Wayfarers (Sun & Moon Classics) [Paperback]

Knut Hamsun (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sun & Moon Classics | Publication Date: March 1, 2000

novel, Norwegian, tr James McFarlane

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Norwegian (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 460 pages
• Publisher: Sun & Moon Press (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557132119
• ISBN-13: 978-1557132116
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,303,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A less known pearl of Hamsun, April 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wayfarers (Sun & Moon Classics) (Paperback)

While there are numerous comments on novels like "Hunger", "Pan", "Growth of the soil" and so on, little seems to be said about the "August-Trilogy", of which "Wayfarers" is the part one. In this trilogy many of Hamsuns most beloved qualities comes to its climax. Unlike "Hunger" and "Pan", - "Wayfarers" and "August" is full of hamsunian humour, that highly poetic sympathy that embraces his characters. The triology also exposes life in a poor norwegian fishing village from the Old days, in a realistic but also satirical way. It is quiet a piece of norwegian folklore, but still a part of world litterature. Its the work by Hamsun that is most likely to give you a good laugh, without missing the overall seriousness of matter. (The disastrous consequences of Capitalism in a small, vulnerable society). Its full of tragedy too, and, I think, as an artwork comparable to all his internationally more known works, like "Hunger" and "Growth of the soil".

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wayfarers: the scent of life, August 4, 2003

By 

"mosaicwindow" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wayfarers (Paperback)

As winter turns to spring and spring to summer, the characters in "Wayfarers" go through their own transformations, which seem to parallel the passing of the seasons.
One of the running themes is the issue of where a person belongs, their roots, the dichotomy between the drive to get away and the simple happiness which comes from living on one's native land, surrounded by familiar people.
But Hamsun's approach is never a theoretical, intellectual one, but rather a heart-breaking and painfully personal journey.
This novel will stay with me as an overwhelming memory, not because it gives answers to life's dilemmas, but because it poses crucial questions which stir the mind and awaken reflections on the human experience, all with the background landscape of sailboats on the Norwegian sea --

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The men who cast themselves out., January 31, 2006

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wayfarers (Paperback)

Born in 1859, Hamsun received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1920. Credited by many as being one of the key influencers of modern literature style, his work is largely forgotten today. In part, that amnesia has been caused by Hamsun's resolute support of the Germans during World War II. Even today, he is a figure of great controversy in Norway.

The Wayfarers (written in 1927) is one of his later novels, and is largely about his concerns with the insatiable need for travel and the corrupting influence of the modern on traditional life. August and Edevart are two boys from a small town who move across Norway earning and losing small fortunes in a constant quest to better themselves.

This is the second book by Hamsun that I have read, and I was moved and impressed by what a lovely novel it is. Hamsun scrapes the surface of small town life and builds brilliantly ambiguous characters who manage to be neither idealized nor grotty. There is a kind of realism that works very well at conveying small town life without either idealising or judging.

The McFarlane translation seems very good. It was clean and free from awkwardness.

Highly recommended.