Vilhelm Moberg, Book 1 | Publication Date: September 1, 1995

Book One introduces Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson, their 3 young children, and 11 others who make up a resolute party of Swedes fleeing the poverty, religious persecution, and social oppression of Smaland in 1850.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published between 1951 and 1961, Moberg's four-volume "Emigrant" epic offers the saga of the Swedish immigrant's role in the settling of the American frontier.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

9780873513197 --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873513193
• ISBN-13: 978-0873513197
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful story, March 8, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Emigrants: The Emigrant Novels Book 1 (The Emigrant Novels / Vilhelm Moberg, Book 1) (Paperback)

Karl Oskar Nilsson grew up in Smaland, Sweden, determined to set his own course. Selecting his own wife, Kristina, he works his parents' farm, only to find that he simply can't get ahead (or even stay where he's at) in Sweden. Determined to emigrate to the United States, Karl Oskar soon finds himself leading a band of likeminded folk, all leaving for different reasons and with different expectations. This is the story of their experiences in Sweden, and during their dangerous crossing aboard an overcrowded schooner.

This book is the first in a quadrilogy that is now rightly considered a classic in Swedish literature. Vilhelm Moberg did considerable research into the subject, and this book certainly shows it. Also, I must say that I found his characters to be wholly lifelike and believable. If I heard that this was written from the diaries of the actual people, I would certainly believe it.

This is a wonderful book that drew me into the experience of my Swedish forebears, both informing and entertaining me. It is one of the most powerfully written books that I have ever read. If I could give it more than five stars, I would!

[For those of you with young children, I would like to recommend the Kirsten books in the American Girls series. Written for young readers (primarily girls), it tells the story of a Swedish family that emigrates to Minnesota in 1854.]

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An emigrant epic of torment, hard work and persistence, June 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Emigrants: The Emigrant Novels Book 1 (The Emigrant Novels / Vilhelm Moberg, Book 1) (Paperback)

How wonderful to hear the story of our ancestors through the writing of one of Swedens best writers. We follow a group of emigrating Swedes closely as they make the enormous move from Sweden to America. This emigrant epic reminds you of how things have been, and who Americans are. I emigrated from Sweden to America like they did, only more than a hundred years later. Foremost, I feel that Moberg captures the torn inside of an emigrant fenomenally, many tears were shed while reading of the torment Kristina feels. It's as true today as it ever was, and the author tells exactly how I and many others feel having left one land to be part of another. The books are splendid reading, you can't put them down.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerfully, moving book., October 11, 1998

By 

D. Ashley (La Jolla) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Emigrants: The Emigrant Novels Book 1 (The Emigrant Novels / Vilhelm Moberg, Book 1) (Paperback)

Very engaging. Makes you appreciate what people went through to get to America. Gives you a feel for what peoples experiences were in the Old World & how different things were. We take so many things for granted. I am Swedish & from Minnesota, but I think that the book has lessons to teach beyond Swedes & Minnesotans. This book gives a voice to ordinary people who make up the bulk of who our immigrant ancestors were. One word of caution - these books are addicting - I couldn't stop with the first. Two weeks after cracking open the first page of Book 1, I've finished Book IV.