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Sigrid Undset: Reader of Hearts
Novelist Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) left a mark on twentieth-century literature, not only in her homeland of Norway, but across the West. Her painterly eye for the Scandinavian countryside, her uncompromising emotional realism, her concrete sense of history, her bold vision of woman and man—these won her such acclaim that she received the 1928 Nobel Prize for Literature, not long after the publication of her epic historical novel, Kristin Lavransdatter . During World War II, she loudly opposed anti-Semitism and the Nazi regime, and in the final years of her life, the Norwegian state awarded her the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav—the first time this honor was given to a woman outside the royal family. Among her other celebrated works are the novels The Master of Hestviken and Ida Elisabeth , as well as a powerful biography of Catherine of Siena.
But something else set Undset apart. In 1924, she converted to Roman Catholicism, alienating her from Protestants and secular intellectuals alike. This spiritual turn shaped the very heart of her work, as well as her own life as a mother. In a world pockmarked by suffering, disappointment, and cruelty, she discovered that Jesus Christ alone gives meaning to the word "love". Acclaimed theologian and spiritual writer Father Aidan Nichols takes on the figure of Sigrid Undset from a distinctively Christian point of view. Rich in both biography and textual analysis, Sigrid Reader of Hearts renders a shrewd, colorful account of a writer who allowed her art to be transfigured by the fire of God's mercy and, thus, to be opened to a beauty beyond all telling.
But something else set Undset apart. In 1924, she converted to Roman Catholicism, alienating her from Protestants and secular intellectuals alike. This spiritual turn shaped the very heart of her work, as well as her own life as a mother. In a world pockmarked by suffering, disappointment, and cruelty, she discovered that Jesus Christ alone gives meaning to the word "love". Acclaimed theologian and spiritual writer Father Aidan Nichols takes on the figure of Sigrid Undset from a distinctively Christian point of view. Rich in both biography and textual analysis, Sigrid Reader of Hearts renders a shrewd, colorful account of a writer who allowed her art to be transfigured by the fire of God's mercy and, thus, to be opened to a beauty beyond all telling.
- GenresBiography
218 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2022
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98 people want to read
About the author
Aidan Nichols
106 books47 followersJohn Christopher "Aidan" Nichols O.P., S.T.M. (born 17 September 1948) is an English academic and Catholic priest.
Nichols served as the first John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford for 2006 to 2008, the first lectureship of Catholic theology at that university since the Reformation. He is a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and is the Prior of St Michael the Archangel in Cambridge.
Nichols served as the first John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford for 2006 to 2008, the first lectureship of Catholic theology at that university since the Reformation. He is a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and is the Prior of St Michael the Archangel in Cambridge.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 1, 2022
I've read several deeply insightful and beautiful reviews about this book, "Sigrid Undset: Reader of Hearts" by people who are much smarter than me. The author of the book, Fr. Aiden Nichols is also much smarter than me. Some of his writing went over my head but throughout the book, and especially as he discussed the themes present in her writing, I was tempted to find and read each one. I will definitely be referring back to this biography as I continue to read the works of Sigrid Undset.
August 23, 2024
A few highlights:
Speaking on social radicalism: “It seems that the most conspicuous and repeated line in this history is that following man’s most human actions, regulations, and inventions have always had completely unforeseen consequences.” 56
On marriage: “There is no getting away from the fact that very few people would be able to endure each other if they were not bound together to serve some ideal, which is so great as to make them both seem equally insignificant when measured against it.” 63
“If one is to speak of conversion in the case of Sigrid Undset, then it can only be in reference to the decision of her will to accept as true what her intellect already recognized as true” 83
On Lutherans: “they had abandoned historic Christianity as incredible, and put in its place, a religiously colored view of life which respected the man Jesus as a human ideal.” 86
“The cult of Saints satisfies the human desire for hero worship, otherwise directed to celebrities.” 88
“What then had she gained from the church? A strange peace she thought like the peace of the ocean, which is too deep to be much disturbed by surface events.” 90
“We must seek the meaning of life either in God or in ourselves, and if the latter, we shall isolate ourselves in the hell of our own individuality.” 92
“Race is neither a moral nor immoral quality, but is a special coloration which imprints a whole mixture of the moral and immoral feelings in each individual being. To put trust in race, that is to say, to be unreasonably in love with own prejudices and biases without critically, judging their value, is the sure way to let the least valuable elements in the race develop unchecked, simply because they are stained with our favorite colors.” 110
“Non-culture [is the] condition of being uncultivated.” 126
“Whether contemporary western culture could recapture this vision struck her as unlikely… At the present juncture, she thought, a few generations more should suffice to destroy the fruit of many previous generations of cultural effort. Secularism and the decline of culture were for her two sides of the same coin.” 162
“Without a form giving authority and a bonding agent that holds the parts together, religion declines to a moral code and the holy to feelings.” 164
“We convince ourselves that life would be monotonous and freedom lost if there were really one truth, and if that truth were the one, but then those who wish 2+2 to make five or zero or seven must be prepared to take the consequences.” 168
“But if you desire to know the truth about anything you always run the risk of finding it. And in a way, we do not want to find the truth – we prefer to see, and keep our illusions..” 179
Speaking on social radicalism: “It seems that the most conspicuous and repeated line in this history is that following man’s most human actions, regulations, and inventions have always had completely unforeseen consequences.” 56
On marriage: “There is no getting away from the fact that very few people would be able to endure each other if they were not bound together to serve some ideal, which is so great as to make them both seem equally insignificant when measured against it.” 63
“If one is to speak of conversion in the case of Sigrid Undset, then it can only be in reference to the decision of her will to accept as true what her intellect already recognized as true” 83
On Lutherans: “they had abandoned historic Christianity as incredible, and put in its place, a religiously colored view of life which respected the man Jesus as a human ideal.” 86
“The cult of Saints satisfies the human desire for hero worship, otherwise directed to celebrities.” 88
“What then had she gained from the church? A strange peace she thought like the peace of the ocean, which is too deep to be much disturbed by surface events.” 90
“We must seek the meaning of life either in God or in ourselves, and if the latter, we shall isolate ourselves in the hell of our own individuality.” 92
“Race is neither a moral nor immoral quality, but is a special coloration which imprints a whole mixture of the moral and immoral feelings in each individual being. To put trust in race, that is to say, to be unreasonably in love with own prejudices and biases without critically, judging their value, is the sure way to let the least valuable elements in the race develop unchecked, simply because they are stained with our favorite colors.” 110
“Non-culture [is the] condition of being uncultivated.” 126
“Whether contemporary western culture could recapture this vision struck her as unlikely… At the present juncture, she thought, a few generations more should suffice to destroy the fruit of many previous generations of cultural effort. Secularism and the decline of culture were for her two sides of the same coin.” 162
“Without a form giving authority and a bonding agent that holds the parts together, religion declines to a moral code and the holy to feelings.” 164
“We convince ourselves that life would be monotonous and freedom lost if there were really one truth, and if that truth were the one, but then those who wish 2+2 to make five or zero or seven must be prepared to take the consequences.” 168
“But if you desire to know the truth about anything you always run the risk of finding it. And in a way, we do not want to find the truth – we prefer to see, and keep our illusions..” 179
February 9, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. Some parts were over my head, but overall it gave me a hunger to read more of Sigrid Undset's work.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews