Knut Hamsun

The magazine 'Viking', published by the 'Sons of Norway' has in its Jan 1990 issue a small tract honoring the great Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun who died on February 19, 1952. The occasion, however, is not so much the date of his death as it is that 1990 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of his famous book 'Hunger', written in the style of the 'social novel' so popular around the turn of the century.

Hamsun enjoyed great fame during the 50 years from about 1890 until he made the fatal faux pas of backing Hitler when Norway became occupied by Germany in 1940. This was of course not 'acceptable' to the literary world and the publishing houses, and after WW II Hamsun was tried for treason. The charges were dropped because of his age but heavy fines were imposed. Apologists tried to put his political 'mistake' down to his advanced age, but the grand old gentleman would hear nothing of the sort; at the age of 90 he wrote his last book "On Overgrown Paths', in which he made it perfectly clear that he had made his choice and he offered no excuses for his opinions.

Knut Hamsun (born Pedersen) made a great impact on the literary community in the early part of the century. He was compared to Dostoyevski and considered the equal of other famous Norwegian navelists such as Ibsen, Bjoernson and Jones Lie. The 'social' novel was in vogue at the time and 'Hunger' dealt with the problems of the day. His works were translated into several languages, French, German and Russian, to name a few; they have also been translated into English but did not enjoy the same popularity. Many of his writings (in English) have been out of print and only the most famous are available.

However, in honor of the anniversary, Gyldendal, the Scandinavian publishing house which has been printing most of Hamsun's works, has planned a special 'very attractive edition' of HUNGER which should be available later this year. Other similar anniversary editions are scheduled of 'Mysteries' in 1992 and of 'Pan' in 1994. Unfortunately we'll have to wait some years before getting a special edition of 'Growth of the Soil' which was written in 1920 and for which Knut Hamsun was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Hamsun had strong likes and dislikes, and he was not afraid to let them be known; maybe he even had a penchant for being controversial. He didn't like the English and did not think much of Americans either. He was opposed to the surge of emigration as thousands of Norwegians left the country during the economic slump in the late 1890s.

Nevertheless, as a young man he himself went to the US. He worked at odd jobs, spending most of the time in Chicago and Minneapolis. He only stayed a few years and returned to Norway in 1888.

Hamsun was hailed as a 'writers' writer which we take to mean that his style was exceptional and influenced other writers of the time. Hemmingway, for example, is said to have 'borrowed' the Hamsun style, and the famous Norwegian was highly esteemed by his fellow artists.

When considering a writer like Knut Hamsun - the quality of his writings, the influence he had on other writers - it's truly amazing that the literary establishment simply dumped him into the memory hole because of his political leanings.

It is about time this great kinsman of ours is restored and given his due, and that his books again be found on our shelves. We are pleased that a re-publishing of his most important books is taking place and it behooves us to push this wave of popularity of our famous kinsman by promoting his writings. This first of all means that we ourselves should read his books and give him the place of honor he deserves as one of the giants of Nordic literature. In the process we'll learn about life in Norway at the time, for much of Hamsun's writings dealt with the life of common people, their work, their problems, their fight to make a living under the harsh conditions of the Norwegian weather.

A biography of Knut Hamsun has been written by the Englishman Robert Ferguson. It's a paperback, published in 1987 and apparently it makes the life of the author sound so interesting that film rights have been secured by a Norwegian film company.

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