3.5
Hunger
ByPublisher Description
Knut Hamsun believed that modern literature should express the complexity of the human mind and nowhere is that philosophy more evident than in this stunning modern masterpiece, “Hunger.” First published in 1890 in Norwegian and based on Hamsun’s own experiences with poverty prior to his success as an author, “Hunger” tells the story of an unnamed vagrant who stumbles around the streets of Norway’s capital city of Kristiania (now Oslo) looking for food. This starving young man attempts to create an outward illusion of sanity and rationality, but his inner mind is becoming increasingly disturbed and delusional. He is kind to others and generous with the little he has, but he also refuses to find work to help support himself and becomes sicker and sicker in both his mind and body as he starves. His deterioration, both mental and physical, is captured in stunning and shocking detail. While the ending is one of hope and optimism, “Hunger” is a searing portrait of poverty and despair, as well as a biting social commentary on modern urban life and how desperate things can become for the poor in large cities. Nobel Prize winning Hamsun is at his best in this classic of modern literature. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
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3.5
novelle
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“"Hunger" – Knut Hamsun
I found this book very dense and nuanced. At first, I just wanted to describe something more akin to Dostoevsky and his unparalleled work, "Notes from Underground." I went straight to ChatGPT for book recommendations, and magically, "Hunger" by Knut Hamsun appeared before me.
I found the plot very absorbing, and from the first sentence, I was hooked. Seeing how extremely difficult life was for this young man truly brought out my most introspective side. Watching him struggle to maintain his sanity when voracious hunger threatened to steal every second of his life.
It took me months to finish each part of this book. It's a very heartbreaking and beautifully expressed story that felt extremely close and real. It's not a relaxing read: it's profound, dense, cruel, and heavy. There were many moments where I experienced déjà vu, remembering the similarities to "Notes from Underground" and "White Nights."
The way the idealization and supposed connection I felt with Ylajali reminded me that people can arrive, but not necessarily stay permanently.
It was undoubtedly a very heavy read, but I still enjoyed it. I loved the precision and specificity of every detail and emotion. It's a work that explores the protagonist's thoughts and the harsher side of humanity.
Here are my favorite quotes:
“Why worry about what I would eat, what I would drink, what I would put into the miserable box of worms that was my earthly body?”
“I mocked myself for these ridiculous feelings, I ridiculed myself with perfect lucidity. I spoke to myself reasonably, with great severity, and I closed my eyes violently to avoid tears.”
“I write like a man possessed, and I fill page after page, without resting for a moment.”
“Cold and hungry, in an increasingly gloomy mood, I continued along Karl Johann Street.”
“Darkness reigned around me; all was still, everything. But high above, the eternal song of the atmosphere hummed, that distant drone, without modulation, that never falls silent. I listened for so long to that endless murmur, that morbid murmur, that it began to disturb me. They were, without a doubt, the symphonies of the worlds spinning in the space above me, the stars intoning a hymn.”
“I stood up slowly, struck my forehead, and wept more and more violently as it moved away. I cursed myself for my poverty, gave myself the names of birds, invented hurtful terms, precious discoveries of crude insults that I heaped upon myself.””
Veronika
Created about 1 month agoShare
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Jabob
Created about 2 months agoShare
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