Hunger (orig. Sult)

by Knut Hamsun (aka Knud Pedersen)

Hunger (orig. Sult)

book data

1355 ratings, 4.24 average rating, 187 reviews (more data...)

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published

1967 (first published 1890) by The Noonday Press

binding

paperback, 232 pages

url

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K...

setting

Norway

isbn

LCControlN

description

Hunger (Norwegian: Sult) is a novel by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun and was published in its final form in 1890. Parts of it had been published an...more

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All ratings | 5 stars (593) | 4 stars (477) | 3 stars (221) | 2 stars (33) | 1 star (10) | avg 4.24

all | this edition

Matthew

Matthew rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

09/05/07

A wiser man than me (read: Chris Rock) once said, "If a homeless person has a funny sign, he hasn't been homeless that long. A real homeless person is too hungry to be funny." But what happens when you've just become homeless, when you tell yourself you'll spend just one or two nights outside, before your clothes have become tattered, and before hunger has completely set in?

Knut Hamsun's first novel, Hunger, published in 1890, reads like a play-by-play of one man's descent ...more

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Ann

Ann rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

11/26/08

Read in November, 2008

I'm writing about a book called "Hunger" on the eve of Thanksgiving. One of my favorite "tortured souls" recommended this book to me so I did have some idea what I was getting into with this one but at the same time it's also quite the page-turner. To really glimpse into the inner thought processes of an intelligent human is inherently fascinating, even more so for one teetering on (or falling off of) the precipice of insanity. Though the final message is one of hope, or, som...more

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Mike

Mike rated it:

07/08/08

bookshelves: 50-books-2008, can-t-stop-recommending

Read in March, 2008

Hunger is one of the few books I've read in the last few years that really made me feel vulnerable (Journey to the End of the Night being the other), and that by itself impressed me greatly. It's tremendously modern for a book written in 1890...reads like a mixture of Kafka and Celine (and preceeds both)--not to devolve into a RIYL review....

Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read.

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Raegan Butcher

Raegan rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

04/13/08

Read in February, 1990

recommends it for: struggling writers

One of my all time favorites. A classic. The only Hamsun I've read, but its a doozy.

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Nate

Nate rated it:

(review of isbn 0374531102)

10/30/08

Read in October, 2008

recommended to Nate by: Patrick and Allen via Goodreads

I think I've seen this novel referred to as the beginning of modernism, and it makes sense. Free from conventional plot, characters, or message, Knut Hamsun's nihilistic odyssey dwells entirely in its incrementally starving writer-narrator's head as he gets hung up on random details of his surroundings, the peculiarities of his internal sensations, his increasingly fragmented thoughts. Reading this right after Great Jones Street, I ca...more

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Mr.

Mr. rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

10/07/08

Hunger is a remarkable first-person account of a poor writer in Oslo who is starving. Knut Hamsun was able to paint a vivid and breathtaking portrait of the psychology of nihilism and self-contempt in this novel, a work for which he will always be remembered. It was obvious to me upon reading this that Hunger is extremely influential, it seemed to have a lasting impact on the more existential writing of the early 20th century, most clearly with Franz Kafka's story, "The Hunger Artist."...more

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will

will added it (review of isbn 0374531102)

09/10/08

Read in September, 2008

Hunger is a supremely dark novel that is essentially plotless. The nameless main character spends most of his time walking around Christiania, in Norway, trying to find a means of acquiring food, or a small amount of money with which to buy food. Sometimes he is offered charity, which he often rejects out of principle, and sometimes he chews on pieces of wood to ease his hunger. Once, he even bites his finger. He is clearly mad, and though it is not clear that he really grasps this, he does reco...more Hunger is a supremely dark novel that is essentially plotless. The nameless main character spends most of his time walking around Christiania, in Norway, trying to find a means of acquiring food, or a small amount of money with which to buy food. Sometimes he is offered charity, which he often rejects out of principle, and sometimes he chews on pieces of wood to ease his hunger. Once, he even bites his finger. He is clearly mad, and though it is not clear that he really grasps this, he does recognize at times that he is not acting rationally. In this way, the book is similar to Dostoevsky's The Double, in which Golyadkin is painfully unaware of his own descent into madness. Hamsun's controlled tone and close attention to character show much resemblance to Dostoevsky and Gogol, but he conveys a sorrow that I never quite experienced with the Russians. Each incident, while often funny, strange, and serious, is infused with a sadness that is hard to pinpoint. That the main character is so adrift and alone seems to account for some of this. He seems to have no family to speak of and his friends often act more like acquaintances. Despite this, as a writer he often seeks out solitude and bemoans the fact that he must try to write with others in the room. His most shining moments are those when he invents new words and reimagines his own language. Of course, all great books are about the act of writing regardless of their ostensible narratives, and Hunger could easily be seen this way: hunger not for food so much as sustenance for his genius which has not yet manifested itself.
Indeed, the main character often acquires food, or enough money to sustain himself for a few days, and it is during these periods that the narrative skips ahead. In one sentence he has food, but the next is three weeks later when his last ore has been spent. And Hamsun seems to indicate that this condition is permanent and eternal. The reader is dropped into the narrative with the note that this all occurred while the main character was in Christiania walking around, as if it were a short period bookended by others. There are various mentions of ships at the harbor and their links to a greater world, and in the end he boards a boat bound for elsewhere. But can we really believe that he will not repeat this behavior in London or Cadiz? Does he know anything else? In the end, for all its disturbing moments this novel is stark but vital....less

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Hirtho

Hirtho rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

09/01/08

bookshelves: paul-auster

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in September, 2008

recommended to Hirtho by: Kiddo
recommends it for: fellow fans of Paul Auster, especially Moon Palace and his memoirs

8/28 - I've never fully realized how much I've needed a novel blending Travis Bickle and George Coastanza and my own waking life, but the first 30 pages of this have blown me away, if it keeps up this is top 5 stuff...

8/31 - i'm a little over halfway thru but it's kinda been too samey ever since the awesome introductory passage where he takes his desperation out on God and other townsfolk, like in the first forty pages or so - the writing is excellent but that desperation is no...more

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Robert Burdock

Robert rated it:

(review of isbn 1841958190)

07/03/08

bookshelves: 50-novels-in-one-year

Read in July, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Posted on my blog:

Intense! Moving! Unforgettable! - a few resonant 'power words' which could help me to describe Mr. Knut Hamsun's Hunger to some extent, but they do little to fully encapsulate my innermost feelings about this novel. Quite simply Hunger, is one of the most powerful books I've ever read, in any genre; whether fictional or factual, and given that I've read countless biograp...more Posted on my blog:

Intense! Moving! Unforgettable! - a few resonant 'power words' which could help me to describe Mr. Knut Hamsun's Hunger to some extent, but they do little to fully encapsulate my innermost feelings about this novel. Quite simply Hunger, is one of the most powerful books I've ever read, in any genre; whether fictional or factual, and given that I've read countless biographical accounts relating to some of history's most harrowing events, this is quite a statement to make, but it is one that I wholly stand by.

Stunning in its delivery, Hunger is one of the few books that has the ability to truly touch your soul. What makes the novel so intense is not the storyline; for the most part the story is devoid of plot. Rather the sense of sympathy and desperation one feels for the main character (a struggling writer on a psychological roller-coaster ride, stricken by poverty, who always seems as though he is about to draw his final breath), is, for me, the novel’s crowning glory. This mechanism of ‘survival doubt’ is superlatively engineered into the story by Mr. Hansum. There are times, usually at the start of a new ‘chapter’ when the writer’s survival seems assured (he himself proclaims many times that his latest work will be the one that end his dificulties). Inevitably however, the character’s situation diminishes, and the reader’s confidence can do nothing but diminish along with it, until, through some fortune turn of events, the main player draws himself back, if usually only temporarily, from the ‘abyss’.

As intense as Hunger is (and it really is intense at times, with the writer’s moods elevating and lowering as often as the paragraphs change), I also found the novel to be quite humourous in parts. The writer’s ‘unnecessary’ and continual bickerings with people he meets, is only surpassed in humour by the intense arguments the writer often has with himself, which more often than not, involves some form of self harm. In essence this personal self loathing is of course a sign of utter madness and desperation, the mark of a madman, but one cannot help but raise a smile when the main character is found in the middle of the street bawling at himself, with onlookers staring aghast.

The writer’s obstinate stupidity also makes for a number of humourous scenes, such as when he declares his homelessness at a police station, falsifies his name and circumstances and consequently misses out on a desperately needed meal. Humour can also be found in the unrealistic value that the main character quite often places on his own personal artifacts. Of course in desperate times especially, one would be inclined to place an inflated value on their personal effects, and Hamsun is primarily illustrating this fact. However it still brings a note of humour to the proceedings, especially when the character attempts to pawn various belongings.

I’m well aware there is controversy surrounding the author of this work, (Mr. Hamsun evolved with quite repungent notions of Nazi idealism), but that is irrelevant to this novel and should not, in my opinion, be brought into consideration. Hunger stands on its own as one of the finest psychological works ever written. It is a book that I will invariably think about often. It is a book that has well and truly touched my soul

Favourite quote: [Note: The main character is mad at himself for raising the notion in his head of asking for a loan of money] “I started running to punish myself, left street after street behind me at full blast, pushed myself on with suppressed shouts, and screamed mutely and furiously at myself when I felt like stopping…[…:]…not being able to run any further I threw myself down on some steps, ‘No, Hold it,’ I said. And to torture myself properly I got up again and forced myself to remain standing..”

Favourite scene: The main character’s early encounter with an old man on a park bench. Fraught firstly with curiosity about a package the man is holding, the writer moves on to take great delight in relaying outrageous lies to the old man which he swallows up without question. A sublime piece of writing!

What this novel has taught me about writing: A good plot is not always necessary to produce a good story. The human condition can often produce a compelling tale, provided one engages completely with the psyche of his character(s)....less

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Laura

Laura rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

05/18/08

Read in April, 2004

Hamsun, Knut. Hunger. Writers notes:
• Master of unreliable narrator.
• A rational progression into the irrational, copied by Fante.
• Comfortable with the narrator, trust his observations.
• Flow of time and natural course of up and down, feel the fate.
• Great moments of the writing process, the joy when it comes effortlessly and the pain when it won’t come at all.
• Will make you appreciate every possession and realize the decadence of living in these times. ...more

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Melissa

Melissa rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

05/05/08

Read in May, 2008

Written in part as an autobiography, Hamsun's character wanders through the city of Christiana starving and driven to madness. He imagines conversations or speaks aloud to himself, frightening many inhabitants and gaining the attention of various police officers. He makes up words to his own delight and tells superfluous lies to anyone that will talk to him. At one point in the book, he even hires a coach to drive him to an important appointment- to an unknown location and with a man he's ju...more Written in part as an autobiography, Hamsun's character wanders through the city of Christiana starving and driven to madness. He imagines conversations or speaks aloud to himself, frightening many inhabitants and gaining the attention of various police officers. He makes up words to his own delight and tells superfluous lies to anyone that will talk to him. At one point in the book, he even hires a coach to drive him to an important appointment- to an unknown location and with a man he's just made up.

This is not a moralist narrative- there is no real redeeming point to it all- just a man driven by desperation and trying to make it through each day. Apparently when this book was published it was considered very shocking due not only to its content but to the style of writing (a kind of staccato which increases the growing sense of madness in our main character). Perhaps more discomfiting is the intellect of this character- a writer who scribbles on scraps of paper and then publishes his articles in local papers. A man like this, smart and talented, failing to grasp any opportunity (like just getting a job) and then deliberately wasting that which comes his way (refusing food when he is starving due to pride or even giving it away to someone 'less fortunate') is perhaps the most disturbing element of the text.

Hamsun spent a good ten or so years living in the same manner as his character, struggling to write and suffering for his art as he was eternally rejected from publishers and advised against writing at all by more well-known authors. When he did finally make a success of himself, he began to chide contemporaneous authors for using less intelligent characters in their books than their audience. In the afterword of the book, there is a story given about a lecture he gave in Oslo on this very theme- and as he mocked his favorite scapegoat Henrik Ibsen- found that the man was sitting in the front row glaring at him. Of course this did not stop Hamsun from continuing to berate the playwright.

Ironically, the next thing Ibsen wrote was 'The Master Builder' which is the story of a young architect challenging an older master who is less intelligent. 'Ibsen's hero admits that he has perhaps built too many 'homes for ordinary people;' perhaps he had made a mistake in not building more 'cathedrals.' The translator Robert Bly adds here that Hunger is itself a cathedral because the 'whole novel is a resonating chamber for an unknown part of the personality.' But is it, then? The part of our souls, personalities...what have you...that remain unknown are only the ones we have yet to uncover through hardship and struggle. What did Ibsen know of strife and starvation? He was a success almost immediately while Hamsun lived the worst of lives for several years. Who knows what darkness waits behind our desires if they remain unquenched long enough? It seems to me that the only cathedral in Hunger is that of the feeling of hunger itself- as the main character eternally chases and/or escapes that need in circular return.

So if Hamsun is to be criticized for appealing to a focalized audience then we have to keep in mind how unpredictable each of our lives really are. The better our circumstances, all the more madness will creep in to replace what was once satisfaction. Of course, this is same author that cured his tuberculosis by riding on top of a train with his mouth open for fresh air- so if there is hope- it's one we invent for ourselves....less

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Michael

Michael rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

04/11/08

Read in April, 2008

Blurbs about Knut Hamsun's Hunger, which will invariably describe it as a stream-of-consciousness account of a young writer grappling with the psychological consequences of hunger and poverty in turn-of-the-centry Oslo, will not distinguish the book from the bottomless well of starving artist fiction. So, you will have to read Hunger to appreciate and understand the narrator's other nemesis, his pride, and his sturdy morals, which are tested the weaker and more disordered his body and mind beco...more

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Brent

Brent rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

05/02/08

John Fante must have liked this novel. Liked it enough to write several of his own in the same vein. I never realised that the first time I read Hunger. I don't know why it is I make that connexion now. All of Fante's books have Hamsun's obsession with honour. A poor man's honour. And poor man's arrogance.

Why do I spell like an Englishman? Perhaps it's the particular translation I've just finished reading. This chap George Egerton made Hunger seem more antique than I remembere...more

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Zcrowley50

Zcrowley50 rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

06/12/07

Read in June, 2007

Knut may have been a Nazi sympathizer, but Hunger (Sult) was written a half century before, and it is outstanding.

The writing is smooth and clear and engaging. The author slips in an out of tense, in and out of internal monologue, in and out of sanity without hiccup. The story follows the protagonist (1st person, somewhat biographical) as he struggles to feed himself with his writing.

The structure of the narrative is in four equal parts, each a variation on the central theme of hunge...more

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Patrick

Patrick rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

08/29/08

Read in January, 2006

recommends it for: hungry people

Call me egotistical, but this book is the best representation of me ever. If I was poorer, and living in this city at that time, I would be Knut Hamsun.

That above comment isn't very much like me, or Knut Hamsun for that matter, but I am wasting a lot of time these days trying to fill in a review for all the books on my list so please forgive me. What I especially enjoyed in this book was the free-flowing of the character, the randomness of his actions. One of the funnier scenes sees him jum...more

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Old Man Scaps

Old Man Scaps rated it:

(review of isbn 0374531102)

09/09/08

recommended to Old Man Scaps by: Mc
recommends it for: Dave Bachmann. Also, people who like "Notes From Underground."

The unnamed narrator of this novel from 1890 is the original starving artist. He's proud, shameful, kind of brilliant, and suffers from bouts of insanity that are crushing and sad and sometimes darkly hilarious. Because he's arguably made the decision to starve-- he frequently refuses charity out of a clench-teethed pride, sometimes dressed up as nobility, sometimes ACTUALLY nobilty--you can't feel bad for him in a Dickens-y way. (And some readers might think he's an idiot.) But you might fe...more

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Adam

Adam rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

11/06/07

Read in November, 2007

This is exactly the kind of book I usually can't enjoy enough to finish: a heavily stylistic 19th century novel in which nothing ever happens. Despite that, I enjoyed it quite a bit. A great part of the appeal is Hamsun's detailed, minute by minute account of what it's like to be at the absolute end of one's means, when every resource and safety net is finally exhausted. In the first fifty pages, Hamsun's hero is evicted from his room, pawns his last possession, and spends the money on a single ...more

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erik graff

erik rated it:

03/25/08

bookshelves: literature

Read in June, 1974

recommended to erik by: Anne-Lise Graff
recommends it for: all Norwegians

Hunger is a semiautobiographical account of the author's poverty in Kristiania ("Oslo" since independence in 1905) when Norway was still controlled by Sweden. Reminiscent of Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment, it is a reminder of how so many of our ancestors suffered during the industrialization of Europe and of how many suffer similarly today in the third world. Significantly, the novel ends with the young protagonist leaving by ship.

I read this book because I had been given to...more

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Kathy

Kathy rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

07/08/08

OPENING LINE:

"All of this happened while I was walking around starving in Christiania-that strange city no one escapes from until it has left its mark on him..."

Summary:

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Originally published in 1890, this classic of modern literature follows an impoverished Norwegian writer through the streets of Christiania (now Olso) as he struggles on the edge of starvation. Existing on what little money he makes from selling the occasional arti...more

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Bryce

Bryce rated it:

(review of isbn 0486431681)

10/10/08

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Bryce by: Jonathan Lundahl
recommends it for: Gary Coles-Christensen

Here you go, Gary:

It's a little weird reading this after reading Celine and Charles Bukowski and Henry Miller and John Fante, since they all wrote the same book 40-80 years later. After giving it credit as the first(?) starving-genius-undiscovered writer-misanthrope auto...more

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