Giants in the Earth [Hardcover]

Ole Edvart Rolvaag (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bt Bound (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0808519271
• ISBN-13: 978-0808519270
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,445,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THEY CAME...THEY SAW...THEY CONQUERED..., January 31, 2005

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Giants in the Earth (Hardcover)

This is the first in a trilogy of books about the Norwegian settlement of the Dakota Territory. The second book is titled, "Peder Victorious", and the third and last book is titled, "Their Fathers' God." The author, a Norwegian who emigrated to the United States in 1896 and eventually became a professor at St. Olaf's College, wrote it in Norwegian, but it is every bit as American as apple pie.

This is a beautifully written, lyrical book about the experiences of the early Norwegians who settled in the vast prairie of the Dakota Territory during the latter half of the nineteenth century. It speaks of their isolation and desolation, as well as of the hardships inherent in pioneering so far West with so little resources at hand with which to do so. Dependent solely upon their inner resources, hard work, ingenuity, and whatever goods they had managed to haul with them, these peasant, would-be-farmers from Norway would be the stuff of which this country was made. Their resilience in the face of relentless hardship, adversity, and deprivation is stunning, as is their belief in a better life.

The story focuses on a small group of Norwegians who traveled together from the same small fishing hamlet in Norway and formed a settlement. Pioneers, they paved the way for those who were yet to come. The author details their trials and tribulations, with the focal figure of this group being an individual by the name of Per Hansa, who arrived in the vast prairie of the Dakota territory with his wife, Beret, and their three children. Yet, despite these central characters, all that happens revolves around the land and the elements that sustain it and drain it from season to season.

It is Per Hansa, however, who, perhaps, best epitomizes the enterprising spirit of the first settlers to the Dakota Territory, while his wife, Beret, represents those whose coping mechanisms were less able to make a smooth transition to their new environs. Per Hansa, bursting with energy and enthusiasm, is a man who thinks out of the box and refuses to let the elements get the best of him. He is a natural leader upon whom the others rely, a symbol of the pioneering spirit that revolutionized this country and made it great.

Beret, on the other hand, symbolizes those who see a relentless uphill fight to try to make something out of seemingly nothing. She fails to see the beauty around her, seeing only the stillness, the isolation, and what she perceives as the interminable loneliness. Therein lies the heart of the dichotomy in their relationship, as Per Hansa sees his cup as half full, while Beret sees hers as half empty.

Yet, despite Per Hansa's joy in the land, there is an underlying bittersweet moroseness that permeates the book that serves to underscore the great sacrifice that these early pioneers had to make in order for their settlement of the Great Plains of the Dakota Territory to work. It is grounded in an understanding by the author of the Norwegian immigrant culture and experience. It is a book that is brimming with feeling and written by an author who had the soul of a poet. Those who have read and enjoyed the quartet of books written by Swedish author, Vilhelm Moberg, about the early Swedish settlers of Minnesota, will likewise enjoy this book, as will all those who love lyrically written historical fiction. I very much look forward to reading the remaining two books in this trilogy.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great and suspensful book, May 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Giants in the Earth (Hardcover)

hi i am 13 years old and i live in california and just finished reading this wonderful and suspensful book. i love the dog and there is a man that seems suspisous when he is trying to take a cat into the car. at the beginning though the girl really wants a dog when she finds one and tries to explain and prove that she is capable of taking care of the dog. if you are a dog lover you're sure to love this book and even if you're not like me you'll sure to become one. the girl is a great independent person who saves a dog and seeks a suspicous man of what he is doing with animals i wont tell you the best part because i want you to read it too and enjoy it as much as i did!