Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Apple
Android
Windows Phone
Android
To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
I wanted the writing here to be as great as Knut Hamsun's own Hunger--and of course, it simply can't be. I'm not at all sure that it's Ferguson's fault. I wanted to know what Hamsun's mindset was at the time of struggling through his masterpieces like Hunger and Pan and Victoria, I wanted to be able to get inside the great writer's mind...and it just can't be, because the author of this bio wasn't there. If you want psychological insights and great writing you must go to the source: Hamsun's own novels. Yes, you'll get dates and details here in Enigma, but that does not make for interesting and/or engaging reading. I was disappointed. The gifted, self-taught Knut Hamsun remains a favorite, though. One of the giants.
1 Comment
4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
I have only read three chapters of this biography book and I am already amazed. For two 2 years now, my whole literary interest revolves around Hamsun novel's. However, I wouldn't ever believe that by reading a biography I would be definitely able to associate the heroes of his novels with his own personal life and character. Robert Ferguson avoids to over-beautify Hamsun's personality, contradictions and adventures, all the same, he captures our imagination and interest with a life story that could be a fairy-tale.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
I don't take the time to read many biographies, but I have become very intrigued by Knut Hamsun and his writing in the last few years, and so decided to learn a little bit more about his controversial life by checking out Enigma. From the very beginning, I was drawn in by Ferguson's deep research and careful writing, and found that I couldn't put the book down for long without feeling a need to jump right back in. Hamsun led a life that continues to confuse and even anger his modern fans and detractors, and so it is no surprise that his biography is unbelievably interesting.
If you are looking to at last discover the evidence to claim unequivocally that Hamsun was or was not a Nazi, don't bother looking here. On the other hand, if you are looking to gain insight into who the man actually was and what he actually believed (for better or worse), Enigma is well worth a read. Hamsun was a character as fragmented as the ones he wrote about, and Ferguson does an admirable job bringing all the different sides of him to life through narratives, articles, letters, and pictures.
Comment
3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
![]({"http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ThLyHxVzL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[231,346],"http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ThLyHxVzL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[333,499]})
