I believe PAN to be the beginning of his great works.Ĭertainly a tale of romantic love that would be matched only by VICTORIA and WAYFARERS. Some of Hamsun’s early writing can be too dark, or unformed. In itself, that makes this a major work of Norwegian fiction. Hamsun’s love of the Northcountry wilderness is here as it would later be in GROWTH OF THE SOIL. He knows a great peace and happiness in the deep, wandering woodlands and thinks that this is enough. The retired soldier Glahn lives alone in a cabin with his hunting dog at the edge of the evergreen Northland forest. At his best, Hamsun can catch the psychology of real people - and he does that here. A novel literally about the four seasons of love, from the young passions of springtime, through summer and fall, to the dark endings of winter. There will be no polemic in it, just people, under a strange sky.”Īnd Hamsun wrote his best “love-story” in PAN. When getting ready to write PAN, Knut Hamsun described it in a letter saying, “It will be so beautiful, and will take place in Nordland, a still, red love-story. Pan: From Lieutenant Thomas Glahn’s Papers by Knut Hamsun – a Book Review Here’s my GoodReads Book review of the Knut Hamsun novel… And of those, it’s PAN that’s come closest to SOIL for me for its artistry and vision. “Since the forest will not come to me, I must go to it…” When I first read “I have gone to the forest” - the short sentence that began Knut’s LOOK BACK ON HAPPINESS - I felt an almost spiritual connection with those simple words. I’ve read Hamsun’s other writings over the years, of course. I was a young man myself when I first read SOIL and Hamsun’s simple, powerful and haunting story of a man who comes walking north has been part of my soul ever since. Trygve Lund, who journeyed to Canada as a young man, joined the Royal North-West Mounted Police and later wrote about his experiences, has long been a fave of mine.

I’ve recently discovered Mikkjel Fønhus’ masterwork TRAIL OF THE ELK and am seeking more of his works in English translation. Writers like Sigrid Undset, Per Petterson, Kjersti Scheen, Gunnar Staalesen, Jo Nesbo and Jørn Lier Horst.

Perhaps this is why Norwegian writers have struck such a chord with me. I’m descended from people of the European Northcountry. And I grew up in the Northwoods of Canada. “I have gone to the forest.” The Northland is a world unto itself. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on Linkedin Share on Pinterest Share on Xing

Knut hamsun pan