Mysteries

Nov 13, 2009 Manny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: swedish-and-norwegian, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, translation-is-impossible

I refused to read Hamsun for a long time, on the grounds that he was a Nazi sympathizer. But I started getting interested in modern Norwegian literature a couple of years ago, and in the end I had to give in. You just can't avoid him; he's referred to everywhere. And if I find him hard to deal with, I'm comforted by the fact that it's much worse for the Norwegians.

Let me expand on that a bit. I'm English by birth, and I've also lived a fair amount of my life in Sweden and the US. None of those c...more I refused to read Hamsun for a long time, on the grounds that he was a Nazi sympathizer. But I started getting interested in modern Norwegian literature a couple of years ago, and in the end I had to give in. You just can't avoid him; he's referred to everywhere. And if I find him hard to deal with, I'm comforted by the fact that it's much worse for the Norwegians.

Let me expand on that a bit. I'm English by birth, and I've also lived a fair amount of my life in Sweden and the US. None of those countries have ever been occupied by a foreign power (people from the American South may disagree). We don't know what it's like, and it's difficult to understand from the outside. When you read books from countries like France and Norway, which have recently suffered the experience of being occupied, you start to get some idea. The best comparison I can find is that it's like being raped. It's a shameful and degrading thing that you don't want to talk about unless you have to.

Now, suppose that you're a woman who's been abducted by a psychopath who keeps you for years in his cellar, and comes down every now and then to rape and torture you. And then suppose that your big brother, whom you've always loved and admired, gets friendly with the rapist. He visits every now and then. You're lying there bruised and bleeding in the cellar, and you can hear your brother and the rapist laughing together and playing cards in the kitchen above you. It was rather like that with Hamsun and the Norwegians. He was their greatest living author. Everyone had read him; Norwegians are an exceptionally literate people. During World War II, while Norway was occupied, Hamsun expressed his deep admiration for the Nazis. He gave his Nobel medal to Goebbels, and he met Hitler. When Hitler killed himself, Hamsun wrote him a flattering obituary. You can understand the scene in Christensen's Halvbroren, where the grandmother, a sympathetic character, burns all Hamsun's works in her stove. But the same book constantly mentions Hamsun's novels, and the author makes it clear how deep his artistic debt is. Jan Kjærstad, in Forføreren, has similar problems. The section on Hamsun is very interesting.

After the war, the Norwegian government simply didn't know what to do. Their solution was to determine that Hamsun was legally insane. He was also fined a large amount of money. Well, they may have been right. To the extent that the word "insane" means anything, I agree. But it was an unusual form of insanity. Hamsun had an unparalleled ability to project his feelings so that other people could experience them too; when I read Mysterier, it was almost as though I had gone through Doctor Parnassus's magic mirror, and found myself inside his crazed mind. Or, to use another analogy, remember the sequence from Mary Poppins where Bert and the kids jump into the picture; but instead of the anodyne country scene that Bert has drawn on the sidewalk, imagine that they have leaped into one of Van Gogh's last paintings. It's an unpleasant and frightening book, but a remarkably powerful one.

The language is extraordinary. Here are two passages I particularly liked, with my translations.

Det minder mig litt om en nat på Middelhavet, på kysten av Tunis. Det var vel hundrede passagerer ombord, et sangkor som kom fra Sardinien et sted. Jeg hørte ikke til selskapet og kunde ikke synge, jeg sat bare på dækket og hørte på mens koret sang nedenunder i salonen. Det varte næsten hele natten; jeg skal aldrig glemme hvor det lydde godt i den lumre nat. Jeg trek i smug alle dører til salongen i; tættet sangen inde, så å si, og så var det som lyden kom fra havsbunden, ja som om skibet skulde gå ind i evigheten med brusende musik. Tenk Dem noget i retning av et hav fuldt av sang, et underjordisk kor.

Frøken Andresen som satt Nagel nærmest sa uvilkårlig:

Ja Gud hvor det måtte være deilig!

It reminds me a little of a night I once experienced on the Mediterranean, off the coast of Tunis. There were a hundred or so passengers on board, a choir who came from somewhere in Sardinia. I wasn't in their party and I couldn't sing myself, I just sat there on the deck and listened while the choir sang underneath me in the saloon. They sang nearly all night; I will never forget how wonderful it sounded in the warm darkness. I sneaked down and closed all the doors; concentrated the essence of the song, as it were, and it was as though the sound came from the bottom of the sea, as though the ship was sailing into eternity on the music. Imagine something like a sea full of singing, an underwater choir.

Frøken Andresen, who was sitting closest to Nagel, said involuntarily:

"Oh my God, it must have been so beautiful"

And later, in the scene which I think explains the title:

Stemmen er en farlig apparat. Forstå mig ret: jeg mener ikke netop stemmens materielle lyd, den kan være høi eller lav, klangfuld eller rå, jeg mener ikke det stemmestofelige, tonetillværelsen, nei jeg holder mig til mysteriet bak den, den verden som den utgår från ... Til helvete forresten med denne verden bak! Altid ska det være en verden bak! Hvad fan raker det mig?

The voice is a dangerous instrument. Understand me correctly: I don't mean simply the material quality of the sound, whether it's high or low, melodious or harsh. I don't mean the acoustic or prosodic properties. I'm talking about the mystery behind it, the world it comes from... Oh, never mind, fuck the world behind it! There's always supposed to be a world behind things! What's it got to do with me?

I'm not sure what this means, to be honest, but I feel it's saying something important. Maybe someone can explain it to me. Mostly, I feel relieved to have escaped intact from the Imaginarium.
(less)

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Mar 18, 2012 s.penkevich rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: You should probably add this to your 'to-read' list

Shelves: nobel-prize-winners, existential, favorites, hamsun

Hamsun’s aptly named second novel, Mysteries, is a dazzling, dark look into human nature and man’s psyche. It is no surprise that Henry Miller claimed that Mysteries was ’closer to me than any book I have read,’ this novel is so probing and insightful that you feel it begin to pick your own mind as the pages churn by. Written in 1892, just 2 years following Hunger, this novel once again demonstrates Hamsun’s signature frantic yet serene prose while showcasing Hamsun as a Modernist far ahead of h...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Emilian Kasemi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Emilian by: s.penkevich

Shelves: favorites, reviews, read-and-reread, non-plus-ultra, inspiring

This might be the best novel I've read so far!
I finished the book, I loved it, I will reread it.
Truly masterful writing which I enjoyed from the first to the last page.
The story was mind-bending that I just couldn't wrap my head around. I wanted to read it without stopping but simultaneously I often put the book down and thought...Not knowing exactly what.
I was fascinated by this character; Nagel.
He is neurasthenic and disoriented, extravagant and charming.
Nagel is madness and weakness, a perso...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Rod rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Rod by: Billy Childish

Shelves: favorites, in-translation, classics

Yes. "Mercurial." That is the word that kept coming to my mind to describe Johan Nagel, the central character of Knut Hamsun's masterful Mysteries. Specifically, entries 2 and 4. Maybe not "thievishness" (though I wouldn't put it past him--not for a second), but Nagel embodied the other characteristics so much that I often found myself wondering if he was actually a flesh-and-blood human or some kind of earthbound trickster god sentenced by the "All-Father" to live among the mortals. I doubt it,...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Ben Winch rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: norwegian, mainland-european

When I was a teenager my dad urged 2 novels on me - Hermann Hesse's Glass Bead Game and Knut Hamsun's Hunger - which I consider all-time favourites to this day. Hesse I loved immediately; I read everything of his I could find. But Hamsun took a little longer. Upon first reading Hunger I thought, 'Huh? That's it?' It's not that I didn't like it, but it perplexed me. Hesse - and most if not all of my parents' other recommendations (Marquez, Kundera, Eco, Grass) - had seemed so... grand, somehow. E...more

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Jul 16, 2008 Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

this was fabulous; incredible; superlative-full. i have rarely come across such passionate writing; the passion coupling with the character of nagel, a solid plot...the scope of the subject matter is large, and i would need to read the book again to gain a more full understanding of what is going on, on the implications of hte story, in just grasping as much as i can of what i feel Hamsun was talking about, relating that to life. this is something that needs to be meditated upon, i think. or at...more this was fabulous; incredible; superlative-full. i have rarely come across such passionate writing; the passion coupling with the character of nagel, a solid plot...the scope of the subject matter is large, and i would need to read the book again to gain a more full understanding of what is going on, on the implications of hte story, in just grasping as much as i can of what i feel Hamsun was talking about, relating that to life. this is something that needs to be meditated upon, i think. or at least when i read it again i will follow the henry miller reading technique of stopping whenever i come across a strong passage and taking a walk, digest things a bit. chapter 18 ranks up there with the closing of "you can't go home again" as one of the most inspiring chapters i have ever read, but with "mysteries," everything is insane and inspiring and full of compassion and yearning, even with what feels like a dry translation, though i have no way of knowing for sure--but when reading henry miller right after finishing the book--and henry miller being one who at times can occupy a relatively straight forward/pseudo-dry prose--i could sense a more fluid, lively and individual style; the ideas came across vivid as anything i've read, but the prose sounded like Standard Unit English. i've had similar experiences with translations of some of the bits of Dostoevsky and Chekhov i've read: same large-set white man with rigid accent and mustache, sitting next to a fire, things pretty dry, language, etc., though with Hamsun's Mysteries at least the man made it outside, under a tree in the shade on a sunny day. more Standard Unit stuff. but that is unfair:
when i read Hamsun (at least in "mysteries" and "hunger"), i see some wirey man in his forties, the firing of his brain manifesting visibly in his jumpy, erratic, at times smooth as a pool of grease, demeanor.
so there is a contrast. i am listening to a large-set white man reading to me under a tree in the shade, on a breezy day, while i am watching a spark of a man, visibly burning with longing. (less)

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Mar 29, 2013 Хейко rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Не мога да определя еднозначно как точно почувствах тази книга. Нищо не ми се затвърждаваше като основна идея, тъкмо решавам, че съм схванала и хоп, оказва се илюзия. В началото мислех, че имам насреща си един самохвалко, дърдорко, после блъфьор, луд, мечтател, който не спира с монолозите. Едва след като се върнах да препрочитам отделни пасажи, забелязах, въпреки че се оправдава пред другите за своите психоанализи, че е хитър лицемер и сякаш не държи хората да го разбират, Нагел се обръща към Бо...more Не мога да определя еднозначно как точно почувствах тази книга. Нищо не ми се затвърждаваше като основна идея, тъкмо решавам, че съм схванала и хоп, оказва се илюзия. В началото мислех, че имам насреща си един самохвалко, дърдорко, после блъфьор, луд, мечтател, който не спира с монолозите. Едва след като се върнах да препрочитам отделни пасажи, забелязах, въпреки че се оправдава пред другите за своите психоанализи, че е хитър лицемер и сякаш не държи хората да го разбират, Нагел се обръща към Бог на няколко места, Бог да му помогне да му повярват.

„Ако има бог – каза и, - бог когото да почитам като върховен и свят, аз бих се заклел именно в този бог, че съм бил напълно искрен във всичко, което съм твърдял пред вас, абсолютно във всичко, и че имам най-добри намерения, дори да предизвикам у вас смут. Миналия път, когато разговаряхме, вие казахте, че противореча на всичко, което другите хора мислят за нещата. Да, така е, признавам, че съм едно живо противоречие, което сам не разбирам. Но не съм в състояние да проумея защо други хора не мислят по същия начин, както аз. Толкова ясни и прозрачни ми се струват всички въпроси, с такава ярка отчетливост виждам взаимната им обвързаност. Ето в кое истински вярва сърцето ми, госпожице. Дано Бог ми даде възможност да ви накарам да ми повярвате, сега и завинаги.” (less)

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Dec 17, 2010 Kim Katusha added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

Het eerste wat me verteld werd zodra ik Knut Hamsun opzocht op internet was dat hij de pro-Nazi regering in Noorwegen steunde. Het bleek zelfs een soort trauma te zijn voor de Noren en na de oorlog werd hij psychisch onderzocht om te kijken of hij wel goed in zijn hoofd was tijdens zijn ontmoetingen met Hitler en Goebbels.

Ergens maakt het me niets uit wat die man deed naast het schrijven van zijn boeken, het is al helemaal moeilijk om je voor te stellen hoe het was om te leven in een wereld waar...more Het eerste wat me verteld werd zodra ik Knut Hamsun opzocht op internet was dat hij de pro-Nazi regering in Noorwegen steunde. Het bleek zelfs een soort trauma te zijn voor de Noren en na de oorlog werd hij psychisch onderzocht om te kijken of hij wel goed in zijn hoofd was tijdens zijn ontmoetingen met Hitler en Goebbels.

Ergens maakt het me niets uit wat die man deed naast het schrijven van zijn boeken, het is al helemaal moeilijk om je voor te stellen hoe het was om te leven in een wereld waarin Hitler leeft en vrij veel macht heeft. Hoe wordt je beïnvloed en wat wordt er werkelijk verteld?
Maar, naast het feit dat het me ‘ergens’ niet uitmaakt, maakt het me ook ergens wel uit. Schrijvers wiens boeken indruk op mij maken vind ik interessant, en dit boek maakte indruk. Ik ben altijd benieuwd naar het leven van een schrijver, naar keuzes die er gemaakt worden en dingen die ze meemaken.
Gelukkig is er niets te merken van zijn voorkeur voor antisemitisme en is zijn boek op verschillende manieren bijzonder en een heel prettige leeservaring.

Het boek gaat over een man die zichzelf Johan Nilsen Nagel noemt. Dit duidt al op het in stand houden van een persoonlijkheid die niet echt van hem is. Of probeert hij enkel weg te lopen van de naam die hij eerder had, en de lading die daar aan hing, bij hoorde? Nagel is een rare: hij komt aan in een geel pak en woont vanaf het moment van aankomen in een hotel. Nooit wordt echt duidelijk wat Nagel komt doen in juist dit kleine kustplaatsje, of waar hij vandaan komt. Hij kent niemand en hij doet ook niet veel behalve het leren kennen van mensen. Maar niemand lijkt hem echt te willen of kunnen accepteren en dat is juist wat hij lijkt te willen. Of wat hij nodig denkt te zijn.
Ergens is Nagel enkel een heel triest persoon, tragisch bijna. Hij heeft niets nodig, niemand nodig, hij wil niet te veel gedoe om zich heen maar hij lijkt daardoor de grond onder zijn voeten kwijt te raken. Telkens weer verzint hij verhalen, trekt aandacht door zijn opvallende uitspraken en bovenal meningen, maar achteraf lijkt hij zich enorm aan zichzelf te ergeren.
Hij wil geen aandacht, nooit niet, maar hij gelooft dat hij het nodig heeft.

Daar komt dan nog bij dat Nagel soms twee-in-één lijkt te zijn: in zijn gesprekken met de ‘dorpsgek’ Minuut springt hij af en toe van de hak op de tak en praat maar, zegt dan het één en tien minuten later juist het tegenovergestelde. En hij meent het altijd. Nagel daagt uit, maar probeert dan ook weer gerust te stellen.
Zijn ‘relatie’ met Minuut is ook niet te volgen. Nagel lijkt Minuut te willen helpen, maar soms krijg je het idee dat Nagel iets weet over Minuut. Of, hij denkt dat hij iets weet maar het slaat helemaal nergens op. Wederom die tegenstrijdigheid. Minuut probeert zich overal uit te houden, alsof hij iets op afstand probeert te houden en daarom iedereen op afstand houdt. En hoe vreemd het einde ook is, het past precies bij de persoonlijkheid van de man die zichzelf Nagel noemt in dit boek.

Nagel is niet een personage die zich zomaar laat zien. Zelfs weken na het te hebben gelezen zijn er nog dingen die me totaal verbazen. De manier waarop hij achter een meisje aangaat dat hem op een gegeven moment enkel lijkt te haten, het omgaan met een andere vrouw om dat andere meisje maar jaloers te maken. Het uitdagen en opfokken van mannen met opleiding. Maar waarom nu eigenlijk? Is het de wens om eindelijk te voelen dat hij leeft? Want Nagel lijkt vol te zitten met twijfels. Hij heeft overal wel een mening over, maar lijkt nergens zeker van te zijn. Hij lijkt nergens in te geloven. Hij dwaalt, is de weg kwijt. Dat flesje blauwzuur dat hij altijd in zijn zak heeft zitten zegt al genoeg: als hij het zat is wil hij er direct een eind aan kunnen maken. Maar hij maakt maar geen keuze, of komt halverwege die keuze tot de conclusie dat hij een fout heeft gemaakt. Die eindeloze besluiteloosheid zorgt ervoor dat hij als persoon lijkt op het universum: je hebt geen idee van zijn omvang, van zijn inhoud. Maar soms laat hij, even maar, zien hoe mooi en bijzonder hij als persoon is. Het liefst echter als hij alleen is. Hij is duister maar wacht op zijn verlichting. Zo iets. Ik kan er nog niet echt iets van maken, en dat is juist zo fijn aan dit boek. Eindeloos herlezen, eindeloos twijfelen.

Uiteindelijk maakt het niet uit waar de sympathieën lagen van de schrijver van dit boek, voor mij niet in ieder geval. De man kon prachtig schrijven en het is niet aan mij om te oordelen over het maken van andere keuzes die hij eventueel heeft gemaakt. Ik kijk uit naar het lezen van zijn andere werk.(less)

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Apr 07, 2011 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, nobel-prize, scandinavian-lit, fsg-classics

I was introduced to the author Knut Hamsun by reading his first novel, Hunger. It is a Dostoevskian tale of a young journalist who is literally starving to death. His story is about trying to write and live while not even being able to afford a scrap of food, pawning his vest to be able to survive a few more days. It is a searing story that one does not forget. I had reread that book about a year ago, but still had not tackled any of Hamsun's other works before I had picked this book. My expecta...more I was introduced to the author Knut Hamsun by reading his first novel, Hunger. It is a Dostoevskian tale of a young journalist who is literally starving to death. His story is about trying to write and live while not even being able to afford a scrap of food, pawning his vest to be able to survive a few more days. It is a searing story that one does not forget. I had reread that book about a year ago, but still had not tackled any of Hamsun's other works before I had picked this book. My expectations were high, as he is a Nobel Laureate, but I was not sure if he would equal, much less surpass, his earlier novel. Now I look forward to reading more of his works.

I was drawn to Mysteries because of a reference in Henry Miller's The Colossus of Maroussi where he said of Mysteries that it "is closer to me than any other book I have read." High praise from a writer that I respect and whose Colossus I loved.

Mysteries is not exactly thrilling, but it is an adventure into the unknown. It does not rely on a traditional plot, rather it starts under mysterious circumstances where a strange young man named Johan Nagel without any past appears in a small coastal town where a person has been recently killed. However, playing against expectations the book doesn't delve in to the suspense of the murder, rather all the mysteries lie in Nagel's relations with the townspeople and in discovering the duality of human mind. The duality that confuses us more than the bystander why we are what we are. How can we be so selfish while performing a selfless act? Why do we care about so much about something whose absence doesn't matter in long run? Why do we love someone who doesn't love us back? I found moments in the book left me feeling that I was sharing a dream with the characters - an eerie feeling indeed but more puzzling than frightening.

Sven Birkerts has said that Hamsun has created " works of desperate lyrical romanticism". But Hamsun is also a precursor to and in some ways participant in modernism, writing works that span the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. This book is compelling with challenging arguments that you think and perhaps question your beliefs, especially the arguments on societal interpretation of the genius. Birkerts, in his introduction, goes on to say that Mysteries is "compelling in its fans a depth of devotion that owes less to narrative, character development, or evocative prose than to something more elemental, more . . . mysterious." (p. x)
It is thus to me and a novel of ideas that I can truly enjoy.(less)

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Apr 13, 2009 C. marked it as sounds-interesting

Recommended to C. by: Jessica Treat

I listen, Jessica! (sometimes)

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May 12, 2013 Abbi Dion rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The man became a degenerate -- two years sufficed to make him both a drunkard and a novelist." (Hamsun, 129)

"No, one has to watch out for that sort of thing. "My son, beware of women's favor," says a great writer--or whatever it is that a great writer says."

"Do you know what a great poet is? Why, a great poet is a person without shame, someone who never blushes. Other fools have moments when they blush with shame by themselves, in private; not the great poet." (34)

"I think you should have some...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Ben rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-lit, nobel-laureates

Nagel appears in town and is obsessed wondering what you think of him. Nagel will create elaborate facades to trick you, and then casually shatter them with a few words. Nagel will tell you that he is speaking the truth, but then lies. Nagel will tell you stories about someone else, but they are really about himself. Nagel will say bad things about you to you, and will then ask for your forgiveness. Nagel will do nice things, but will hide them so that you don’t know about them. Nagel will talk...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Hellera rated it 4 of 5 stars

Short essay for school:

Knut Hamsuni „Müsteeriumid“

Kuni päris lõpuni välja tundus mulle, et Nagel valetab rohkem kui asi väärt on. Jäi mulje nagu rikuks ta oma suure aatelise (ja ülitobeda) piinlemisega ära ka teiste inimeste elud, teeks seda täiesti tahtlikult ja süümepiinadeta. Võib-olla tahtes neid mõtlema panna, kuid väga võimalik, et siiski ainult seetõttu, et mitte üksi kannatada. Mis on inimlik, ent mõtlematu ja õel.

On ka muidugi võimalik, et ta ei valetanud, vaid tõde oligi igal konkreets...more Short essay for school:

Knut Hamsuni „Müsteeriumid“

Kuni päris lõpuni välja tundus mulle, et Nagel valetab rohkem kui asi väärt on. Jäi mulje nagu rikuks ta oma suure aatelise (ja ülitobeda) piinlemisega ära ka teiste inimeste elud, teeks seda täiesti tahtlikult ja süümepiinadeta. Võib-olla tahtes neid mõtlema panna, kuid väga võimalik, et siiski ainult seetõttu, et mitte üksi kannatada. Mis on inimlik, ent mõtlematu ja õel.

On ka muidugi võimalik, et ta ei valetanud, vaid tõde oligi igal konkreetsel juhul erinev, just selles hetkes õige. Inimesel ei ole ju tegelikult mingit kohustust reaalsuse piirides püsida, kui ta neist välja suudab murda. Ülejäänud linnarahvas seda muidugi nii ei näinud ja konventsionaalses mõttes oleks siis Nageli puhul tegu hulluga, kes tuleks kinni panna.

Siis jõudsin ma raamatu lõppu ning sattusin pisut segadusse. Nagel vist siiski nii palju ei valetanudki, üsna palju tema süüdistustest osutusid vististi tõeks. Mis õõnestab kõvasti Nageli antikristuse imagot ning haarab põrguvankrile kaasa ka kõik ülejäänud kodanikud selles väikelinnas. See tekitas minus sügava küsimuse, et mida Hamsun siis kogu selle juraga taotles?

Enne raamatu lõppu jäi mulle põhiliselt mulje, et Hamsun tahab inimesi raputada, üles äratada. Sellepärast Nagel valetabki kui segane ning samas näeme me, et ega muudki tegelased paremad ei ole. Asetades rahuliku norra rannikulinna keskkonda hullu, paljastub kõigi sealsete inimeste must süda või siis hoopis nende mitte nii must tõeline pale. Mis justkui viitaks sellele, et ka lugeja peaks avasilmi ringi käima ning kahtlema elus ning inimestes, mitte kunagi midagi iseenesestmõistetavana võtma.

Kahtlema elus ja inimestes... kuni mis? Sellest raamatust lähtuvalt viib see selleni, et lõpuks näedki, kuidas asjad tegelikult on, siis lähed hulluks ja lõpuks hüppad merre. Mitte just kõige jätkusuutlikum variant liigi püsimajäämiseks. Selle vaatenurga alt on võib-olla siiski parem väikekodanlik vaikelu? See on turvaline, mugav ja suhteliselt ohutu. Jah, taaskord kaitsen ma seda seisukohta. Kõik inimesed ei pea jõudma suure särava tõeni, et rahul olla. Kõik seda ei suuda ja pole vajagi. Kui inimene oskab rahul olla sellega, mis tal on ja kui ta kellelegi liiga ei tee, piisab sellest juba kuhjaga.

Mis saab kõigest sellest aga raamatu lõpus? Mulle näib, et see filosoofia muutub ainult niipalju, et „lõpuks näedki, kuidas asjad tegelikult on ja nad on nii meeletult koledad, lootusetud ja räiged, et sa hüppad merre, sest pääseteed ei ole kellelegi ning sind ümbritsevad koletised“? Imeline. Täpselt nii ma teengi.(less)

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Oct 16, 2009 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Henry Miller described Mysteries as ‘…closer to me than any other book I have read’. I’m no Henry Miller, but it is a very dear book to me too, quite like a close friend. It seems that there is no getting to the bottom of it, no matter how many times you engage with it, just like a human being. On a first reading it is seems a mere catalogue of disconnected events taking place in small town, with a stranger called Nagel at their centre, who has arrived on a steamer. He comes and goes and behaves...more Henry Miller described Mysteries as ‘…closer to me than any other book I have read’. I’m no Henry Miller, but it is a very dear book to me too, quite like a close friend. It seems that there is no getting to the bottom of it, no matter how many times you engage with it, just like a human being. On a first reading it is seems a mere catalogue of disconnected events taking place in small town, with a stranger called Nagel at their centre, who has arrived on a steamer. He comes and goes and behaves in an erratic manner as he interacts with a handful of other characters in the town.

It is a novel very like Hunger in that respect, and Nagel has indeed been seen as the hero of that earlier novel later in life, after Christiania has finished with him. Nagel too seems to be acting in accordance with strong inner compulsions that even he does not understand. To that extent, Mysteries, like Hunger, is a novel about youth, about being driven by your unconscious, which is quite clear about what it wants.

Nagel arrives at the small Norwegian coastal town on a steamer in the summer of 1891. He immediately leaves and arrives a second time. He leaves letters lying around in public view which catalogue revenue from his estates, but later reveals that he wrote them himself. A woman friend visits for a while and calls him by another name. He has an ‘affair’ with a woman in the town, Dagny, during which he does everything he can to put her off him. He is constantly setting up characters for himself to play, enacting roles, and then pulling them down. He is perhaps experimenting with different personas for himself and finding them all equally empty. He befriends a midget whom he comes to regard as the quintessence of evil, and is hugely generous to a lonely and impoverished woman, Martha, by pretending that a broken chair she has is extremely valuable to him.

The midget is intensely Christian, or at least that is what he wants people to think, but he performs some ‘unspeakable’ act on Martha, to whom Nagel is attracted – perhaps because she has no persona, no pretensions.

Towards the end of the novel, Nagel becomes intensely superstitious, obsessed with an iron ring he lost which will ‘purify’ him, and soon after commits suicide by running off a jetty. In an epilogue, Dagny and Martha, in conversation about events that happened years earlier, reveal that the midget was indeed evil, though nobody else believed it at the time, and that he had come ‘to a bad end’, though we are not told what that was.

We can interpret this novel in whatever way we wish. It is a sort of mirror that we can hold up to ourselves. It is a novel about inner exploration, corruption identity; the surface shifts and changes constantly; there is no ‘message’ or plot.

Hamsun, for all his Wagnerian faults, was a true genius, and once we have read Mysteries a part of us remains in that small Norwegian coastal town with Nagel, as a part of us remains in Christiania with the hero of Hunger. It works on an unconscious level, and the unconscious finds something deeply nutritious in it, returning there again and again to drink. Something remarkable within us is attracted to these books because they speak to it in its own language of symbols and shifting connections. Standard novels with a beginning, middle and end are works of the superficial ego, which Nagel is trying to purge himself of.
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Jan 15, 2009 Peter added it

An extraordinary book that deals with everything dangerous in a man: arrogance and eros. It moves along so quickly as to be breathtaking. Every surprise is expected. The protagonist is something like an a-political anarchist. The tone of the book is wonderfully iconoclastic and in many ways proto-moral. The protagonist arrives ahead of christianity. I am not willing to say much more about the story at the moment. The book is still sinking in. Often Hunger, Mysteries and Pan are put together as h...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Jim Leckband rated it 2 of 5 stars

I've always wanted to read a book by an author named Knut. But first let me give you 200 crowns and I'll tell you a story that happened to me in San Francisco. First, though, I'm in love with you and I can't live without you. I can't really play the violin even though I have a violin case but everybody in town wants me to play. You're really a very sinister person underneath - it might not look like it now, but you will turn out badly - like The Midget. The dastardly midget replaced my prussic a...more

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Dec 14, 2012 ☽ Moon ☯ 佛月球 Будда Луны rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In between life and man is a gift of consciousness, an invisible force of powerful implication that molds his perceptions. Unlike nature that seems to exist in somewhat complete submission to the course of its destiny, man's journey through existence is plagued by a keen awareness of life often lost and confused in the midst of the mysteries that govern it.

The more the acute the consciousness, the more danger it entails.

The more danger it entails, the more self destructive it could be as it ends...more

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Jan 05, 2011 R. Z. rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's easy to see why Hamsun won the Nobel prize for literature. This stream-of-consciousness novel is an account of the bizarre thinking of a strange man who suddenly appears in a tiny Norwegian village and manipulates individuals by his confusing behavior. The story is disturbing to say the least. It's well translated by Gerry Bothner and easy to read which is helpful, because it's better to read it quickly; at least I thought so as I didn't want to get caught by the strange reasoning of Nigel,...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Menelik rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mind boggling! It leaves the reader perplexed, curious about the story of the narrator, his past origins and the strange behaviors of people in the Town. It is a must read. Unlike other books, nothing is obvious and it lets the reader think about the role of the narrator in the book. Is he a Hero or an anti-Hero?
It is also journalistic, it reveals the state of politics of Norway at that time.
The author delves into the hard work of 'stream of consciousness', where he describes the Hero's state...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Andrew Schirmer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: translation, scandinavian

Sometimes I ask myself why I ever bothered to study Russian. Bergman speaks to me in ways that Tarkovsky never will (we have a tradition of watching the complete Fanny och Alexander every Christmas), I'd rather eat at Copenhagen's Noma than anywhere in Russia, and Knut Hamsun's novels are far superior to anything Dostoevsky ever wrote. Well, I've only read this one, but I've got a gut feeling...

The plot of Mysteries is extremely simple--a strange man, Nagel, comes to town. An inferior novelist w...more Sometimes I ask myself why I ever bothered to study Russian. Bergman speaks to me in ways that Tarkovsky never will (we have a tradition of watching the complete Fanny och Alexander every Christmas), I'd rather eat at Copenhagen's Noma than anywhere in Russia, and Knut Hamsun's novels are far superior to anything Dostoevsky ever wrote. Well, I've only read this one, but I've got a gut feeling...

The plot of Mysteries is extremely simple--a strange man, Nagel, comes to town. An inferior novelist would have him upset the apple cart, challenge the residents, and bring them to other ways of thinking. Indeed, there is an early moment when Nagel interferes in the mistreatment of a little person (given the moniker Midget) and appears to be a champion for social justice. But everything Nagel does is a provocation--not just to the townfolk but to himself.

Nagel's actions really are a series of Nietzschean limit experiences. If you've ever sat in a quiet church and dreamed of jumping out of the pew and dancing up the aisle--not simply for disruptive purposes--Nagel is your man. Hamsun slowly reveals these impulses, along with the achingly beautiful flights-of-fancy that accompany Nagel's mania:

Tears of rapture came into his eyes, and the intense emotion made his breathing heavy. He was already rocking on the seas of the heavens, singing as he fished with a silver hook. His boat was made of scented wood, and the oars gleamed like white wings; the sail was of light blue silk and shaped like a half moon...

This image of a beautiful, fantastic escape shows us Nagel's only true talent: the ability to imagine and invent. The townfolk clearly know this, and despite a series of faux pas that would ordinarily sever social bonds, they keep him around for expressly this purpose.

Of course, things cannot end well; a series of limit experiences can only be warm-ups for the ultimate limit experience of all--which comes, not as expected, but rather absurdly.

Like many, I had always ignored Hamsun because of his love of National Socialism (truly a tragic and fascinating story in its own right). Norwegians are still dealing with it, and the recently-completed Knut Hamsun Center in Hamarøy has brought back the issue to the international press. Supposedly, it was inspired by Hamsun characters. Like Nagel, it is odd, ugly, and stands out in the forest.

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Nov 25, 2011 Vince rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's a mystery to me why this book has such a high rating. I found it unrealistic and unengaging. It was hard to relate to the main character or anyone else. Someone once criticised Kerouac's writing for being typing but Kerouac had soul. This is typing without soul. It's just an incoherent rambling for a couple hundred pages. Hamsun has been quoted so many times by reknowned people so I kept plodding on with this drivel thinking I must be missing something. But there comes a point where you hav...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Cath Murphy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

My copy of this book heaps extravagant praise on Hamsun and I began reading with my skeptical faculties on full alert (because there's usually an inverse relationship between the height of the heap of praise and the quality of the book). But this time the accolades are justified.

Hamsun, like Ibsen and even like Bergman who did the same with film, makes the equation between the fey, almost supernatural quality of the far north and the inner mysteries of the human psyche. It's a compelling, provoc...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Linaart rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

С една дума - „стъклена”.
С повече думи – мъчително общуване и размишления в монолози и диалози, нещо като „психологически портрет” на характерен особняк. Олекотяването идва от абсурда, който буди смях на повърхността (болезненото е „отдолу”).

Главният герой Нагел - интересна, ексцентрична личност, размърдваща застоялото – но... неспасяем самотник. Провокативен, фин манипулатор. „Плътен” образ въпреки загадъчността, чудатостта и липсата на информация за предишния му живот. Контраст между „студенат...more С една дума - „стъклена”.
С повече думи – мъчително общуване и размишления в монолози и диалози, нещо като „психологически портрет” на характерен особняк. Олекотяването идва от абсурда, който буди смях на повърхността (болезненото е „отдолу”).

Главният герой Нагел - интересна, ексцентрична личност, размърдваща застоялото – но... неспасяем самотник. Провокативен, фин манипулатор. „Плътен” образ въпреки загадъчността, чудатостта и липсата на информация за предишния му живот. Контраст между „студената” обвивка и страстната му, настъпателна любов. „Цар” на монолога – и пиянския, и трезвия... Дори когато е в диалог с някой от другите герои, излива поток, който се превръща в монолог по дължина и самовглъбеност.

Присъства и забавното политиканстване и типичното „пенене” при сбирки на мъже, претендиращи за положение в обществото и защитаващи политическите си (и други) възгледи (непременно на чашка-две и повече...)

Похвати, които сигурно съществуват и при други автори, но не съм ги срещала май досега:
- смесване на различни глаголни времена в едно изречение или един параграф. Това създава известно напрежение, изпъкват вътрешните преживявания, "хиперактивност" и неуравновесеност на Нагел...
- редуване на учтива и „обикновена” форма за 2 лице в обръщения към един и същ човек. Това подсказва чувството за неувереност и обърканост, променливост на настроенията и отношението.

Нещо нетрадиционно е тази книга и ме убеди в литературния талант на автора. Не е книга, с която да се отпуснеш, леко напрягаща е като цяло, но пък на моменти и доста забавна. Понякога се чувствах на нокти като изпила ненавременно силно кафе, но в други моменти бях усмихнато ококорена от приумиците на Нагел и перфектното им изливане на страниците от страна на Хамсун.

Към края романът ставаше все по-сломяващ. Досега май не съм използвала израза „шамар” за книга, но сега разбирам какво означава – наистина цялата книга беше един „шамар” ...
Този човек е можел да прави с думите/словото каквото си поиска. В някои моменти си мислех, че за да може да сътвориш такъв герой, е необходимо и ти самият да си малко „така” като него...

Също си представям Кнут Хамсун като самороден психолог от 19-ти век. Или просто една много бурна и надарена личност, безмирна душа, за която не е много чудно, че е стигнала и до фашизма...

Не можах да преписвам откъси както обикновено, защото трябваше да са страници наред – хване ли се една нишка, тя продължава по 2-3 и повече страници и няма как да се прекъсне... Жалко е да ги нямам тези потоци на файлче и да си ги поглеждам от време на време - дори да не се изчетат целите, се усеща "хамсуновия съспенс"...(less)

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Nov 29, 2012 Dimitri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Dimitri by: Konstantinos Karagiannis

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was an amazing book and I did not do it justice in the way I read it. I spaced it out over far too long a time, so i'll definitely be re-reading it some day.

In Hamsun's other books, you can't help but think of the main character as a guy who doesn't deserve his torments. In this one he invites them, creates them even, and torments others. Still you can't help but be crushed by his pain as Hamsun does such a good job of guiding you through familiar feelings of desperation and helplessness. T...more This was an amazing book and I did not do it justice in the way I read it. I spaced it out over far too long a time, so i'll definitely be re-reading it some day.

In Hamsun's other books, you can't help but think of the main character as a guy who doesn't deserve his torments. In this one he invites them, creates them even, and torments others. Still you can't help but be crushed by his pain as Hamsun does such a good job of guiding you through familiar feelings of desperation and helplessness. The difference is, in all his other books that I've read, there comes a point when you realize that the relationship that the protagonist is grasping for is impossible, and as the reader you ponder one last time in a hopeful way if the story could possibly wrap itself into a happy ending (love-wise) for him. I had that moment of wonder in this book too, but it wasn't a hopeful one. When I realized it was all really over, the plot closed all obvious doors left for him with either woman, I stopped to consider if there might be a back entrance for him. But this time it was almost because I was worried, for the women, that it might still be possible.

Still you root for his happiness the whole time, even though you wonder how he could possibly achieve it. After all is said and done i'm not sure I really understand the ending, and while i'm scouring the internet fruitlessly for an answer, I don't feel unfulfilled by it. Not surprisingly the magic of this book has little to do with the plot, and mostly revolves around the character's brain, which is again even more insane than the others but just as realistic. While looking for answers, I stumbled upon a review which does an excellent job describing his mental state and why his mind doesn't seem that unbelievable even while his actions are so unpredictable.

"The inconsistencies in Nagel seem baffling, but Hamsun is attempting to make a strong statement about the fine line of demarcation that exists between that which we call “normal” as opposed to “mad” behavior. Nagel isn’t merely the prototype of the existentialist hero, the archetypal loner. Rather he is a person who wears a mask of sanity in a world that would refuse to accept him for the disturbed, unfathomable individual that he is. He always feels the need to play a part, even when, paradoxically, he admits that the part he’s playing is a lie. "
http://www.spinozablue.com/2009/02/1781/

I haven't seen any other story which does such a great job of exposing the "weird" nature of a "normal" brain. The only ones that come close are Hamsun's other books. I don't think i'm the only one who has moments every day where I am tempted to do something which would appear totally bizarre and begrudgingly refrain at the risk of being seen as weird. How interesting that we judge others as weird for doing or saying things which we think of but instantly bury. It's as if we fear our own nature so we ridicule those who don't.

Definitely on a tangent now, though. Good book. (less)

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Mar 30, 2013 Angus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nobel-laureates, the-classics-club, reviewed-and-blogged, 5-stars

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

The Man in the Yellow Suit

Mysteries is a novel about Johan Nagel, a man who suddenly lives in a small Norwegian town and who gets the townspeople going with his eccentric thoughts and impulsive acts. With no apparent reason for sojourning in the town and then leaving it just as soon as he arrived, Nagel probes into the deep recesses of the people's souls, thereby disrupting the peace of the people and turning everyone against him while he goes closer to his own...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Timmy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nordic

Shooting from the hip here..........Not really sure what to make of this yet and will have to read some more Hamsun before deciding. While the book is almost a point blank shout down my alley, a pie recipe with my name on it, I can't definitively get a bit of Gerber's out of my head. My anti-hero (and Hamsun) clearly feels some fabulous paganism, plays transcendental nature over hypocritical humanity from a little black and white box, cries at the thought of what will happen as technology and sc...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Cliff rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

'Mysteries' is a novel originally published in the 1890s, and written in Norwegian.

A man arrives in a unexpectedly in a small Norwegian coastal town, where flags are flying to mark the engagement of the town beauty, Dagny Kielland, to a naval officer.

This new arrival, Johan Nagel, who appears to be financially independent and to have come for no specific purpose, seems at first impressive. He has an inquiring mind and is physically active, going for long walks in the woods. He is kind toward a m...more 'Mysteries' is a novel originally published in the 1890s, and written in Norwegian.

A man arrives in a unexpectedly in a small Norwegian coastal town, where flags are flying to mark the engagement of the town beauty, Dagny Kielland, to a naval officer.

This new arrival, Johan Nagel, who appears to be financially independent and to have come for no specific purpose, seems at first impressive. He has an inquiring mind and is physically active, going for long walks in the woods. He is kind toward a man called The Midget who is mercilessly bullied by some in the town, and toward an impoverished woman, Martha Gude.

As Nagel meets and interacts with the townsfolk, he surprises them with his eccentric behaviour. When asked about himself, he is evasive, instead talking in exhaustive detail about his dreams and launching into long stories that have a dream-like quality, like fairy tales.

It soon becomes apparent that Nagel is not merely eccentric, but mentally unbalanced. His restless activity results from the fact that there is no guiding principle to his thoughts or actions - they are erratic and apparently random. Even his attempted charitable acts toward The Midget and Martha are done in such an elaborately circumspect manner that both are deeply disturbed by and suspicious of them. He declares his love for Dagny and begins to stalk her. He also shows a vindictive streak. When Dagny does not accept his advances he poisons her dog. He spreads malicious gossip about The Midget, Dagny and others.

The novel is essentially a portrayal of the state of mind, and actions, of a psychologically disturbed individual over a period of several weeks. Taken on its own terms, the writing is brilliantly original and the descriptions of Nagel's manic phases, when he is transported into ecstasy by the beauty of the town's woods and skies, have a great lyrical beauty. However the extent to which the other characters are developed is greatly limited, since we see them almost wholly through Nagel's eyes, and his impressions of them are erratic and contradictory. As the novel proceeds, its content is increasingly dominated by Nagel's incoherent ramblings. As a depiction of insanity the book is utterly convincing, but its value to the reader will depend on the degree of his/her interest in the central character.(less)

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Nov 03, 2008 Zack rated it 5 of 5 stars

Every Knut Hamsun book is totally different from every other. I mean, this one's superior to Growth of the Soil, even possibly to Hunger, but it's such a different kind of book comparisons aren't really fair. For some reason, another Hamsun book, Pan, also totally different from any of the others, is dedicated by him to Johan Nilssen Nagel, the (fictional?) protagonist of Mysteries. This is his second book, written right after Hunger, and carries the same kind of fire, but this time way more inv...more

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Sep 08, 2008 Madhuri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nobel, fiction, norwegian

I will make my character laugh where sensible people think he ought to cry.

And why? Because my hero is no character, no 'type,' ... but a complex, modern being.

- Knut Hamsun

I don't know whether Hamsun spoke these words to describe the character of Nagel in his work Mysteries, but I can say that in Nagel, he was successful in what he intended to carry out. Even though he does not want to call his hero a character, I found the (anti?)protagonist of Mysteries to be a remarkable character - for his...more I will make my character laugh where sensible people think he ought to cry.

And why? Because my hero is no character, no 'type,' ... but a complex, modern being.

- Knut Hamsun

I don't know whether Hamsun spoke these words to describe the character of Nagel in his work Mysteries, but I can say that in Nagel, he was successful in what he intended to carry out. Even though he does not want to call his hero a character, I found the (anti?)protagonist of Mysteries to be a remarkable character - for his inconsistencies and realities.

In this novel, a stranger (Nagel) lands in an idyllic, 'simple' coastal town of Norway, for no particular reason. In his unexplained, eccentric existence, he throws the apparently well-formed community into a commotion, bringing out the subtle evil and in-equations amongst the people. Throughout the story, everyone tries to unravel the mysteries behind this stranger - the town, the reader and most of all Nagel himself, who seems to be as puzzled by his actions as others are. Very appropriately, even the writer seems to explore the mystery for a while, and then leaves it unfinished.

I found Mysteries to be a novel of the subconscious. Very often, Nagel seems to act on instincts, which, if he explores, turn out to be conscious logical behavior choices. There are many dreams and memories that seem to guide him, and in each he (and the reader) tries to find a symbol. Although, Nagel's behavior could also be inspired by a very acute level of consciousness (as he suggests a few times), where he is able to predict the impact of his behavior on other people. In this calculation of moves, he appears to me very similar to the Johannes of Seducer's Diary, though Johannes was far more consistent with his premeditation than Nagel. In this, he is much closer to a 'normal' modern man, who is sometimes calculative, manipulative, sometimes moved to humanitarian acts and sometimes just plain silly and argumentative. It is quite remarkable that Hamsun is able to draw out these lapses into the subconscious, and so fluidly merge them into the conscious.
Apart from the symbols that drive Nagel, he himself is a symbol of modernism, as he breaks from the norms of a collective conscience and chooses personal and individual confusion. This choice may be the force that thwarts the town's order and poses a question to its apparent stability. He opposes all established beliefs, even though he may not have a very sound logical standing in negating them. He seems to uphold inconsistency, unpredictability, and risk, and is therefore dangerous to the limited town.
There is a lot that I feel like saying about this work, which I found remarkably enthralling, but I don't think I am much refined to put them down as a long essay - perhaps I will link those thoughts through in bits on the blog later. For now - I will stop at: I loved Nagel. And Hamsun. I will read more from this writer.(less)

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Aug 01, 2010 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Time is short nowadays and alas, my reviews must shorten subsequently. If you're not already familiar with Knut Hamsun, chances are good you'll never stumble across him unless some wise friend turns you onto him. He was a Norwegian, a Nobel Prize winner, heralded for decades of his time, but eventually scorned and by many dismissed, when he, bafflingly, became a Nazi sympathizer.

His work holds up, however, when separated from the artist. Of all the writers I have read from the turn of the 20th...more

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