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A stark portrait of hunger and its effects on the psyche, this book follows an unnamed narrator as he experiences periods of near starvation in 1890s Oslo (then known as Christiana). An author by trade, the young man struggles to write while falling in and out of starvation-induced madness. He is at turns homeless and penniless. The reader is treated to his inner life and the social consequences he suffers secondary to his impoverished status. The reader would be hard-pressed to find a more real
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This reminds me of my past work with US Veterans...the desire to go it alone, to uphold one's sense of honor despite difficult circumstances. It was hard to listen to as am audiobook because the descriptions of hunger seem to blend after hearing yet another variation on how he has come to be in a deprived situation once again. Some scenes bother me too, like when his foot is run over and is injured, and further deteriorating as time goes on. Yet there was no medical care provided or responsibili
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