Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Ring is Closed by Knut Hamsun The Nazi novelist you should read. Isaac Bashevis Singer famously called Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun the father of modern literature. I'd take this further and say that he's the father of postmodern literature as well. With 1890's Hunger, Hamsun unleashed the first in a series of novels that anticipated everything from the terrifying absurdities of Kafka to the desiccated ennui of the existentialists and even Charles Bukowski's autobiographical explorations. Despite this, Hamsun is a writer who today is shunned by much of the literary establishment, not because his writing has lost any of its lustre, I'd argue, but because of his far-right political views, which came to a head during the second world war with his open support of Hitler and Norway's post-invasion Nazi puppet government. I will not defend Hamsun's politics. He betrayed both his country and more importantly humanity in general and deserves every bit of the scorn that's been heaped upon him. Hamsun's writing, however, is another matter. Whether we like the man or not, it seems to me both foolish and pointless to continue ignoring the significance of Hamsun's work - if for no other reason than it's an important part of our literary evolution and denying this can do nothing but cloud our understanding of our ourselves as readers and writers. In regard to Hamsun's evolution as a writer, it's far harder to describe than what came in his wake. Unlike virtually every other writer who has ever lived, Hamsun seems to have emerged fully formed, free from any definable literary tradition, or even overt influences. Born poor in rural Norway, Hamsun was largely self-educated and lacked both the social and intellectual background usually associated with the European literati of his time. After a long period of writing juvenilia and knocking about the world (he lived in the United States on two occasions), Hamsun hit upon in his voice in his early thirties - and it was unlike any that had come before. According to Hamsun, novel writing at that time was dominated by laboriously plotted tomes filled with parlour talk and stilted prose that contained little psychological or emotional insight. Hamsun raged against such conventions. Employing a style that was both hard-edged and surprisingly lyrical, he wrote lean stories, often in the first person, based less on actions than the convoluted, contradictory, and often brutal machinations of the human mind and heart. The result was a series of breathtaking "psychological" novels that astounded both critics and readers alike. It's been widely argued that Hamsun produced his best work in the early part of his career, from which emerged the classic novels Mysteries, Pan, Victoria, and the aforementioned Hunger. There is some truth to this. As Hamsun grew older he turned away from many of his innovations and began writing epics more in the tradition of writers such as Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. During this latter period, however, Hamsun did produce some fine work, including the novels Growth of the Soil, for which he was awarded the Nobel prize in 1920, and The Ring is Closed, a criminally under-read meditation on the meaning of work and life that is one of the true jewels of western literature. In the last decades of his life Hamsun's politics, which had been consistently veering to the right for many years, crystallised into a bizarre vision of "pan-Teutonic unity", which ultimately led to his support of the Nazis and his downfall as a public figure. As painful as this might still be to some, it does not negate Hamsun's value as an artist or his influence on following generations of writers. The novel is what it is today in large part because of what Knut Hamsun wrought, which is a fact that no amount of revisionist history can wipe away. It's time we accept this and try to figure some way to bring the man's books back into the canon, while leaving his horrid politics out in the cold where they belong. THE RING IS CLOSED. This book stands out as a separate entity, from the usual background of the soil, for Knut Hamsun has chosen, this time, a small fishing village on the west coast of Norway. A strange tale, restrained in the telling, with a certain compassion for the central figure, the son of a lighthouse keeper who has let his best friend hang for his crime. He tramps the world around and back, caring really for nothing but the scenes of his childhood -- complex, baffling, passive, indolent. The minor characters are well drawn, but the whole lacks the vigor of his early work. Knut Hamsun. Knut Hamsun (August 4, 1859 – February 19, 1952) was a leading Norwegian author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 1920. Contents. Biography. Knut Hamsun was born as Knud Pedersen in Lom, Gudbrandsdal, Norway. He was the fourth son of Peder Pedersen and Tora Olsdatter (Garmostr�det). He grew up in poverty in Hamar�y in Nordland. At 17, he became an apprentice to a ropemaker, and at about the same time he started to write. He spent several years in America, travelling and working at various jobs, and published his impressions under the title Fra det moderne Amerikas Aandsliv (1889). In 1898, Hamsun married Bergljot Goepfert (n�e Bech), but the marriage ended in 1906. Hamsun then married Marie Andersen (b. 1881) in 1909 and she would be his companion until the end of his life. She wrote about their life together in her two memoirs. Marie was a young and promising actress when she met Hamsun, but she ended her career and travelled with him to Hamar�y. They bought a farm, the idea being "to earn their living as farmers, with his writing providing some additional income". However, after a few years, they decided to move south, to Larvik. In 1918, the couple bought N�rholm, an old and somewhat dilapidated manor house between Lillesand and Grimstad. The main residence was restored and redecorated. Here Hamsun could occupy himself writing undisturbed, although he often travelled to write in other cities and places (preferably in spartan housing). Knut Hamsun died in his home at N�rholm, aged 92 in 1952. Hamsun first received wide acclaim with his 1890 novel Hunger (Sult). The semi-autobiographical work described a young and egocentric writer's descent into near madness as a result of hunger and poverty in the Norwegian capital of Kristiania. To many, the novel presaged the writings of Franz Kafka and other twentieth-century novelists with its internal monologue and bizarre logic. Other important works by Hamsun include Pan , Mysteries , and The Growth of the Soil. Hamsun received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1920. A fifteen-volume edition of his complete works was published in 1954. Political sympathies. Hamsun was a prominent advocate of Germany and German culture, as well as a rhetorical opponent of British imperialism and the Soviet Union, and he supported Germany both during First and the Second World War. Despite his immense popularity in Norway and around the world, Hamsun's reputation for a time waned considerably because of his support of Vidkun Quisling's National Socialist government. Following a meeting with Joseph Goebbels in 1943, he sent Goebbels his Nobel Prize medal as a gift. Hamsun also met with Adolf Hitler and tried to have him remove Josef Terboven from the position of Reichskommissar of Norway. After Hitler's death, Hamsun wrote an obituary in the leading Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten , describing him as a "warrior for mankind". It has been argued that his "sympathies" were those of a country that had been occupied. He sometimes used his status as a man of fame to improve the conditions of his area during the occupation and criticized the number of executions. Still, following the end of the war, angry crowds burned his books in public in major Norwegian cities. After the war Hamsun was confined for several months in a psychiatric hospital. A psychiatrist concluded he had "permanently impaired mental abilities", and on that basis the charges of treason were dropped. Instead, a civil liability case was raised against him and in 1948 he was fined 325,000 kroner for his alleged membership in Nasjonal Samling, but cleared of any direct Nazi- affiliation. Whether he was a member of Nasjonal Samling or not and whether his mental abilities were impaired is a much debated issue even today. Hamsun stated he was never a member of any political party. Hamsun himself wrote about this experience in the 1949 book, On Overgrown Paths , a book many take as evidence of his functioning mental capabilities. The Danish author Thorkild Hansen investigated the trial and wrote the book The Hamsun Trial (1978), which created a storm in Norway. Among other things Hansen stated: "If you want to meet idiots, go to Norway", since he felt that treating an old man like that was outrageous. In 1996 the Swedish director Jan Troell based the movie Hamsun on Hansen's book. In Hamsun , the Swedish actor Max von Sydow plays Knut Hamsun, while his wife Marie is played by the Danish actress Ghita N�rby. Bibliography. Year Title Translated title ISBN 1877 Den Gaadefulde. En kj�rlighedshistorie fra Nordland (Published under Knud Pedersen) � � 1878 Et Gjensyn (Published under Knud Pedersen Hamsund) � � 1878 Bj�rger (Published under Knud Pedersen Hamsund) � � 1889 Lars Oftedal. Udkast (11 articles, previously printed in Dagbladet ) � � 1889 Fra det moderne Amerikas Aandsliv The Spiritual Life of Modern America � 1890 Sult Hunger ISBN 0-374-52528-5 1892 Mysterier Mysteries ISBN 0-14-118618-6 1893 Redakt�r Lynge � � 1893 Ny Jord Shallow Soil ISBN 1-4191-4690-4 1894 Pan Pan ISBN 0-14-118067-6 1895 Ved Rigets Port At the Gate of the Kingdom � 1896 Livets Spil The Game of Life � 1897 Siesta � � 1898 Aftenr�de. Slutningspil � � 1898 Victoria. En kj�rlighedshistorie Victoria ISBN 1- 55713-177-5 1902 Munken Vendt. Brigantines saga I � � 1903 I �ventyrland. Oplevet og dr�mt i Kaukasien In Wonderland ISBN 0- 9703125-5-5 1903 Dronning Tamara (Play in three acts) � � 1903 Kratskog � � 1904 Det vilde Kor (Poems) � � 1904 Sv�rmere Dreamers ISBN 0-8112-1321-8 1905 Stridende Liv. Skildringer fra Vesten og �sten � � 1906 Under H�ststj�rnen. En Vandrers Fort�lling Under the Autumn Star ISBN 1-55713-343-3 1908 Benoni � � 1908 Rosa. Af student P�relius' Papirer Rosa ISBN 1-55713- 359-X 1909 En Vandrer spiller med Sordin A Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings ISBN 1-892295-73-3 1909 En Vandrer spiller med Sordin Also translated combined with Under H�ststj�rnen as Wanderers ISBN 1-4191-9307-4 1910 Livet i Vold (Play in four acts) In the Grip of Life � 1912 Den sidste Gl�de The Last Joy ISBN 1-931243-19-0 1913 B�rn av Tiden Children of the Age � 1915 Segelfoss By 1 Segelfoss Town (Volume 1) � 1915 Segelfoss By 2 Segelfoss Town (Volume 2) � 1917 Markens Gr�de 1 Growth of the Soil ISBN 0-394- 71781-3 1917 Markens Gr�de 2 � � 1918 Sproget i Fare � � 1920 Konerne ved Vandposten I The Women at the Pump ISBN 1- 55713-244-5 1920 Konerne ved Vandposten II � � 1923 Siste Kapitel I The Last Chapter (Volume 1) � 1923 Siste Kapitel II The Last Chapter (Volume 2) � 1927 Landstrykere I Wayfarers ISBN 1-55713-211-9 1927 Landstrykere II � � 1930 August I August (Volume 1) � 1930 August II August (Volume 2) � 1933 Men Livet lever I The Road Leads On (Volume 1) ISBN 1-4191-8075-4 1933 Men Livet lever II The Road Leads On (Volume 2) � 1936 Ringen sluttet The Ring is Closed � 1949 Paa gjengrodde Stier On Overgrown Paths ISBN 1- 892295-10-5. Books about Hamsun. Ferguson, Robert. Enigma: The Life of Knut Hamsun Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York: 1987. ISBN 0-374-52093-3 Humpal, Martin. The Roots of Modernist Narrative: Knut Hamsun's Novels Hunger, Mysteries and Pan International Specialized Book Services. 1999 ISBN 82-560- 1178-5 Kolloen, Ingar Sletten. Svermeren 2003 Biography Kolloen, Ingar Sletten. Erobreren 2004 Biography. English reviews. The December 5, 2005–January 2, 2006 issue of The New Yorker has a major article by Jeffrey Frank (link here). It seems to rely on the Ingar Kolloen biography (two volumes, reportedly aggregating about 1000 pages). In English, Hamsun was never popular and remains largely unknown. His infamous audience with Adolf Hitler is recorded to have been mostly him complaining about the Nazi depredations against Norwegians. At this time he was a largely-deaf old man in his 80s. The 21st century consensus puts him in the forefront of modernists, in the William Faulkner and Franz Kafka mode. Ernest Hemingway once said [ citation needed ] "Hamsun taught me how to write". Nobel Prize-winning writer Isaac Bashevis Singer was also greatly influenced by Hamsun and translated some of his works. References and further reading. Knut Hamsun Online Biography from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Knut Hamsun as nobel prize laureate Biography and bibliography Works by Knut Hamsun at Project Gutenberg Wood, James, Addicted to Unpredictability , an essay. Retrieved 8 October 2006. 1901:�Prudhomme | 1902:�Mommsen | 1903:�Bj�rnson | 1904:�F.Mistral,�Echegaray | 1905:�Sienkiewicz | 1906:�Carducci | 1907:�Kipling | 1908:�Eucken | 1909:�Lagerl�f | 1910:�Heyse | 1911:�Maeterlinck | 1912:�Hauptmann | 1913:�Tagore | 1915:�Rolland | 1916:�Heidenstam | 1917:�Gjellerup,�Pontoppidan | 1919:�Spitteler | 1920:� Hamsun | 1921:�France | 1922:�Benavente | 1923:�Yeats | 1924:�Reymont | 1925:�Shaw. This article might use material from a Wikipedia article, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. THE RING IS CLOSED. «When peple gather on the coastal boat dock they don’t gain much by it, but then it doesn’t cost them much either, so it works out even, with maybe a little minus for the wear and tear on the shoes. So if it doesn’t exactly do any harm, it’s not often anyone profits by it. An unforgettable experience, a sight fit for the gods, some sort of benediction or other? No no no. A few people and boxes ashore, a few people and boxes on board. No-one says anything, neither the mate at the ship’s rail nor the agent on the dock needs to say a word, they look at the papers, they nod. That’s about it.» The Ring is Closed (1936) is the last of Hamsun’s traditional novels. The title is thus both a reference to a rounding-up of Hamsun’s own life’s work, and a description of the life of his main character, Abel Brodersen. The novel is set in the small town Abel returns to after his father, a former ship’s captain, has died. Abel inherits both money and a relationship with his father’s young wife, Lolla. But Abel is an outsider, characterised by resignation, and even his erotic relationships with Lili and Olga are not enough to re-ignite the spark of life in him. He is bothered by thoughts of his part in the death of his wife Angèle, and cultivates an ever more notable self-neglect. The novel ends with his setting off for America, presumably with the intention of paying for his misdeeds. Atle Kittang, Professor of literature, has claimed social criticism gives way to disillusionment in The Ring is Closed . Books similar to or like Hunger (Hamsun novel) Second novel by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. Shaken by the arrival of eccentric stranger Johan Nagel, who proceeds to shock, bewilder, and beguile its bourgeois inhabitants with his bizarre behavior, feverish rants, and uncompromising self-revelations. Wikipedia. Closed was the last novel by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. Published in 1936. Wikipedia. 2001 film written and directed by Maria Giese, based upon the 1890 novel of the same title by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. Shot in Denmark on a shoestring budget, it features Joseph Culp as well as his father Robert Culp in a supporting role. Wikipedia. English title of the final novel by Norwegian author and nobel laureate Knut Hamsun. Called into question. Wikipedia. Second novel in the Wayfarers trilogy, also known as the August trilogy, by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. Published on October 1, 1930. Wikipedia. Novel by Knut Hamsun from 1904. Among Hamsun's last set in Nordland and it contains many comical and caricatured people and events. Wikipedia. Part of a double novel by Knut Hamsun first published in 1908. First part, and Rosa is the sequel and the final part of the double novel. Wikipedia. Part of a double novel by Knut Hamsun. First part, and Rosa is the sequel and second part of the double work. Wikipedia. Novel by Knut Hamsun which won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. It follows the story of a man who settles and lives in rural Norway. Wikipedia. Museum and educational centre in Hamarøy in Northern Norway dedicated to the life and work of the writer Knut Hamsun. First contacted about designing a centre for Knut Hamsun in 1994. Wikipedia. Third novel in the Wayfarers trilogy, also known as the August trilogy, by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. First published on October 5, 1933. Wikipedia. First novel in the Wayfarers trilogy, also known as the August trilogy, by Knut Hamsun. First published in 1927. Wikipedia. 1966 black-and-white drama film directed by Denmark's Henning Carlsen, starring Swedish actor Per Oscarsson, and based upon the novel Hunger by Norwegian Nobel Prize-winning author Knut Hamsun. The first film produced as a cooperative effort among the three Scandinavian countries. Wikipedia. Novel by the Norwegian author Tarjei Vesaas, first published in 1963. Written in nynorsk and considered a classic of Norwegian literature. Wikipedia. Travelogue written by Knut Hamsun in 1903. It documents Hamsun's impressions during his visit to the Russian Caucasus, Persia and Turkey in 1899. Wikipedia. 1996 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Jan Troell, about the later life of the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun , who, together with his wife Marie Hamsun (Ghita Nørby), went from being a national hero to a traitor after supporting Nazi Germany during their occupation of Norway during World War II. Scene where he speaks English and several where she speaks German; the rest of the cast speak Norwegian or German. Wikipedia. Poetry collection by Nobel laureate in literature Knut Hamsun. Published in 1904 and is his only poetry collection. Wikipedia. Three-act play by Knut Hamsun about Tamar of Georgia. Published in 1903. Wikipedia.