Spring Night

by Tarjei Vesaas, Kenneth G. Chapman (Translation)

First published in Norway in 1954, this lyrical novel is about an abrupt change from childish dreams and safety to grown-up responsibilities and happiness. On the surface it deals with what happens to two youngsters left for a night alone on their parents’ farm, but like The Ice Palace and other great novels by Vesaas, the themes are far How difficult the road is from I to you or we , even when love is involved.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Scandinavian Literature, Novels, Literary Fiction, Literature, 20th Century

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Tarjei Vesaas was a Norwegian poet and novelist. Written in Nynorsk, his work is characterized by simple, terse, and symbolic prose. His stories often cover simple rural people that undergo a severe psychological drama and who according to critics are described with immense psychological insight. Commonly dealing with themes such as death, guilt, angst, and other deep and intractable human emotions, the Norwegian natural landscape is a prevalent feature in his works. His debut was in 1923 with Children of Humans (Menneskebonn), but he had his breakthrough in 1934 with The Great Cycle (Det store spelet). His mastery of the nynorsk language, landsmål (see Norwegian language), has contributed to its acceptance as a medium of world class literature.

Reviews

[Jeanne Martin]

Assez déroutant, à la manière, m'a-t-il semblé, d'Henry James (vieux souvenirs de "Ce que savait Maisy"). On voit toute une histoire (intéressante et fouillée) à travers les yeux d'un adolescent sensible, imaginatif, serviable et peut-être un peu confus. Je me suis demandé au début s'il n'était pas handicapé mental...
Les disputes d'adultes, leurs mécanismes, le trouble puissant qu'elles provoquent chez les adolescents. Le mécanisme en est stylisé.
Les pulsions érotiques des adolescents, des filles, des garçons, leur ambiguité, les différentes sortes de souffrance qu'elles amènent (colère, honte, culpabilité, déception...)
La fascination pour la nature qui baigne l'ensemble : la lumière de la fausse nuit, les angéliques, les escargots.
En lire d'autres !

[Jean-Pascal]

Un livre assez énigmatique. J'ai bien aimé la poésie des scènes extérieures dans la nature et l'esquisse des rapports amoureux entre les ados. Pour le reste, la psychologie des personnages m'est restée incompréhensible et le projet du roman tout autant.