When published in 1917, Growth of the Soil was immediately recognized as a masterpiece. Ninety years later it remains a transporting litera...
read full description
reviews
Dec 17, 2009
Meghan
rated it: 
Despite the fact that this book won Hamsun a Nobel Prize in Literature, it is often Hamsun's most misunderstood novel. Not much seems to happen in the 400+ pages of Isak (a mysterious, near god-like figure) building his farm. Even when things do happen, Hamsun's writing is surprisingly calm despite the possibility of disaster. What I believe it comes down to is this: This books is not so much about Isak changing as it is about the "modern world" encroaching on Isak's life. From the
More...
0 comments
like
(10 people liked it)
Dec 13, 2011
s.penkevich
rated it:
”Then comes the evening.” Those who have seen the film Hamsun, starring Max Von Sydow, will recall seeing several scenes with Marie Hamsun finishing a novel with this line at book readings. Growth of the Soil, Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun’s 1917 novel widely regarded as his masterpiece, is that novel. Powerful in its sublime simplicity, Growth is the life and times of Isak, following him as he cuts his legacy from the untamed wilds of Norway.
I would recommend anyone with an intere More...
I would recommend anyone with an intere More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Feb 16, 2009
Cwn_annwn_13
rated it: 
Read this a few years back and just realized I had neglected to ever write a review, (I like to write little reviews for every book I read) Out of the four I have read that he has written I would consider this Hamsuns best book. I believe this is the one he won the Nobel Literature prize for. Its also the only one by him that I have read that Hamsuns own personal screwiness didn't transpose itself onto the characters of the book. A basic description is a guy clears a patch of land in rural Norwa
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 20, 2008
Chuck
rated it: 
The author demonstrates his opinion that modern, city, business types like Brede, Aaronson, and Isak's son, Eleseus, and are inferior to farmers. The city types are basically, lazy, greedy, and short-sighted. The farmers are hard working and living side by side with nature, helpful to each other, and not interested in trying to make a profit at another's expense. He classifies the business types as "the Jew and the yankee," and is clearly anti-american and an antisemite at the time h
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Chris
rated it:
When I was growing up, collections for a book resale took place in our garage. People would just leave boxes of books on our doorstep. I was always the first one to go through the boxes and see what might be interesting. You may be figuring out that I adore books.
This book was different from anything I'd ever found. A teenager in a small town in the midwest. There were things underlined in this book which, made it even more interesting. I always wonder what caused a person to underl More...
This book was different from anything I'd ever found. A teenager in a small town in the midwest. There were things underlined in this book which, made it even more interesting. I always wonder what caused a person to underl More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Animesh
rated it:
A book of profound and epic scope, it is a story of a lonely man who with his own hands builds a house, a family and ultimately a whole township in the bleak north of Norway...it is a story of the essence of man, of simplicity and stubbornness in the face of nature's ravages, it is a story of the essential character of man himself.
When I see a potter lovingly shape a bowl out of earth, a tiller in a lonely field who leaves behind an endless track on the soil, or a jogger on his lones More...
When I see a potter lovingly shape a bowl out of earth, a tiller in a lonely field who leaves behind an endless track on the soil, or a jogger on his lones More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Apr 16, 2011
William
rated it:
I just re-read this book, having been reminded of the main character by the character Blood in 'Lost Nation' by Jeffrey Lent. Upon rereading, the characters were not as similar as I thought sharing only the heading out into the wilderness and trying to create a life from the land.
The story of Isak is a simple tale of a man beginning with nothing, using the land to feed himself, selling his products for money to increase his use of the land, and working hard to always increase his abil More...
The story of Isak is a simple tale of a man beginning with nothing, using the land to feed himself, selling his products for money to increase his use of the land, and working hard to always increase his abil More...
Feb 02, 2011
Lit
rated it: 
My impression is that when people talk about Growth of the Soil most of their comments revolve around the beautiful language of the novel. While I found this to be true, I also found that I didn't find the language particularly stirring - it was pretty but it didn't get my blood going.
For me, the highlight of the novel is its often times tongue in cheek humor, almost a slyness. One such episode is when Isak buys back the sheep Oline had previously stolen from him, Isak bought a certain More...
For me, the highlight of the novel is its often times tongue in cheek humor, almost a slyness. One such episode is when Isak buys back the sheep Oline had previously stolen from him, Isak bought a certain More...
Feb 01, 2011
Paul
rated it:
I recently read Pat Conroy’s (Great Santini, Prince of Tides, South of Broad,) My Reading Life, which I think I reviewed for Good Reads recently. Anyway, in My Reading Life, Conroy’s agent gives him a copy of Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun and tells Conroy: “It’s an essential book. A necessary one. It’s the most important book I’ve ever read. I named my farm Sellanraa in honor of Isak the man who builds his home and raises a family out of nothing.” To which Conroy says: “I’ll read it.”
More...
Aug 02, 2010
Greg
rated it:
I came to this book knowing nothing about it other than Knut Hamsun was on Henry Miller's list of personally influential authors (and he popped up in Bukowski as well, so it was a double whammy), and that my library had some of his books. They had an ancient edition from 1953 only--yellowed pages, musty smell, but the title was promising and seemed as good as anyplace to start with this author.
What a fantastic book this turned out to be, and I'm glad I went into it cold. I was a bit More...
What a fantastic book this turned out to be, and I'm glad I went into it cold. I was a bit More...
Jan 03, 2011
Ken
rated it:
I thought this was an excellent book. It is written in a beautifully sparse prose style which was, for me at least, the its most salient feature. In writing this marvelous book Hamsun omits nearly all the minute descriptions of people, places and events which we are accustomed to wade through in the typical novel.
For the reader, the effect of Hamsun's parsimonious writing style is to render "Growth of the Soil" as somehow an epic intrinsically occurring on a moral/psycholog More...
For the reader, the effect of Hamsun's parsimonious writing style is to render "Growth of the Soil" as somehow an epic intrinsically occurring on a moral/psycholog More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 01, 2011
Asa
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 23, 2009
Chilly
rated it:
It's hard to describe what is so appealing about this straightforward novel. Perhaps it's the glimpse into the agrarian world, plus through the filter of the Norwegian mannerisms -Ho! What's this? Yey, that must be a part of it.
The novel is by no means action packed, but there is humor in the telling, and the tale will draw you in despite the lack of a dense plot. It's Hamsun's voice that is the great element here. Though there are an infanticide or two, wild women sneaking out in the More...
The novel is by no means action packed, but there is humor in the telling, and the tale will draw you in despite the lack of a dense plot. It's Hamsun's voice that is the great element here. Though there are an infanticide or two, wild women sneaking out in the More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 04, 2010
James
rated it:
Very simple but effective story. The first half of the book, which follows Isak's saga as he builds a home out of the wilderness, is a bit more interesting than the second half of the book, which becomes a little too preachy and reactionary.
The story is worth reading because it depicts a person who seems to embody universal qualities (single-mindedness, good-hearted naivety, diligence, etc.) that give rise to an authentic life, but in reality he is simply a cluster of the author's h More...
The story is worth reading because it depicts a person who seems to embody universal qualities (single-mindedness, good-hearted naivety, diligence, etc.) that give rise to an authentic life, but in reality he is simply a cluster of the author's h More...
Apr 25, 2011
It's rare that I read anything that seems to possess this much sheer gravity. There are no heroics here. The intrepid pioneers, unlike in American stories of the settlement of the West, are not heroes bringing the light of man unto the wilderness. Rather, they are building an existence simply and humbly, albeit with occasional infanticide.
You can't discuss Hamsun without discussing his Nazi tendencies, and far more than Hunger or Pan, they're evident here. Isak and Inger are " More...
You can't discuss Hamsun without discussing his Nazi tendencies, and far more than Hunger or Pan, they're evident here. Isak and Inger are " More...
Jan 23, 2009
Matthew
rated it:
She arrived by plane in the last throws of summer, when the sun beat down on the concrete and illuminated her lilly-white skin. Carrying simply the clothes she would need for the temperate fall, she was none the worse for wear, radiating the pure potential of embarkation. She came to this country by herself, a tall beautiful robust woman, intelligent and self-sufficient, bringing with her the faith and encouragement of a legion of well-wishers from her native land. She came to this country to ca
More...
Aug 30, 2007
Eva
rated it:
I enjoyed the stark simplicity of the landscape the author draws for the reader. This is a rags to riches story set in the harsh realities of Northern Europe. I imagine the protagonist to be an ogre of a man, but very tender and loving as well. This book made me want to travel back in time to a simpler and harder sort of life.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 07, 2009
Janet
rated it:
Imagine "The Good Earth," but set in rural Norway at the turn of the 19th/20th century. The story begins with Isak, the protagonist, hiking out beyond the limits of local civilization, building a turf hut, and slowly claiming a meadow and forest as farmland. His slow progress from solo pioneer to a major landowner and head of a family is narrated at a slow, leisurely pace that seems to mirror Isak's slow thoughts. He is a simple man who knows nothing but the virtue and satisfaction of
More...
Jul 03, 2011
Julie
rated it:
"Growth of the Soil" was written in 1917 and won the author, Knut Hansun, the Nobel prize in 1920. Hansun, a Norwegian author, was 60 when this book was published and translated into English by W.W. Worster.
The book is an epic tale of Isak, a man who searches outside a village for a stake of land for his own. With patience and perseverance, Isak cultivates the wilderness, creating fields, planting crops, and raising livestock. He marries Ingrid and together they have a More...
The book is an epic tale of Isak, a man who searches outside a village for a stake of land for his own. With patience and perseverance, Isak cultivates the wilderness, creating fields, planting crops, and raising livestock. He marries Ingrid and together they have a More...
Dec 26, 2010
Kevin
rated it:
I really enjoyed part one of Growth of the Soil because with Isak, the main character of the novel, starting a farm in the middle of the Norwegian wilderness around the turn of the 20th century; this book is just as much about the growth of a man as it about the Growth of the Soil. Watching Isak and his farm grow to reach their full potential was an inspirational and enjoyable experience. Unfortunately part two of the book is a about the people who followed Isak into the valley and also set up f
More...
Jul 31, 2011
Adrian
rated it:
I'm descended from farmers, as far back as our genealogy can tell. Potatoes and grain on one side, and rice on the other. I grew up in this kind of place, too, and seen the tough self-reliance that these people value.
Which is why, despite my thin veneer of urbane culture, I feel something like nostalgia for some aspects of this rural existence. Modern life encroaches on them.
The author later became a fascist reactionary - highly critical of this modern lifestyle. As a gen More...
Which is why, despite my thin veneer of urbane culture, I feel something like nostalgia for some aspects of this rural existence. Modern life encroaches on them.
The author later became a fascist reactionary - highly critical of this modern lifestyle. As a gen More...
Sep 16, 2011
This is what made me want to read this book:
From My Reading Life by Pat Conroy (pages 163-164):
“On this day, Norman removed a book from its shelf. Whenever he presented me with a book, it had a ceremonious feel, as though he were laying a sword on my shoulder inducting me into an ancient brotherhood.
The book was Growth of the Soil by the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun. The copy he gave me had once belonged to Norma M. Saylor, who lived in Palmyra, New Jersey.
More...
From My Reading Life by Pat Conroy (pages 163-164):
“On this day, Norman removed a book from its shelf. Whenever he presented me with a book, it had a ceremonious feel, as though he were laying a sword on my shoulder inducting me into an ancient brotherhood.
The book was Growth of the Soil by the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun. The copy he gave me had once belonged to Norma M. Saylor, who lived in Palmyra, New Jersey.
More...
Jun 24, 2008
Rick
rated it:
Dreadfully disappointing after reading _Hunger._ Noble peasants betrayed by conniving urbanites. Beware civilization and education!
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 22, 2009
Alex
rated it:
Slow going, yet worth the subtlty. There is one scene where a character gets pinned down to a boulder. On his back, he looks up into the sky as snow falls (mixed with the dying sun) accumulating on his entire body including his face...and slowly he comes to the realization that each flake is a part of god, is god, and giving up that he might not be saved from this predicament, he takes on the view that god is covering him and pulling him into the darkness. Yet this is just a iota of the beautiy
More...
Jun 16, 2008
snackywombat
rated it:
The amazing part of this book is its simplicity. I don't often use the term 'yarn' seriously but that's what this story is, starting with one small end and raveling up into a large ball that seems to signify the globe. It begins in the slow and steady manner that Isak begins to till the soil, putting down roots with Inger, his loyal woman, disfigured from birth by a harelip. From there, the plot becomes more complicated as their lives and relationships increase in complexity. The reader senses t
More...
May 23, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
Just finished this. One of the best novels in modern history, the pundits say. I agree. About a Norwegian community up North in Norway with amazing prose; wretched, beautiful, epochal, sad, and lovely. Can one take anymore? This story continues when you think you cannot take anymore. The characters are four dimensional ~ the language Hamsun uses is brilliant, so much said with such an arrangement of words that I often re-read paragraphs and pages over and over.
Jan 08, 2012
Matt
rated it:
The book that inspired Mark Knopfler to write "Telegraph Road", chronicling the life of Isak as he builds a home in the wilderness of Norway:
"He is a settler in the wild through and through, a tiller of the soil without mercy. A figure resurrected from the past and pointing toward the future".
Hamsun acutely examines man's connection with nature and, depending on the wielder, the power of technology to enhance or possibly destroy this inherent bond.
"He is a settler in the wild through and through, a tiller of the soil without mercy. A figure resurrected from the past and pointing toward the future".
Hamsun acutely examines man's connection with nature and, depending on the wielder, the power of technology to enhance or possibly destroy this inherent bond.
Mar 19, 2009
Bob
rated it:
Written in an almost stilted mock-biblical style, this describes the life of a farming family over 20-odd years, starting with an Adamic father figure coming to the wilderness on his own, gradually cultivating, undemonstratively acquiring a woman from over the mountain, children are born and grow up etc. The contrast of country and city, of pre-modern and modern values is the main theme and the family is not exempt from any of the ills of society and civilization - oddly moving.
Jun 23, 2009
Will
rated it:
I guess the only Norweigan book I've ever read (unless Kirkegaard was Norweigan?). It was enjoyable. I'm not sure if it was due to the translation, but it read a bit like a Hemingway book, with terse sentences and an almost conversational tone. Thematically it reminded me a bit of Steinbeck, what with the solidity of farming and working the earth and all of that. A quick read (I read it over about two sittings) and interesting.
Feb 02, 2012
The Conscientious Hypocrite
rated it:
Hamsun enchants with his simplicity.
I cannot claim to be an avid fan of Hamsun, I read some of his books just out of curiosity and was not highly impressed. However, Growth of the Soil is a great pleasure to read, a literary feast. I just couldn't put it down. Calm, tranquil, balm to troubled minds, Hamsun's simplicity of style reaches its peak with this novel, being in harmony with the people and the nature he describes. By saying little, he tells a lot. Same goes for the conversatio More...
I cannot claim to be an avid fan of Hamsun, I read some of his books just out of curiosity and was not highly impressed. However, Growth of the Soil is a great pleasure to read, a literary feast. I just couldn't put it down. Calm, tranquil, balm to troubled minds, Hamsun's simplicity of style reaches its peak with this novel, being in harmony with the people and the nature he describes. By saying little, he tells a lot. Same goes for the conversatio More...
