Never too Late to Read Classics discussion
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The Emigrants
Archive 2023 Genre & Novelist
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2023 Feb - ??: The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg
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Between 1845 and 1930 1.2 million people left Sweden and emigrated to America. This corresponded to one fifth of the whole population, making it proportionately the largest exodus of people to the US from any single country.
It was also mainly young people who left home – farm labourers and the urban working class – fleeing hunger, poverty, religious and civil persecution. This was the case as well in Ireland and Norway, two countries that experienced similarly high levels of emigration to America.
The sense of separation and loss resulted in something of a collective trauma both among those who left and those who stayed behind. The disappearance of a whole generation of family and friends who never saw one another again felt like a premature death.
I did not know that, Lesle. Those are staggering numbers!
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I have seen that film many years ago and have been wondering if it was based on these books. The first few pages, and having read the introduction, are very good. Looking forward to reading more.
I voted for this book but cannot get to it yet. I have Vanity Fair and the 5 shortlisted books for CanadaReads to finish first before the end of March.
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I have still to purchase the books.
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I have read the introduction and one chapter so a start. Love the sparseness of the prose.
I will join a little bit later in February. I have bought book 1 of the series.
i would so much love to join this round to read all of the 4 novels, but i'm afraid i want manage with all te projects i committed to.i will try at least to join for the first novel, either end of Feb or beginning March
I’ve started Unto a Good Land, the second novel in the series. Moberg paints a vivid portrait of New York City in 1850.
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Was a bit worried that it might be a lot to read in even one or two months.
Sparse pose Penelope? Few words in a structured sentence?
Lesle wrote: "Happy to see you joining in!Was a bit worried that it might be a lot to read in even one or two months.
Sparse pose Penelope? Few words in a structured sentence?"
When I re-read that I laughed. What I was thinking was shorter, sharper sentences and probably compared with Proust's. Moberg in a shortish sentence conveys so much. Good so far.
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i will try at least to join for the first novel, either end o..."
That happens to all of us! So many books, not nearly enough time!
I just picked up The Emigrants from the library. I will try to get to it. So many books and so little time!
I just borrowed first two books from the library. Will join at least with the first one :)
As I'm reading, I think about my great-grandfather who came from Germany to the United States through New York City in 1859.
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He was born in Nutterden, Kreis Kleve, Germany in 1833. It's right next to The Netherlands. I think three brothers emigrated together. My great-grandfather settled in Wisconsin. He later went back and got married and brought his wife here.
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That is great to hear!
I’m going to read the first book (at least). My German ancestors immigrated to the US and settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s and my Italian grandfather immigrated through NY and settled in NJ in the 1920s. I got a chance to travel to Italy with my grandfather and visit his hometown. It was an amazing experience. I was a young man and didn’t know that those sort of narrow street, ancient mountain villages actually existed. German and Italian. The holiday dinner table was always loud!
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Where in Italy is your grandpa's home town, Chad?
I love visiting Italy.
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That sounds wonderful Chad!
Pescopagano. We were treated as absolute kings. We rolled into town in a rented car and when we asked a street sweeper (my grandfather was the only one who spoke Italian) where our namesake lived the street sweeper instructed his little boy to get in the car with us and take us there. Not only a different country but a different time! There was a weird mix of extreme poverty and expensive Italian marble in all of their homes.
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I’ve read the two introductions and the first 20 pages. I like the writing. Thanks for choosing this book!
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My book arrived yesterday.
Thanks for suggesting The Emigrants, Blueberry! I hope you are able to get to your copy soon.
Thanks for suggesting this read. I did not know of these books previously but found them an exciting read. Borrowed first two from library last Friday and finished both by the end of Sunday :) I found them both well researched and interesting. The characters are colorful and realistic. It was a surprise for me as well to find out how many Swedes chose to emigrate. There was a small migration from Latvia too in 19th Ct (Latvia was part of Russian empire at that time) but nothing on this scale. Just a small flow of brave and/or desperate left, so this was indeed a revelation.
Also it was interesting to find out that the translation to my native Latvian language appeared soon after the books were originally published but only in our exile, not in Latvia which was by then occupied by USSR. It must have been an important and emotional read for our emigrants who fled to USA after WWII. The time was different and nobody had to starve but the feeling of being a stranger and in most cases not being able to communicate in English must have been the same in the middle of 20th Ct as it was in the middle of 19th.
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Inese your statement really made me think. Not being able to communicate must have been really tough. Just purchasing goods or needs for your family had to be an added stress with the barrier of communications.
I'm glad people are liking the book. My ancestors are 42% Scandinavian and settled in Minnesota so I was interested to read this.
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Waiting on the first still.
Finished the last book yesterday. And what a journey it was! Amazing. Thank You so much for this recommendation.
I am about half way. Life is sure hard!
I finished Unto a Good Land. I'm glad there are two more books; I want to read more about these characters and all they have gone through.
Now finished The Emigrants Vol 1 and feel that I will definitely read the others in the series. Excellent book.
I also have finished book 1 of The Emigrants and liked it a lot. I will read the series for sure. Thank you for the recommandation.
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I plan to read the last two books, but not at this time.
Yes I am. First book, about 50%. They are just getting on the boat to America. I don't think that's a spoiler. LOL.
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I plan on reading the first one at least as soon as I finish The Eagle's Heart.
I will start book 2 in June…going on vacation and only can bring so many paper books! I hope this group will go on.
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Have a good holiday!
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I’m still reading :)
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I thought some Members were or have intentions to. Will leave this thread active for a while for sure.
Thank Annette for the heads up too!
Never too Late to Read Classics
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The Emigrants is the collective name of a series of four novels by the Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg:
The Emigrants (Swedish: Utvandrarna), 1949
Unto a Good Land (title in Swedish: Invandrarna 'The Immigrants'), 1952
The Settlers (Swedish: Nybyggarna), 1956
The Last Letter Home (title in Swedish: Sista brevet till Sverige 'The Last Letter to Sweden'), 1959
All the books have been translated into English. The novels are generally considered to be among the best pieces of Swedish literature.
The novel-series describes the long and strenuous journey for a party of emigrants from the province of Småland, Sweden, to the United States in 1850, coinciding with the beginning of the first significant wave of immigration to the United States from Sweden. The story focuses primarily on Karl Oskar Nilsson and his wife, Kristina Johansdotter, a young married couple who live with their four small children; Anna, Johan, Lill-Märta, and Harald, as well as Karl Oskar's parents and his rebellious younger brother Robert, who works as a hired farmhand for neighboring farmers.
The Emigrants (2021) on Netflix Starring:
Gustaf Skarsgård as Karl-Oskar (my favorite character for Gustaf is Vikings in the main role of Floki, the shipbuilder)
Lisa Carlehed as Kristina (Until We Fall, family drama, won two awards)
Vilhelm Moberg A noted public intellectual and debater in Sweden, he was noted for very vocal criticism of the Swedish monarchy (most notably after the Haijby affair), likening it with a servile government by divine mandate, and publicly supporting its replacement with a Swiss-style confederal republic. He spoke out aggressively against the policies of Nazi Germany, the Greek military junta, and the Soviet Union, and his works were among those destroyed in Nazi book burnings. In 1971, he scolded Prime Minister Olof Palme for refusing to offer the Nobel Prize in Literature to its recipient Alexander Solzhenitsyn – who was refused permission to attend the ceremony in Stockholm – through the Swedish embassy in Moscow.
Moberg's suicide by self-inflicted drowning also drew much attention. He had had a long struggle with depression and writer's block.
We will spend two months with this series. You can read any or all of the novels to be discussed here. We hope you enjoy!