With twenty stories ranging over every human emotion and situation, "Tales of Love and Loss", brilliantly translated by Robert Ferguson, collects many of Hamun's short stories in English translation for the first time. Knut Hamsun published only three collections of short stories in his lifetime, and abandoned the form entirely in 1906. Yet these stories form a fascinating commentary on the novels he was writing at the time (including 'Hunger') and contain echoes of his much later work. Containing humour, melancholy, tenderness and rough lawlessness, the variety of his stories is constantly refreshing and sparkling with psychological insights.
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Review
"I read these novels with the gently expanding recognition due only to the
great writers." -- Doris Lessing
"One of the great writers of this century... Hamsun's novels have the
simplicity of total self-possession." -- 'Sunday Times'
"The whole modern school of fiction in the twentieth century stems from
Hamsun." -- Isaac Bashevis Singer
"A rare understanding of human nature comes through, expressed in
a measured, elegiac and lyrical prose."
-- 'Sunday Telegraph'
great writers." -- Doris Lessing
"One of the great writers of this century... Hamsun's novels have the
simplicity of total self-possession." -- 'Sunday Times'
"The whole modern school of fiction in the twentieth century stems from
Hamsun." -- Isaac Bashevis Singer
"A rare understanding of human nature comes through, expressed in
a measured, elegiac and lyrical prose."
-- 'Sunday Telegraph'
About the Author
Born in 1859, Knut Hamsun's early works were forceful and polemic before he became more compassionate in his later work, drawing inspiration from the country people of his native Norway. He was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1920 for 'Growth of the Soil'. He has been recognised as one of the greatest literary figures of the twentieth century.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By demola
Format:Paperback
Tales of loss certainly but of love? There's hardly a story here to cheer the soul. But as each tale gets into your skin from the starting whistle it's very hard to put this book down. Eerie, creepy and beguiling stories that cross frequently from Gogol to Tales Of The Unexpected. Most of these stories are set somewhere bleak and cold and forlorn in carnivale Scandinavia. Even the ones set in America are mostly out nowhereville where anything could happen. You'll still sleep at night but will you trust another human or even yourself? Hamsun leaves one stunned.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is one of the rare collections (in English) of Hamsuns short stories. As always, they are a pleasure to read. His early short stories can be quite "stiff" to read, but I am sure this is due to the restraints of the time - but do not fret - in this book are such real gems - and Robert Ferguson translates them in true Hamsun style, truth & wit.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Short Stories by a Career Novelist
1 April 2006
By Randy Keehn
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
My understanding from the forward to "Tales of Love and Loss" is that Hamsun was primarily a novelist who "played around with" the short story early in his career. He apparently lost interest in the style because his mid and later career shunned the short story. Too bad because "Tales of Love and Loss" proves that he was adept at it.
The 20 stories in this collection are all sketches of different personalities in different settings. From Norway to the New World and then back to the Old, we encounter a variety of characters. We meet an unsuccessful lecturer, a man with a talent for spending other people's money, a man in the midst of the Paris uprising, a father who sets out to teach his wayward son a lesson about gambling, a woman who knew how to out-fox her scheming husband, a prairie cook who got even in the cruelest of ways, a woman whose life was changed forever by an otherwise forgettable event, and many others.
I got a kick traveling over the Mayan countryside in Yucatan while reading a Norwegian writer tell a tale that took place in my home state of North Dakota. Hamsun shows some of his gift for the bizarre side of the human psyche but most of the stories seem to be people and events he knew or stories he heard first hand.
I have read 8 novels of Hamsun and have looked forward to reading more. However, I had come to near the end of the rope of those available in English. (If I had known about Hamsun when I was in college, I wouldn't have dropped Norwegian after one semester). Two years ago or so I couldn't find any books by Hamsun that I didn't already have. He apparently is undergoing a rebirth of popularity because there seemed to be more books available now than I thought he had written. Many will cite "Hunger" or "Mysteries" as his best but my favorite is still "Growth of the Soil". I'm looking forward to aquiring some of these new releases while they last. If I'm not mistaken, there should be one more collection of short stories out there. After reading "Tales of Love and Loss", my appetite is whet.
The 20 stories in this collection are all sketches of different personalities in different settings. From Norway to the New World and then back to the Old, we encounter a variety of characters. We meet an unsuccessful lecturer, a man with a talent for spending other people's money, a man in the midst of the Paris uprising, a father who sets out to teach his wayward son a lesson about gambling, a woman who knew how to out-fox her scheming husband, a prairie cook who got even in the cruelest of ways, a woman whose life was changed forever by an otherwise forgettable event, and many others.
I got a kick traveling over the Mayan countryside in Yucatan while reading a Norwegian writer tell a tale that took place in my home state of North Dakota. Hamsun shows some of his gift for the bizarre side of the human psyche but most of the stories seem to be people and events he knew or stories he heard first hand.
I have read 8 novels of Hamsun and have looked forward to reading more. However, I had come to near the end of the rope of those available in English. (If I had known about Hamsun when I was in college, I wouldn't have dropped Norwegian after one semester). Two years ago or so I couldn't find any books by Hamsun that I didn't already have. He apparently is undergoing a rebirth of popularity because there seemed to be more books available now than I thought he had written. Many will cite "Hunger" or "Mysteries" as his best but my favorite is still "Growth of the Soil". I'm looking forward to aquiring some of these new releases while they last. If I'm not mistaken, there should be one more collection of short stories out there. After reading "Tales of Love and Loss", my appetite is whet.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fine sampler of stories.
15 April 2007
By frumiousb
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is a selection of twenty stories, taken from Hamsun's three published volumes of short stories (Siesta, Brushwood, and Striving Life). In the introduction, the editor comments that "the short stories provide a fascinating glimpse of an author shedding one literary skin to reveal another". And, indeed, the diversity of style is one of the most interesting things about the collection. From relatively straightforward ghost stories to the dark humor of "A Lecture Tour", Tales of Love and Loss paint a picture of an author with a wide variety of skills and interest.
Hamsun train spotters will notice character and plot linkages between these stories and several of the novels. In general, even though I really enjoyed the volume I am not sure that it is where I would begin with Hamsun. He was primarily a novelist, and as good as these stories are I have to think that they are to some degree benefiting from the reflected light of his greater works.
Hamsun train spotters will notice character and plot linkages between these stories and several of the novels. In general, even though I really enjoyed the volume I am not sure that it is where I would begin with Hamsun. He was primarily a novelist, and as good as these stories are I have to think that they are to some degree benefiting from the reflected light of his greater works.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant!
13 Feb 2006
By Scott Hemingway
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Anyone who is a fan of Hamsun's two most highly-regarded novels ('Hunger' and 'Mysteries') will feel blessed should they stumble upon this not-so-well-known collection of stories. Hamsun is at his best in these timeless tales that carve out a place for Hamsun along with Franz Kafka, Dostoyevsky, Ernest Hemingway, Roman Payne, Sam North, Edgar Poe, et al. as a master of the short story.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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