The Great Hunger

by Johan Bojer

Excerpt from The Great Hunger
Klaus Brock, the son of the district doctor, was a blue-eyed youngster in knickerbockers and a sailor blouse. He was playing truant, no doubt Klaus had his lessons at home with a private tutor - and would certainly get a thrashing from his father when he got home.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Genres: Classics, Novels, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Johan Bojer was a popular Norwegian novelist and dramatist. He principally wrote about the lives of the poor farmers and fishermen, both in his native Norway and among the Norwegian immigrants in the United States. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.

Reviews

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stumbled across this book in my local library, recognizing an old library binding and surprised to find it still in circulation. Had to try it. Published in 1919 and a translation from Norwegian put me in mind of Kristin Lavransdatter which I love. This story is quite different from KL. Some of it made me think of David Copperfield ( poor orphan has to make his way in the cruel world). Yet some themes are very apt for today - the rise of technology changing people’s lives drastically and not always for the better, the spiritual life falling away as Peer pursues his fortune, the struggle to find meaning in life. Still relevant more than a century after its publication even if the language and settings are old-fashioned.

[Allyson Shaw]

"A man with a sledgehammer in his hands instinctively looks up to heaven." Reading a translation is always through a glass darkly. Even so, I was riveted by this book, despite its Dickensian melodrama, sentimentality and pompous turns. It paralleled my journey in northern Norway and captured the spirit of my ancestors- Norwegian fishermen, peasants and, later, engineers. It brought to life the place and people for me, now only ghosts, while I was "stuck" on a ship at storm on the open sea off the West coast of Norway.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another free Kindle book I read while in Tucson.

[Alina D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foamea cea mare a foamea de absolut. Roman al condiției umane, merită citit!