Customer Reviews

The Girl From the Marsh Croft

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Selma Lagerlof (1858-1940) is remembered as one of Sweden's finest authors, and was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, receiving it in 1909. Among her many excellent works is this 1910 book, which is a collection of nine of her short stories. In the first story, which is entitled The Girl From the Marsh Croft, we meet Helga from Big Marsh, a young woman who is being shunned for her sins but wins their respect through her nobility of spirit. This is such a moving story that it has twice been turned into a movie.

Then, there is The Silver Mine, in which King Gustaf III learns that there are more important things that money. In The Airship, we see a family that is slowly and inexorably destroyed by drink. The Wedding March tells the story of Jan Oster, the finest fiddler in Vermland - a man poor in terms of money, but rich in terms of talent. In The Musician, we meet Lars Larsson a fiddler quite proud of his talent, but when he boasts at a stream that he is a better musician than the Water-Sprite, he is taught a very large and supernatural lesson in humility. The Legend of the Christmas Rose tells the story of a dreaded robber family that lived in Groinge Forest and a miracle that they experienced every Christmas Eve, and a hardhearted man who would not believe. A Story From Jerusalem is about a dream-interpreter in Muslim Jerusalem, and a man who comes to him with a series of strange dreams. In Why the Pope Lived to be so Old we read of Signora Concenza who had only one gift to give, when all of Rome mourned for the dying Pope Leo XIII, and she gave it without stinting. And finally, The Story of a Story is the autobiographical story of a story wanting to be told, and a young woman who dreams of being an author.

Overall, I found these stories to be very well-written and entertaining, and also quite uplifting. It's easy to see why Ms. Lagerlof is still remembered as a great author, and this anthology definitely shows off her abilities. If you want to read some great literature, then get this book. I highly recommend it.