Undset, Sigrid

Kristin Lavransdatter: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommend individual books rather than the trilogy-in-one.
  • Be wary of the newer translations
  • Typically Norwiegan
  • One of the best books I've ever read
  • A keeper!
 Kristin Lavransdatter: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:
  1. Excellent Women (Penguin Classics)
  2. Kristin Lavransdatter
  3. Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics)
  4. Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross (Penguin Classics)
  5. Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 0143039164

Book Description

In her great historical epic Kristin Lavransdatter, set in fourteenth-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset tells the life story of one passionate and headstrong woman. Painting a richly detailed backdrop, Undset immerses readers in the day-to-day life, social conventions, and political and religious undercurrents of the period. Now in one volume, Tiina Nunnally's award-winning definitive translation brings this remarkable work to life with clarity and lyrical beauty.

As a young girl, Kristin is deeply devoted to her father, a kind and courageous man. But when as a student in a convent school she meets the charming and impetuous Erlend Nikulaussøn, she defies her parents in pursuit of her own desires. Her saga continues through her marriage to Erlend, their tumultuous life together raising seven sons as Erlend seeks to strengthen his political influence, and finally their estrangement as the world around them tumbles into uncertainty.

With its captivating heroine and emotional potency, Kristin Lavransdatter is the masterwork of Norway's most beloved author—one of the twentieth century's most prodigious and engaged literary minds—and, in Nunnally's exquisite translation, a story that continues to enthrall.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Recommend individual books rather than the trilogy-in-one........2007-06-20

I purchased this trilogy because I am going on A Prairie Home Companion Cruise and - what fun - there will be a book club to discuss at least The Wreath. I am 1/2 Norwegian and look forward to reading all three books in the trilogy. So far I am finding The Wreath to be very good reading. This review concentrates ONLY on the bulk of this edition. Since I will be reading this inflight and I tend to read in a very relaxed manner at home, I found the bulk of this book to be most uncomfortable. Alas, I ended up ordering the three individual books so I can carry one on-board and pack the other two away; I shall give this copy away. Just a thought if purchasing the three isn't a financial burden for you.

5 out of 5 stars Be wary of the newer translations.......2007-06-13

This book is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever come across, but the new translations do not do it justice. I have an old, old, hardcover and the language flows wonderfully. I picked up a new edition paperback with an updated translation, and yes, it was boring! Very Boring! Be sure to get hold of an old translation is you really want to enjoy the book.

2 out of 5 stars Typically Norwiegan.......2007-02-15

I am of Norwegian descent on the maternal side; in fact, 'tho I am a fifth generation Texan, I am half Norwegian.

When I first found these books about twenty years ago, I was thrilled, never having read any Norwegian literature. However, as I got deeper and deeper into the books, the more disappointed I became. My mother was typically Norwegian; unable to see that anything beyond living day to day in her lifelong rut was possible. Sigrid Undset mirrored that attitude in the Kristen Lavransdatter books. To say they are incredibly depressing is an understatement. There is no joy of living in Kristen's life; she seems determined to find the worst in life, just like my mother. Finally, about a third of the way into the final book, I had it, heaved the book against the wall and never looked back. BTW, I have only known one other person who has read the books and he is depressive, having been treated repeatedly for depression and, predictably, he loves the books. This is a warning for all those eager to find Norwegian literature. Unless you have never had an urge to slit your wrists, do not read these books; they may be "The Great Norwegian Novel", but they are sad and devoid of any hope of salvation.

5 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've ever read.......2007-01-15

Sigrid Undset puts you right in the period. After I finish one of her books I feel like I've left home. I also enjoyed the Master of Hestviken which is set about a century earlier than Kirstin Lavransdatter but both novels fit together in tone and style. Both are sets of novels and quite long but somehow they didn't feel long enough. For anyone who enjoys historical novels I think these are books that must be read.

5 out of 5 stars A keeper!.......2006-12-31

No wonder the author won a Nobel Prize for this grand epic. I absolutely loved it! Yes, it was very long (over 1000 pages!) and yes it was slow sometimes and the characters were hard. But this book is a masterpiece!

I recommend it to people with patience, discriminating taste in literature, and muscles because this book is hard to schlep around with...
Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath (Penguin Classics)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • A Medieval Fairy Tale, but a modern story.
  • couldn't put the book down!
  • Harlequin Romance/Historical Fiction
  • Much ado about Nunnally
  • A splendid novel finally gets a splendid translation
 Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath (Penguin Classics)
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  5. Kristin Lavransdatter: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

ASIN: 0141180412

Book Description

In <B>Kristin Lavransdatter</B> (1920-1922), <B>Sigrid Undset</B> interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century. The trilogy, however, is more than a journey into the past. Undset's own life-her familiarity with Norse sagas and folklore and with a wide range of medieval literature, her experiences as a daughter, wife, and mother, and her deep religious faith-profoundly influenced her writing. Her grasp of the connections between past and present and of human nature itself, combined with the extraordinary quality of her writing, sets her works far above the genre of "historical novels." This new translation by Tina Nunnally-the first English version since Charles Archer's translation in the 1920s-captures Undset's strengths as a stylist. Nunnally, an award-winning translator, retains the natural dialog and lyrical flow of the original Norwegian, with its echoes of Old Norse legends, while deftly avoiding the stilted language and false archaisms of Archer's translation. In addition, she restores key passages left out of that edition.<BR><BR> Undset's ability to present a meticulously accurate historical portrait without sacrificing the poetry and narrative drive of masterful storytelling was particularly significant in her homeland. Granted independence in 1905 after five hundred years of foreign domination, Norway was eager to reclaim its national history and culture. <B>Kristin Lavransdatter</B> became a touchstone for Undset's contemporaries, and continues to be widely read by Norwegians today. In the more than 75 years since it was first published, it has also become a favorite throughout the world.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A Medieval Fairy Tale, but a modern story. .......2007-06-12

The story takes place in fourteenth-century Norway and is essentially about a young girl's journey into womanhood. Kristin Lavransdatter is a young maiden from a close, well-to-do family who falls head-over-heals in love with an impetuous, young man (Erlend Nikulausson) with a tainted reputation. And rightfully so, for Erlend, like so many young men of his age, is a major screw-up, for a lack of a better definition. To complicate matters even more, Kristin is already engaged (in an arranged marriage) to a most prim and proper young man by the name of Simon. Obviously, Kristin's parents and family wish her to obey them and marry Mr. Nice Guy (Simon). However, like so many young, impressionable women, she goes gaga over the bad boy with the great looks and charismatic appeal. Ergo, when she finally does make her choice - all hell breaks loose.

I enjoyed the novel. It was a bit slow at times, and I wish that Undset would develope her characters a little more, but overall it was a very pleasurable read. I definitely would never go so far as to label this one a 'Harlequin Romance'. It is beautifully written and very nicely translated by Tiina Nunnally (yes, that is how Tiina spells her name). I am interested in reading the next two books of this medieval triology - ("The Wife" and "The Cross") mainly because I want to see if this marriage truly does work out. I am not so sure at the moment, because there is no denying that Erlend is a bit of a cad and it is too early to tell if Kristin is truly in love or lust. If I had to guess, I would go with the former, however, even if that is the case, both of these young people ended up hurting quite a few others along the way while carrying out their secret tryst. And we all know about KARMA and how it has a way of sooner or later rearing it's ugly head.

I have never been a big fan of novels written about the medieval times, so I knew beforehand that this novel might be a bit of a challenge for a guy like me. However, I was pleasantly suprised and like I said, I will be definitely picking up the second book of the trilogy "The Wife" to see just what happens next in this epic, Norweigan soap opera. If your are a fan of love stories and/or medieval tales, than odds are you will enjoy this classic. There is a reason why the author Undset won a Nobel Prize (among countless other awards) and also why so many critics loved this trilogy. This novel is very well constructed and there is no doubt one can relate with a story that is just as relevant and prevalent today as it was seven hundred years ago. Like the old Paul Anka song goes "and they called it, puppy loooooooooove..." I know, I know, I can't stand that song either, but it's the first song that comes to mind when describing this story.

Hope you enjoy it!

4 out of 5 stars couldn't put the book down!.......2007-04-28

Wonderful book. Worth the read. Hardest part of the book is deciphering the names and following the family lineage.

1 out of 5 stars Harlequin Romance/Historical Fiction.......2006-12-24

Kristin Lavransdatter misses being Clan of the Cave Bear by that much. Ayla is a Chronic Victim. Kristin Lavransdatter born today would be every litigant on Judge Judy who lent thousands of dollars to Deadbeat Men they Really Loved Because They Were Soulmates.

What makes this book such a unique outrage is that it otherwise would have been a fascinating window on Medieval Norway; unfortunately, Sigrid Undset decided to make her main character a total ninny, while having the other characters react to her as if she were some kind of paragon. Other than Erland and Kristin, the other characters are actually likeable people. Well, except for the tiresome and tedious, self-pitying mother. So the effect is this anachronistic duo fouling the strong mead of Medieval Norway with the 40-ounce malt beverage that is them. When the other characters go on about Kristin, we don't believe them, and it only adds insult to injury.

I mean, under the circumstances, must we hear, "She has wise eyes, this daughter of yours..." ?

Note to Sigrid Undset (which she can't read, because she's dead, which is a mixed blessing because at least it means she can't write any other books. Happy Times in Norway was excruciating, too.):If a character is going to be a totally self-destructive idiot, then in order to remain sympathetic, the character needs to have some kind of motivation that resonates with us, and gives us the sense that, if this character had been born in another place and time, there might actually have been a way out for her. So, in Anna Karenina's case, she was married off to a man she doesn't love, and in Emma Bovary's case, we get the sense that things would have turned out a bit better for her had she been given some kind of intellectual outlet and a purpose in life. (And we also know in advance that Gustave Flaubert personally hated everyone in the human race, so we can forgive her for being painted in such a harsh light by the creator who hated her so deeply). This is the actual definition of Tragedy. The character must act consistent with her nature, and events twist those actions into something horrible, and the events are inexorable.

In Kristin's case, there is no such motivation. And there is no logic. If she could defy everyone to run off with Erland, then why couldn't she have defied everyone to marry Arne Gyrdson in the first place? As for the new translation, I'm glad the double-wide trailer has a better coat of paint.

5 out of 5 stars Much ado about Nunnally.......2006-12-21

I love Undset, but know nothing about Norwegian. I, too, like some of the other reviewers here, was at first disappointed with the modernized translation of Nunnally--until I was told that in fact Undset wrote in contemporary, not mediaeval, Norwegian. The subject matter is mediaeval; the language is supposed to be 20th century. The Elizabethanized language of the previous translation is really a tic of the translator, not something called for by the Norwegian original. (Some of the other reviewers here objected that Vol. II is entitled by Nunnally "The Wife" rather than, as in Archer's, "The Mistress of Husaby." But you will see that the Norwegian title is "Husfrue," as in the German "Hausfrau," or "Housewife." "Wife" is therefore in fact the proper translation.) I have it on good authority from someone who knows Scandinavian languages that Nunnally's translation is superb.

Another merit of Nunnally is that she restores quite a bit of text that had been bowdlerized by Archer. Check out the difference, to cite just one example that I have noticed, between the way Nunnally and Archer portray the key scene when Erlend takes Kristin's maidenhood:

Nunnally: "Kristin was trembling--she thought it was because her heart was pounding so hard--and her hands were clammy and cold. When he kissed the bare skin above her knee, she tried powerlessly to push him away. Erlend raised his face for a moment, and she was suddenly reminded of a man who had once been given food at the convent--he had kissed the bread they handed to him. She sank back into the hay with open arms and let Erlend do as he liked" (p. 145).

Archer: "Kristin shook--it must be because her heart beat so--her hands were cold and clammy. As he kissed her vehemently she weakly tried to push him from her. Erlend lifted his face a moment--she thought of a man who had been given food at the convent one day--he had kissed the bread they gave him. She sank back upon the hay...." (p. 129).

The two are pretty close where Archer actually gives you the text, but he prudishly leaves out some key stuff (I'm assuming Nunnally is not putting anything in that's not there in the original). The ellipses there at the end of the Archer translation are his own, and you find them throughout the text just at the, um, interesting parts. With both translations given above, something is left to the imagination, as Undset surely wanted it, but with Archer's, you are missing text! Undset expected her readers to be perceptive, not prophetic. And this is a pivotal moment in the plot, when just the right measure is needed. Readers of Archer's translation have to wonder why, in the next chapter, Kristin keeps feeling her belly and thinking she must be carrying Erlend's child, until they go back to the ellipses and realize what the translator must have omitted. This is the only clear example of Archer's censoring I've come across, but I am told there are plenty more.

5 out of 5 stars A splendid novel finally gets a splendid translation.......2006-09-16

I first discovered Kristin when I was fifteen, in Charles Archer's gummy, faux-Howard Pyle translation (it's also Bowdlerized) While I loved the story, I knew that this couldn't be the way Sigrid Undset wrote it. She was a scholar of the sagas, and their language is plain and direct, not lifted from some Errol Flynn movie.

Thank you, Tiina Nunnally, for giving us the real deal. The stark, direct translation suits the story. This is not a romance novel. This is a story about real people, real passion, and real disappointment and heartache. Even though Kristin gets the guy, she's going to find that 'having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting'. It's been a long wait, but Kristin and her life story finally have their real voice in English.



Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross (Penguin Classics)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross (Penguin Classics)
  • no title
  • Kristin Lavransdatter, The Wreath, The Wife, The Cross
  • I'm not usually moved by books but....
  • Bringing It All Together
 Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross (Penguin Classics)
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:
  1. Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics)
  2. Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath (Penguin Classics)
  3. The Mistress of Husaby: Kristin Lavransdatter, Vol. 2
  4. The Bridal Wreath: Kristin Lavransdatter, Vol.1
  5. Gunnar's Daughter (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

ASIN: 0141182350
Release Date: 2000-04-03

Book Description

The definitive new translation of the masterwork of Scandinavia's most beloved author is now complete.

Kristin Lavransdatter is a story of love, loyalty, and betrayal, set against a richly detailed historical backdrop of fourteenth-century Norway. The Cross (1922) finds Kristin returning with her husband, Erlend, and their sons to her childhood home, Jorundgaard. As the boys grow older, Kristin is increasingly worried about their prospects, and she and Erlend become estranged. The most devastating and emotional volume in the trilogy, The Cross chronicles the trials and losses Kristin must bear. Tiina Nunnally's exquisite rendering of this unforgettable novel, both more faithful to the beauty of the original Norwegian and more readable than the existing translation, is the first new English translation of Undset's masterpiece.

Translated with Notes by Tiina Nunnally and introduction by Sherrill Harbison

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross (Penguin Classics).......2007-03-10

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read good literature.

5 out of 5 stars no title.......2006-02-02

After having read all three books - Wow! She deserved the Nobel Prize. This last book is a great read - much exciting stuff. And how she understood what a mother feels about her sons - and their leaving her.

5 out of 5 stars Kristin Lavransdatter, The Wreath, The Wife, The Cross.......2004-07-10

Sigrid Undset is a master at character and place. She seamlessly draws you into medieval Norway while captivating you with the depth and humanity of her characters. I read them breathlessly captivated. No wonder Ms. Undset received a Nobel Prize for these historical novels--among the best I've ever read. Bravo, Sigrid Undset.

5 out of 5 stars I'm not usually moved by books but...........2003-09-10

...this one brought me to tears in more than one place. If you're reading "The Cross," or considering purchasing it, you've probably already read the first two books in the series and are caught up in the story. Is this book worth it? Yes. It's not an uplifting read by any means, but it brings the Kristin story to a logical -- though heartbreaking -- conclusion. I am in awe of Undset for her creation of such believable characters, and grateful to her for this glimpse into medieval life. Nunnally's translation is clear and reads smoothly. This, along with "The Wreath" and "The Wife," is one of those books you hate to see end.

5 out of 5 stars Bringing It All Together.......2002-08-05

THE CROSS is the final shattering novel in Sigrid Undset's KRISTAN LAVRANSDATTER trilogy. In it, Kristin reaps both the rewards and sorrows of the choices she sowed in the first two volumes.

In the first novel, Kristin's passion for Erlend Nikulausson led her to break her betrothal to Simon Andresson. In the second volume, Kristin sought to atone for her sin (she was already pregnant when she celebrated her wedding with Erlend), but had to struggle to forgive Erlend for leading her astray. In THE CROSS, the consequences of Kristin's choices all come to a head. The first section of the novel focuses on Simon, who has been a faithful friend to Kristin and Erlend, even as he continued to harbor feelings for Kristin. In the mid-section of the novel, Kristin and Erlend strive to find peace with one another. While their passion for one another never died, they were never fully able to overcome the mismatch in their marriage. And in the final section, we follow Kristin as she seeks acceptance from her seven sons, and most importantly from God.

For while KRISTIN LAVRANSDATTER seems to be a novel about love, friendship, and marriage, its deepest message is about the struggle of deeply-flawed humans to reconcile themselves with God. The trilogy is set in medieval Norway and all of the characters order their lives (as best they can) around the Christian moral order. Even as they knowingly fail, the Faith is a part of the very air they breathe.

The miracle of Sigrid Undset's trilogy is the clarity of her perception into the human condition. All of these characters live and breathe, and (more startling) we see clearly how they impact each other through the tangled webs of their lives. But Undset's literary talent is embedded in a sharp religious vision, which points to God's relationship with us as sinners. Undset never denies the good in Kristin's passion for Erlend. Nor does she hide the devastating consequences their passion had on each other and on all of the lives they touched. Often, to sin is not to choose that which is evil, but rather to choose a lesser good. Yet as the saying goes, God can write straight with crooked lines, and at the end of this extraordinary trilogy, Kristin comes to see how God has been with her through all of the light *and* through all of the dark. We walk away from the novel enthralled by the grandeur of the story we live out in this fallen world, and the enormous love God has for us.

Rereading Sigrid Undset's classic trilogy has been one of my most rewarding projects this summer.
Gunnar's Daughter (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The more things change. . . .
  • A Very Fine Example of the Saga as Modern Novel
  • Same old same old
  • Fast-paced tale with wonderful Scandinavian folklore...
  • This powerful, disturbing tale deserves a new audience.
 Gunnar's Daughter (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 014118020X

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The more things change. . . ........2006-08-01

In writing Gunnar's Daughter, Sigrid Undset had two aims: to show that the struggles of the human person against himself, others, and nature have no history; and to reveal a pagan past as it actually was--cruel and bloody in contrast to the growing Christian faith it encountered. In both cases, she succeeded brilliantly.

Take the first case. You often hear yammering from certain quarters that it is possible for human beings to progress as a society beyond their passions. Myopic nonsense! The characters of Gunnar's Daughter hurt themselves and others, and love as much as they hate, with exactly the same capacity as anyone today. An honest reader will realize that we are no better at heart than the men (and woman) whose stories are told here--but also that we are no worse. What we have hated and loved and yearned for, men and women have always hated and loved and yearned for. In reading this you realize for the first time that you can actually appreciate your ancestors as living men and women, and not as faceless DNA donors.

In the second case, in Undset's time--the early 20th century--there was then as now the movement to glorify the pre-Christian past, the sort of naivety only possible from the safety of the Christianized world. Undset was rightly disturbed by this movement, and in Gunnar's Daughter she draws the picture of bloody, violent, might-makes-right world--and better yet, shows the redeeming effect of Christianity as it makes its way into Scandinavia. Contrast Vigdis' exposure of her healthy but unwanted infant--an unremarkable event in her time, even if, as Undset shows, one not done without lingering sorrow--with the later refusal of Viga-Lyot to expose his deformed and sickly baby expressly because, as he states, he is a Christian, and will not hear of it. This is of even more interest in our day, when the growing nonChristian influence on our society has led us full circle to a time when once again the unwanted baby is done away with--Undset's picture was more prescient than she knew.

All in all, a haunting and true book.

5 out of 5 stars A Very Fine Example of the Saga as Modern Novel.......2000-12-24

In this case of medieval date rape and the grim consequences which follow hard upon it, Sigrid Undset created a wonderfully literate experience using the saga "voice". Although I detected slippages in tone, here and there, and felt the ending too contrived and overwrought to be pure saga, I was still swept along by this book, finishing it in a single sitting. It is short, yes, but also a very compelling narrative as it details the tribulations of two would-be lovers who are yet too proud and self-willed for their own good or for the society in which they find themselves. As with the typical viking hero, Viga-Ljot is overly confident of his own charms and impatient of results. And Vigdis, the maid he has set his heart on, is no less aloof and overbearing in her own way than that historical figure, Sigrid the Haughty, who so angered King Olaf Tryggvesson that he slapped her in the midst of their courtship and thereby sealed his doom. Viga-Ljot does much worse in this tale and his fate is thus forever bound up with a woman who cannot forget or forgive him. Like Gudrun Osvif's daughter in Laxdaela Saga, Vigdis bides her time and nurses her pain but, in the end, that pain is not assuaged by the actions she takes, for it is ultimately destructive to everyone it touches.

A good example of the saga form in modern literature indeed, and yet, despite the finely tuned prose of this novel, capturing the nuances and understatement of the saga voice with masterly strokes, there is an underlying stridency here, an almost emotional overreaching which is not, itself, true to the saga form. In some ways this book is too modern and its author's sensibility, at this juncture in her career, almost too young and unseasoned. Undset seems to be reaching for the tragic denouement of the Greek classics to end her tautly told tale rather than content herself with the flatly understated and finely nuanced wrap-up more appropriate to the saga form. But this Greek-like ending left me much colder than the drily tossed-off afterthought of a true saga might have done. And yet, for all that, Undset has here given us one of the better modern novels done in saga form. My hat is off to her.

By the way, for another really fine novel based on the old sagas, one, in fact, that I think outdoes even this one, try SAGA: A NOVEL OF MEDIEVAL ICELAND by contemporary Canadian author Jeff Janoda. Many have tried to evoke the sagas in modern prose but few have done it as well as he has. Janoda has written a contemporary novel that does genuine justice to its original source, Eyrbyggja Saga, while not succumbing to the overwrought sensibility which mars GUNNAR'S DAUGHTER at the end. If you like fiction grounded in the old Norse saga literature, then Janoda's book should be your very next stop.

SWM

5 out of 5 stars Same old same old.......2000-09-05

Undset, Lagerlof, Bjornson, Hamsun, Gustafsson; five stars aren't enough to reflect the masterpieces that they all wrote, and, in the case of Gustafsson, are still writing. Read all their books and grow a lifetime in a couple of years.

I suppose that anything that sells books makes it to the top of the page, although I appreciate that the first review I read about this book was straightforward, unbiased and sans agenda. I have been reading the great writers of the world since I learned to read. I began to explore the works of Undset, Lagerlof, Bjornson, Hamsun, Gustafsson, etc., thirty years ago and it irks me no end that the works of a Scandinavian writer like Undset, who lived in a time when women had all the rights in the world, should be referenced by your commentator from Brattleboro, VT as womens fiction. If she has read "The Master of Hestviken" or "Kristen Lavransdatter", then she must have missed all the suffering endured by the men and women. Great works of creativity do not address personal agendas. They are wrought from the soul. Lagerlofs' "Saga of Gosta Berling", another masterpiece, explores the same moral questions with a male protagonist. I say to you, dear lady from Vermont, that feminism is dead; we are all feminine and masculine regardless of our plumbing, and the last GREAT female poet, Sylvia Plath, lived the pain of that polarity until it killed her. Shame on you Amazon.com for using divisiveness and the promulgation of hatred, fear, and misunderstanding to make a buck. Publish this!!

5 out of 5 stars Fast-paced tale with wonderful Scandinavian folklore..........1999-08-10

Sigrid Undset's Gunnar's Daughter weaves Scandinavian folklore, mythology and violence to ensnare the reader into the period of the Saga Age. In this book, we meet Vigdis Gunnarsdatter -- a survivor in many different levels who is raped and delivers an illegitimate child. As it is said that time heals old wounds, that is not the case with Vigdis. Even with her eventual redemption, peace of mind still eludes her until she takes her very last breath. The scope of history and folklore in Gunnar's Daughter makes this an interesting and quick read. However, it is highly recommended that the reader marks the introduction and notes by Sherrill Harbison -- as they provide much information that makes the book more insightful and pleasurable to read.

5 out of 5 stars This powerful, disturbing tale deserves a new audience........1998-07-10

Gunnar's Daughter is a tale of passion and revenge, a work of historical fiction which will be appreciated by readers of Kristen Lavrensdatter and of women's fiction in general. The introduction tells you everything you need to know to appreciate the disturbing tale.
Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics)
  • After the Romance
  • Kristin Lavransdatter II, The Bride
  • The Heart of the Medieval Mind
  • What a great read!
 Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics)
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  1. Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross (Penguin Classics)
  2. Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath (Penguin Classics)
  3. Gunnar's Daughter (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
  4. Kristin Lavransdatter
  5. Kristin Lavransdatter: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

ASIN: 0141181281

Book Description

In Kristin Lavransdatter (1920-1922), <B>Sigrid Undset</B> interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century. The trilogy, however, is more than a journey into the past. Undset's own life—her familiarity with Norse sagas and folklore and with a wide range of medieval literature, her experiences as a daughter, wife, and mother, and her deep religious faith—profoundly influenced her writing. Her grasp of the connections between past and present and of human nature itself, combined with the extraordinary quality of her writing, sets her works far above the genre of "historical novels." This new translation by Tina Nunnally—the first English version since Charles Archer's translation in the 1920s—captures Undset's strengths as a stylist. Nunnally, an award-winning translator, retains the natural dialog and lyrical flow of the original Norwegian, with its echoes of Old Norse legends, while deftly avoiding the stilted language and false archaisms of Archer's translation. In addition, she restores key passages left out of that edition.

Undset's ability to present a meticulously accurate historical portrait without sacrificing the poetry and narrative drive of masterful storytelling was particularly significant in her homeland. Granted independence in 1905 after five hundred years of foreign domination, Norway was eager to reclaim its national history and culture. Kristin Lavransdatter became a touchstone for Undset's contemporaries, and continues to be widely read by Norwegians today. In the more than 75 years since it was first published, it has also become a favorite throughout the world.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics).......2007-03-10

A great book for those who love to read good literature.

5 out of 5 stars After the Romance.......2002-07-17

Most romance novels present us with the trials and tribulations of star-crossed lovers, who in the end marry and live happily ever after. The first volume of Sigrid Undset's fine trilogy, THE WREATH, took us through the romance between Kristin Lavransdatter and Erland, concluding in their wedding. Unlike most romance novels, however, that novel foreshadowed the difficulties that the protagonists were likely to encounter in marriage. THE WIFE is the story of that marriage, with all of its strengths and weaknesses.

Once again, Undset succeeds in depicting a wide range of real people, in all their human glory. Kristin begins the novel with a pilgrimage in penance for her sin (she was already pregnant on her wedding day), and while she finds forgiveness, she struggles through the rest of the novel to learn how to forgive her husband. Erland begins the novel as an irresponsible man who seems lucky to have someone like Kristin. By the end of the novel, we see him rising above anything that could have been expected of him as he faces torture and imprisonment with dignity. There are no good guys and bad guys here, just human beings doing their best, yet struggling with their own passions and limitations. Undset's insight into the human condition is remarkable. And while Kristin and Erland do not achieve the illusory, romantic happiness that is celebrated in most romance novels, they find themselves with something much richer: a marriage in which a husband and a wife have learned to love each other in full knowledge of their mutual failings.

Undset was a great student of human nature, and she particularly understood our failings and our need to find redemption. By the end of the novel, Kristin has learned much in life, but her journey is not yet over. And so we move on to the final volume, THE CROSS.

5 out of 5 stars Kristin Lavransdatter II, The Bride.......2000-04-14

Sigrid Undset was the first woman to win the Nobel prize for literature. Since Kristin Lavransdatter was first published in America in the 1920s, succeeding generations have read it and found Kristin and Erland's story resonated in their hearts in a way that few books do. Undset has the rare gift of understanding the inner feelings of men as well as women.

Those who have struggled with the artificially archaic language of Charles Archer's translation will welcome this new version by Tiina Nunnally. She has also restored some parts that Archer eliminated, perhaps because he found them too sexually explicit for readers of English in the 1920s.

But, by all means start with the first volume, which, with volume III, is also available in the Nunnally translation.

Edmond Bliven

5 out of 5 stars The Heart of the Medieval Mind.......2000-03-12

Sigrid Undset perfectly captures one of the essential personal conflicts of the Middle Ages: the strictures of the Church and a patriarchal society on love and marriage. Having followed her heart and her feelings of love, Kristin is unfortunately therefore placed at odds with her family and the Church. Her search for reconciliation (or at least some accomodation) is fascinating, a marvelous spiritual journey. The typical medieval mind often had the terror of hellfire hanging over it, and we see this in the early part of this novel, as Kristin, full of guilt, makes a pilgrimage with her newborn son to find redemption. The politics of feudalism eventually intrude and complicate her life, as her husband becomes more involved in court intrigues. This translation is most excellent: it beats the silly pseudo-Old English one from the 1920's. I hope Tiina Nunnally will eventually translate all of Undset's works!

5 out of 5 stars What a great read!.......2000-02-01

This book is simply wonderful! I cannot wait until the third volume of this excellent translation is released. Kristen's life, though lived on a different continent, in a very different culture and society, so many ages ago, rings so true to contemporary life. The trials and joys that she experiences make this book a wonderful read. And what a romance it is, too! If your looking for a good story by a good storyteller, pick this up--start with the first book, though!
The Axe: The Master of Hestviken, Vol. 1
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Powerful, Luminous Stuff
  • A guide for the perplexed...
  • A story of love set in medieval Norway
  • A Memorable Saga
  • A powerful saga of medieval times
 The Axe: The Master of Hestviken, Vol. 1
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  1. The Snake Pit: The Master of Hestviken, Vol. 2
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  4. Kristin Lavransdatter: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
  5. Jenny

ASIN: 0679752730
Release Date: 1994-11-29

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Powerful, Luminous Stuff.......2003-12-18

I had never read anything by Sigrid Undset until I read this novel, though I had wanted to for a while. Reading Undset sounded like a reading experience that couldn't be replicated, Who else is a female, Nobel-Prize-winning, Norwegian, historic novelist whose work is compared to Tolstoy's. Anyway, after reading The Axe (not even considered her best work), I would say she certainly lived up to my expectations.

The basic plot follows Olav Audunsson and Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter (don't be scared away by the names). They were betrothed as children under rather mysterious circumstances and were then raised together. Eventually, the two fall in love, and want to finally get married, seeing as they were betrothed to one another anyway. Times have changed, though, and the powers that be have decided to marry them off elsewhere. Olav and Ingunn vow to fight for their marriage, and the remainder of the action is this intense struggle.

The novel is superb. The writing at some moments, particularly the early love scenes, is truly sublime, with the lush imagery set up against the unique medieval Norwegian backdrop. I had to read a number of passages over and over just to reexperience their beauty. The moral scope of the novel also strikes me as particularly powerful and certainly invites comparison to Tolstoy. The events of the novel are all marked by a sin early in the novel which sends everyone into a moral tailspin. The characters are trapped in a moral maelstrom of their own making and in their struggle to find some sort of redemption is the ultimate meaning of the novel.

The Axe is one of the best novels I have ever read. Sigrid Undset cannot be forgotten. I can scarcely wait to read the rest of the Hestviken saga.

5 out of 5 stars A guide for the perplexed..........2003-06-23

I've read The Axe twice. It is superb. Undset's peers are writers like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

However, my edition, at least, lacks family tree pages. So here's some help for those who might be confused.

1.OLAV AUDUNSSON'S ANCESTRY

Olav Audunsson is the novel's hero. He was fostered by Steinfinn Toresson, but his parents were Audun and Cecilia. Cecilia was daughter of Bjorn Andersson and Lady Margrete, whose first husband was Erik, their children being Erik and Barnim. Barnim is important to the young Olav Audunsson.

Audun was son of Ingolf and Ragna. Ingolf was one of five children of Olav Olavsson and Astrid Helgesdatter: the others were Helge, Halldis (who married Ivar Staal), Borgny, and Torgils "Foulbeard." Foulbeard, who is still alive when Olav Audunsson is a youth, was foster-brother with Olav Half-Priest. Foulbeard sired a son, Arne, on a woman named Astrid. Astrid's brother was Benedikt Besseson. Arne was the father of Signe, Una, and Torgunn.

Olav Olavsson was son of Olav Torgilsson and Tora Ingolfsdatter. Olav Olavsson's grandfather was Torgils of Dyfrin, a great estate that Olav Audunsson passes in the third novel of the Master of Hestviken quartet. The axe of the novel's title has passed down to Olav from the Dyfrin days.

Astrid Helgesdatter was sister of Ingolf Helgesson.

Olav Ingolfsson is an "old kinsman" of Olav Audunsson's; Ingolfsson's mother was Bergljot of Tveit, and his siblings include Kaare.

Olav Ribbung is a great-grandfather of Olav Audunsson.

2.INGUNN STEINFINNSDATTER'S ANCESTRY

Ingunn and Olav Audunsson become lovers in The Axe, their youthful desires coinciding with an ambiguous betrothal. Ingunn is one of four children, the others being Tora, Hallvard, and Jon, of Steinfinn and Ingebjorg. Tora marries Haakon Gautsson, who at one point might have married Ingunn. Haakon's sister is Helga.

Steinfinn is one of five children of Tore of Hov and Aasa. The others are Ivar, Magnhild, Herdis and Magnus.

Tore of Hov also sired children by his concubine, Borghild: at least two, Ragnhild and Kolbein. Olav Audunsson will kill one of Kolbein's sons, Einar. The other is Haftor.

Aasa, Tore's wife, is daughter of Magnus, and her siblings are Hillebjorg and Finn. Hillebjorg married a man named Finn, and their son was Arnvid, an important person in the lives of Olav and Ingunn. Arnvid was forced to marry Tordis; their children were Magnus, Funn, and Steinar.

If there are any inaccuracies above, I hope they can be set right! But I think the above is correct.

5 out of 5 stars A story of love set in medieval Norway.......2002-05-27

While this is not in the same class as the Kristen Lavransdatter trilogy which brought Undset the Nobel prize, The Master of Hestvicken series is a beautifully told story of love set in 13th century Norway. Undset's descriptions and attention to historical detail are wonderful as usual, but the love between Olav Audunsson & Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter is ill-fated and heavy. In Book 1, The Axe, Olav & Ingunn are joined together as children and parted by family disputes.

5 out of 5 stars A Memorable Saga.......2000-03-03

To understand The Axe one has to read the entire tetralogy of the Master of Hestviken. Therefore this review applies to the whole, as well as the part. A memorable saga, not only of a good man gone wrong (not gone bad) in the incredibly harsh times of medieval Norway, but also of his soul through the various stages of Catholic spirituality and redemption. Sigrid Undset is a master of both historical and spiritual fiction, as well as a deserving Nobel prize winner in literature. A must read for serious soul searchers, but above all for serious Catholics. I felt I had insights into my own nature as a person as I read about Olav Audunsson and participated in his thoughts, troubles and dilemmas. A masterful work of literature. Norway is beautifully described together with its medieval traditions and beliefs. If you enjoy good and serious historical fiction from a Christian perspective, you must read Sigrid Undset.

4 out of 5 stars A powerful saga of medieval times.......1999-03-15

Sigrid Undset favored this work over her more popular Kristin Lavransdatter. But I found it more difficult to relate to the lives of Olav Audunsson and his lover Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter, and had to read the book several times before I remembered it as well as Kristin. There is an overall atmosphere of hopelessness and depression that makes reading the book somewhat agonizing. Yet, the characters, plot and setting are conveyed so realistically, that one feels as if one knows the characters. There is no doubt in my mind that this is truly a literary masterwork.
Jenny
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Early Undset novel
 Jenny
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Zoland Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  4. The Snake Pit: The Master of Hestviken, Vol. 2
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ASIN: 158642050X
Release Date: 1998-06-01

Book Description

When Jenny was published in 1911, Undset found herself called immoral — “this is a side of the free, artistic life that the vast majority of citizens would rather not know.” The novel tells the story of Jenny Winge, a talented Norwegian painter who goes to Rome to seek artistic inspiration but ultimately betrays her own ambitions and ideals. After falling into an affair with the married father of a would-be suitor, Jenny has a baby out-of- wedlock and decides to raise the child on her own. Undset’s portrayal of a woman struggling toward independence and fulfillment is written with an unflinching, clear-eyed honesty that renders her story as compelling today as it was nearly a century ago.

This new translation by Tiina Nunnally captures the fresh, vivid style of Undset’s writing and restores passages omitted from the only previous edition to appear in English, which was published in 1921. Most famous for her later, historical fiction set in Catholic, medieval Scandinavia, Undset stands revealed with Jenny, her first major novel, as an unsparing, compassionate, magnificent realist, the creator of works that are at once thoroughly modern and of enduring interest.

“[Undset] was an uncommonly fine writer of fiction.”-- The New York Times Book Review

“Jenny is a stunningly atmospheric yet frank and searching drama about a young woman painter struggling to reconcile her need to make art with her longing for and fear of love. This brooding book can stand with the best of the moderns.”-- Booklist

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Early Undset novel.......2003-07-14

Later, Sigrid Undset would become a peer of Dostoevsky -- see Mitzi Brunsdale's comments on Undset's magnificent quartet, The Master of Hestviken, in her 1988 study. But Undset's early novel Jenny shows the Norwegian Nobel Prize winner as the peer of Turgenev. Jenny is worthy of comparison with something like Turgenev's "First Love" as a tale of the loss of youth and of eros (present or absent), but from the point of view of a woman who is not in love, rather than the point of view of the man who is in love. There is a suggestion, too, of Turgenev's characteristic interest in cultured, somewhat amoral, and vaguely political artist-poet types who have left their northern homelands (for Turgenev, Russia; for Undset, Norway) for southern Europe.

Emphatically Jenny is not to be thought of as a Turgenev imitation, though. For one thing, Undset's novel deals -- in some of its best pages -- with its heroine's maternal yearnings and grief, something one wouldn't look for in Turgenev. The Russian had a somewhat effeminate fondness for poetic melancholy (amusing satirized by Dostoevsky in Demons); in Jenny, "might have been" hurts people more.

There are flat patches of descriptive writing -- here, she is no rival of the Turgenev who wrote the lovely outdoors anecdote "Bezhin Meadow" -- and one must admit that one could become impatient with these rootless would-be artists, as one was meant to, I suppose. In later works, Undset achieved a greater synthesis of romanticism and stern, classical truthfulness.
The Bridal Wreath: Kristin Lavransdatter, Vol.1
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • this translation is insufferable
  • Ummm...
  • addicting
  • Timeless 'saga'
  • Fabulous book: make sure you read Andrew Lytle's commentary
 The Bridal Wreath: Kristin Lavransdatter, Vol.1
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  4. Vipers' Tangle (The Loyola Classics Series)
  5. Thais

ASIN: 0394752996
Release Date: 1987-05-12

Book Description

Volume one of the trilogy; Kristin's girlhood.

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars this translation is insufferable .......2005-01-13

This translation is difficult--difficult to read without gagging, that is. It's extremely stilted and affected. Every sentence reads something like this:

"When the child Kristin was seven years old, it so fell out that she got leave to go with her father..."

I don't have a problem with archaic language per se, but the translators of this version have no ear for language of any kind, in my opinion, and so this archaic prose never achieves any kind of naturalness.

Part of the problem may be that the translators never met an archaism they didn't like. In nearly EVERY line of the book Kristin "must needs" do this or would "nowise that" or so-and-so "was always for making merry."

It was so overdone--and so badly done--that I had trouble focusing on the story instead of on the irritating prose.

If you're interested in style and prose quality as well as plot, don't even think about buying this version.... get the Penguin translation instead.

3 out of 5 stars Ummm..........2002-02-25

The book was pretty good, but WHY IS KRISTIN SUCH AN IDIOT?
That really annoyed me.

5 out of 5 stars addicting.......2001-05-11

I bought this book when I was sick and by the time I got better I was addicted to the story. I immediately purchased the 2nd and 3rd books in the trilogy. Sigrid Undset is a master storyteller and incredibly descriptive about the characters, landscape, and history. If you like historical fiction, this is a must-read.

3 out of 5 stars Timeless 'saga'.......2001-04-30

I discovered this book while looking for Norway-related fiction--in preparation for a summer trip there. Although I found the language a bit difficult, I enjoyed the book and found it strangely restful. I cannot say why, but I got an overall sense of peace reading several sections of the book. I understand there may be more 'modern' translations and perhaps that would work better for me. This story of a young couple who are determined to marry despite many objections, does seem timeless and relevant. And, the historical notes are well done and help give a sense of life in Norway during the 13-1400's? (I believe that is the correct timeframe.) If you are interested in a good 'story', with what appears to be a sound historical perspective, try this one.

5 out of 5 stars Fabulous book: make sure you read Andrew Lytle's commentary.......1999-02-05

Dittos to the praise bestowed on the monumental work, but for a complete understanding order "Kristin: A Reading" by the great novelist/critic, Andrew Lytle (I bought mine from Amazon)
In the Wilderness: The Master of Hestviken, Vol. 3
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Part 3, the saga continues
  • One of my All Time Favourites
 In the Wilderness: The Master of Hestviken, Vol. 3
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  4. Gunnar's Daughter (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
  5. Jenny

ASIN: 0679755535
Release Date: 1995-06-24

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Part 3, the saga continues.......2002-06-16

This is the most action-packed installment of the "Master of Hestvicken" series. After Ingunn's death Olav leaves for adventures away from the family manor. In the first part of the story he goes on a sea adventure and visits the city of London where he has a religious experience in a church and an encounter with a mysterious woman. Later on in the book, after his return to Norway Olav leads men in defense against the invasion from Sweden.

As usual with all the books of Sigrid Undset, this is a beautifully told saga rich with historical detail.

5 out of 5 stars One of my All Time Favourites.......2001-06-22

Following "The Axe" and "The Snake Pit", this is the third volume of Sigrid Undset's great novel "The Master of Hestviken". Since the story is so intricate and full of detail, I would strongly advise not to read this book by its own since the reader might become confused and would not truly appreciate this magnificent tale. Although, unfortunately, the story is not available in one volume, all four books are certainly worth the money they cost. Moreover, each volume has a beautiful cover depicting scenes from the novel.

The story takes place in medieval Norway, a land torn by unremitting warfare and not yet fully converted to Christianity. The first two books tell the story of Olav Audunsson, who, after killing a man at a very young age, becomes an outlaw. As a consequence, he has to endure a long and bitter separation from Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter, his childhood sweetheart, before they are finally able to marry. However, their new life is tainted by Olav's past and by the fact that Ingunn has brought shame upon herself.

In this volume, Olav has once again become a man of wealth and stature. He is haunted, however, by his past deeds and he cannot find true happiness. Having lost his wife and being estranged from his son, Olaf leaves Hestviken and embarks on a journey of adventure and remorse which will finally lead him to a bloody reckoning.

The author's prose is so incredibly beautiful and the story is so rich in historical detail that it reminds one of the great Norwegian Sagas. It takes the reader back to a time when violence and bloody vendettas racked a land not yet fully touched by Christianity. The author depicts strong characters driven by passion and a desire for revenge who seldom find true peace and happiness. Written between 1925 and 1927 by a woman, this novel was truly ahead of its time.
The Master of Hestviken
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Board a time machine
  • Extraordinary depiction of human guilt and consequences
 The Master of Hestviken
Sigrid Undset
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452251796

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Board a time machine.......2004-05-17

This book transports one back to Medieval Norway so successfully that it is almost effortless. The tale is an epic but the boundaries are always human and defined within the scope of that enclosed society. Despite the centuries separating the book with the current era, the same problems, relationships, loves, hates, worries, guilt and religious devoltion are present.

Incredible writing and kudos to the translation.

5 out of 5 stars Extraordinary depiction of human guilt and consequences.......1998-05-06

This book, along with author's Kristin Lavransdatter, I believe to be the two most outstanding novels ever written. Though cast in late medieval Norway, they portray timeless relationships between men and women, guilt and punishment, historical perspective and profound understanding of human nature. Simply the best.

Authors:

  1. Unamuno, Miguel De
  2. Undset, Sigrid
  3. Updike, John
  4. Uris, Leon
  5. Urquhart, Jane

Authors

Authors