Knut Hamsun: Dreamers

[Kenny Shovel]

Knut Hamsun is one of the hidden gems of world literature, and an author whose writing changed in style and outlook gradually over time. For those familiar with his work, Dreamers is closer to his later, more light-hearted stories like ‘The Women at the pump,’ than to his earlier, darker and more introspective novels like ‘Hunger’.

Dreamers is a charming and humorous story which centres on a familiar Hamsun leading man, Ove Rolandsen, an outsider and a dreamer. With an eye for the ladies, love of the bottle, and a tongue and fists always ready for a fight, Rolandsen is seemingly drifting through life, and you are happy to drift with him. In between flirting with every woman he encounters and drunken brawls with passing fishing crews, Rolandsen finds time to invent a means to make his fortune and simultaneously undermine and possibly usurp the local business tycoon. As is often the case, you need money to make money, and without financial backing his invention cannot be exploited, and he has to remain in his lowly job as telegraph operator. When fate intervenes Rolandsen grabs his opportunity and we discover if his dreams will indeed come true.
Hamsun creates a set of well drawn out characters, and the surroundings of a small, isolated, Norwegian fishing village are agreeably self-contained, allowing the neatly plotted interaction between his protagonists to be entirely plausible, and create a highly enjoyable story.

Souvenir Press have reprinted a number of works by Knut Hamsun; and for attempting to bring this important writer to a wider audience they are to be applauded. However, in this instance I would question the value for money they are providing. Regardless of the back page’s description of Dreamers as a ‘delightful novel’ it is in fact a 122 page novella, and 122 pages of larger than usual font at that. It would have made far more sense to include Dreamers with the short stories that form the ‘Tales of Love and Loss’ collection that Souvenir also publishes. To leave it as a stand alone story, with no introduction, no notes on textual translation, and not even a one page author biography, all for £7.99, smacks of lazy profiteering.

Dreamers remains a wonderful little book, but unless you are a dedicated Knut Hamsun fan you may want to wait until this volume is available from either the library or a second-hand shop.

K-S

 

[theoptimist]

I enjoy reading your reviews!

Sounds interesting, I will keep an eye out!

 

[Shade]

Interesting, Kenny, that you say Hamsun's books got lighter as he got older. For some reason - knowing almost nothing of his work - I associate Hamsun with such 20th C miserablists as Kafka and Beckett, who just got grimmer and grimmer. Kurt Vonnegut made this point too, in his recent Man Without a Country, saying that he just couldn't find life funny anymore (and rather boldly hitching Mark Twain, who is not in a position to protest, to his argument). Though in Vonnegut's case I think it's less to do with intimations of mortality and 'the human condition' than the fact that Bush got elected for a second term...

As for profiteering, £7.99 seems pretty much in line with other small press stuff like the Hesperus range (all around 100 pages). And presumably they're issuing this stuff in such small quantities that economies of scale don't really enter into it.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Interesting, Kenny, that you say Hamsun's books got lighter as he got older. For some reason - knowing almost nothing of his work - I associate Hamsun with such 20th C miserablists as Kafka and Beckett, who just got grimmer and grimmer.

I agree that is does seem strange. I based this statement on what I'd read on the ol’intermong and the chronological order of the half a dozen of his books I've read. I could well be being lead up the garden path by that, if Zolipara, who has read the lot in the original Norwegian, ever wanders into this thread, he may be able to clarify.

btw, I read somewhere that Kafka thought his writing was hilarious, and was amazed that others couldn't see that quality in what he did. If you read his stuff from that point-of-view they start to make a lot more sense.

As for profiteering, £7.99 seems pretty much in line with other small press stuff like the Hesperus range (all around 100 pages). And presumably they're issuing this stuff in such small quantities that economies of scale don't really enter into it.

True, although despite owning a few of the Hesperus books myself (Foyles used to do a 2 for £10 offer), I’m not convinced they are the best of value either.
The Souvenir Press edition of Dreamers also has considerably bigger font than Hesperus, and as I stated lacks an accompanying introduction etc. Have a look at the book if you find it in a store, you’ll be able to see how I read it in less than two hours. For almost the same price I got the 400 pages of “The Women at the Pump’.

Regards,

K-S

 

[Zolipara]

I think the association between Hamsun and Kafka comes from "Hunger". Its often viewed as the novel that opened the path for authors like Kafka. I've heard someone call him "the father of the modern novel", yet if you read the rest of his works you can not in any way call them grim.

He goes through several themes during his career. His early novels follows his ideas for the modern novel, focusing on the inner workings of man. Novels like Hunger where there is little or no plot or action outside of the main character. Yet the majority of his novels can not be considered dark like Kafka. For instance the novel Pan, from the same period, is seen as a tribute to the beauty of nature.

At the end of his career he writes several light novels with charcters that in many ways are the exact opposite of his characters in "growth of the soil". In these novels practically everyone is ridiculed, even the characters that remind you of the more serious Hamsun.

But his final novel before the war "The ring is closed" reminds me more of his early novels like mysteries.

Its a shame that his nazi-sympathies during WW2 has diminished his reputation as a writer. People are still refusing to recognize his ability because of what he did during the war, but hopefully that will change with time. In my opinion no norwegian author has ever matched his way with words.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Thanks for that post Zolipara, it was informative as usual.

I can definitely see 'Hunger' being part of a line that goes through Dostoyevsky and onto Kafka. The other books by Hamsun I've read, have almost seemed the work of another writer. I guess the fact I've enjoyed both styles is a testament to his skill.

There seems to be a number of new, to me at least, translations of Hamsun around at the moment, so I’ll do a bit more reading of him while he’s fresh in my mind. I’ll remember what you said about his differing styles as I’m selecting stuff to read.

Thanks again for the info,

K-S