Gift: Roman (1883)

Løvdahl #1

by Alexander L. Kielland

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Roman, 19th Century, Novels, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Of the most famous realistic writer of the 19th century, Alexander Lange Kielland ranks as one of the "four greats" of Norwegian literature alongside Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, and Jonas Lie.

Born wealthy, he as a factory owner with a sincere affection for the less fortunate treated his workers well. He, a critic of society throughout his time as a writer, spoke for the weak. His best known plays were the satirical comedies Tre Par (1886) and Professoren (1888). He was also well known for his short stories.

Among his most famous works are the novels Gift (1883), Skipper Worse (1882) and Garman & Worse (1880). Gift (published in English as Poison ) is the first of a trilogy including Fortuna (1884) and St. Hans Fest (1887). In this trilogy, Kielland satirizes the hypocrisy of Norway's clergy. In Gift, Kielland debates the preference for Latin that Norwegian teachers had during his time. [wikipedia]

Reviews

[Marie Lund Alveberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boksirkelen jeg deltar i bragte meg på sporet av denne udødelige klassikeren. En ny mulighet til å fordype seg i Alexander Kiellands "Gift". Utenfor norsklærer-rammene, og ut fra ren og skjær leseglede. Muligheten sammenfalt med vinterferien, og heldige meg hørte hele triologien i løpet av befriende dager i langrennssporet. I Dalarnas vinterfjell, med Storytel på øret, smeltet Kiellands elegante skildringer, med all sin detaljrikdom, inn i naturen med full styrke.

Wenche Løvdahl går aldri av moten. Ikke bare var hun et talerør for Kielland og hans samfunnskritiske blikk på slutten av 1800-tallet, vel så viktig er hun for mennesker som lever i undertrykkende og patriarkalske, sosiale strukturer i dag. Tanken går til alle Mariuser og Abrahamer og Wencher av i dag, og til den enorme frigjørende kraften litteratur kan ha. Gleden av og kunne oppleve de to frittstående oppfølgerne til "Gift" i sammenheng, "Fortuna" og "Sankt Hans Fest", var stor. Det gikk som det måtte med den gjenværende familien Løvdahl i triologiens andre bok. I første bok var det et utdatert, hierarkisk skolevesen som ødela familien, i andre bok er det kapitalisme og spekulasjoner i fri flyt.

Gjennom Abraham og Wenche og Carsten og Clara setter Kielland fokus på alvorlige samfunnsutfordringer med kloke grep, gjennom fokus på det nære. Litt skuffet ble jeg da vi ikke fikk følge familien Løvdahl like tett i trilogiens siste bok. Samtidig kult at Kielland skriver inn karakterer fra flere av sine andre berømte romaner i "Sankt Hans Fest". Så presist og så glitrende skriver Kielland at man enkelt lever seg inn i hovedrolleinnehaverne, selv om de ble diktet inn i et samfunn som snart er 150 år gammelt. Du verden for en forfatter. For en troverdighet. For et budskap! Alexander Kielland må nok bli med meg ut i langrennssporet flere ganger.

[Henriette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veldig spennende karakterer✨

[Trine Hegre · Rating 5 out of 5]

En fantatsisk bok i Kiellands ånd, skrevet i tone og stil som bare han har evnen til å gjøre!

Ordene på s. 180 som er uttalte etter en av karakterenes død er det som festet seg dypest hos meg: «Livet og tiden kan etter hvert bøye og forandre, men et felles merke, et felles smertens sted vil det alltid forbli for dem som nettopp har fått evnen til å forstå og lide, for straks å skulle begynne med det alle tyngste tap- det eneste som ikke kan erstattes»

[Alecsander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking at its time. Fascinating themes, enjoyable writing. A Norwegian classic, the English version is called "Poison."

The author questions highly relevant societal problems even today, with the constant pressure of education and good grades. I read this as part of public education in Norway, and writing this review now, I am tempted to read it again for its relevance.

[Sigbjørn Skjæveland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liker tematikken i boka, men jeg tror ikke jeg er intellektuell nok til gammeldags språk
Sterk 3

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The level of craftsmanship on this is quite high. The plot is very traditional and feels familiar but nevertheless holds interest. The writing is livelier than you might expect, while still being insightful and subtle. It's far from the most exciting thing I've ever read, but there's little to object to.

[Halvor (Raknes) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just a wonderful, beautifully written novel, a core work of the Norwegian literary canon, written by one of the Four Greats of 19th century Norwegian literature. As with Ibsen, Kielland saw it as his calling to expose injustice and hypocrisy, but unlike Ibsen's condensed plays the novel allows for deeper immersion in the characters which Kielland depicts with psychological insight and humane empathy. He also convincingly establishes the fateful life dramas of all the main characters, how minuscule insincerities and simulations invariably lay the foundation for irreversible corruption. And this is what's so heartbreaking to read: how the loyal and upstanding adolescent Abraham Løvdahl is corrupted following the tragic death of his heart friend, "little Marius", undoubtedly the most famous death scene in Norwegian literature, a death which is caused by an inhuman, outdated, dry-as-talcum-powder, Latin school system (an elite, elementary school). The tragedy of Abraham is partly a result of his proud, free-thinking, rebellious mother's lapse of attention as she is distracted by a candid romance of her own that turns out equally (or actually more) disastrous than the fate of her dearly beloved son whom she had always attempted to protect from the superficially honorable, status-oriented father, professor Carsten Løvdahl.

My heart bleeds for Abraham Løvdahl at the shock of, following his confirmation reception, the confirmation in those days being an event of highest importance marking the crossing of the threshold from childhood to adulthood, when finally alone in his room he encounters the starkest reminder of his once devoted protégé, little Marius, making imperative his own ultimate betrayal of the ideals which his maligned mother represented and which lay at the heart of his friendship and mentorship towards Marius.

[Stine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This book really surprised me. I went in to this with relatively low hopes. But this book completely took my by surprise.
The writing was flawless, and unlike many other old, classic Norwegian books, the language was simple to understand. I didnt need to sit with google ready, and google every other word, like i did with Ibsen.

The themes was brought up in such a clever way. And even though I had been spoiled on the death of little Marius The story had so much more to it, and took turns I never expected, like the suicide of Wenche Løvdahl
The characters were surprisingly well crafted and i really felt for them.

An incredible book, one of my favorite classic books ive read. It really made me want to read more of Kielland, and classics in general.

[Emma Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skjønner dens viktighet, dog tidvis krevende lesning

[Odd Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Denne overrasket meg positiv. Klarer å føles aktuell selv etter nesten 150 år.

[Linnea Roset · Rating 5 out of 5]

«Å men gud forbarme seg, hva? skal vi nå også få se det at guttunger skal debattere politikk som om de var voksne?!»
«Synes herr adjunkten så meget bedre om det ikke sjeldne synet at voksne debatterer politikk som om de var guttunger?»
LÆTTIS



ååå lille Marius! abraham vil vel for alltid være hjemsøkt av broderskap og barndom. det er kanskje bra? for en bra bok.

[Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

2025:
3 Stars

I see this work a little differently now even though I don’t agree with some of the point he’s making. I do think Latin and the previous education system had a lot going for it even though the execution wasn’t great and children shouldn’t be punished as they were.

2016
2 Stars

This book felt largely dated and irrelevant today. And it’s mostly very depressive. Please do not enter if you aren’t in a great place in life. I think I expected something more like the Worse books. I just didn’t like this very much. I see why it did get attention and I understand it, but it just feels like it was written for another audience. Maybe it’s even more noticable to me because I finished Peer Gynt yesterday and the timelessness of his works are amazing.

[Rebecka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. Based on this book alone I don't quite see why Kielland is considered one of the greatest Norwegian authors. It's a very simple, very classic story with the same ending as all its contemporary clones.

[Dorottya AlBert · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me it was amazing that already in the late 19th century, the writer formulated problems of the education system we have right now in Hungary. It is a forward thinking novel, especially considering the time it was written at. I enjoyed it very much.

[Magnus · Rating 5 out of 5]

stakkars vesle Marius. Døde av hjernehinnebetennelse mens han pugget latinske gloser. Handler om Familien Løvdahl i det gamle Stavanger på 1800 tallet. Meget god

[Tor Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tidenes stillist, sies det. Og det må han også være den godeste Alexander Kielland.

[Åsmund Ådnøy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hør podcasten vår om Gift på solvberget.no/gift! Kanongod bok!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

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My "private notes" section just says "damn ancient people were really that woke" and that's honestly the mood.

[Julie Amundsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

justice for lille Marius og fru Wenche! evig aktuell roman med skarpe betraktninger om samfunnets forventinger.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Det var en ganske bra bok. Hadde ganske enkelt språk hvis man sammenligner med andre tekster fra denne tiden. Det var tøft av Kielland å ta opp og kritisere temaer som latinskole, Kirken, klasseskille, kvinners rettigheter, opposjon osv.

Det som jeg likte best, var disse korte momenter av humor, flettet inn i, noen ganger, tung materiale. Et eksempel: "En skinnsyk mann er alltid latterlig, men aller mest, når han kommer løpende med en dolk".

[Erlen Gabriel Sales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vittig, dramatisk familie roman med ganske mange interessante kommentarer og observasjoner om datidens samfunn. Det er overraskende morsom prosa, altså for det jeg forventet av en så gammel roman. Boken sin status som klassiker er vel fortjent.

[Fredrik Dahlberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part about the school system and poor little Marius is both entertaining and engaging. The rest of the book I didn’t care much for. Didn’t find the characters particularly believable or interesting.

[Sara K]

Hvil i fred lille Marius. Du fortjente så mye bedre!

[Olaf Alexander Styrmoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Mensa rotunda, sa Lille Marius og døde», må være en av de hardeste barsene i vår litteraturhistorie

[Siver Sablagi-Eltoft · Rating 3 out of 5]

En klassiker som tar for seg alle de viktige og tidløse temaene; livet, døden, kjærlighet, og et ødelagt skolevesen.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poison hit me hard. Kielland’s critique of the education system feels disturbingly relevant, but it was Wenche who truly stood out—a fierce feminist voice in a world trying to silence her. Her defiance made me want to cheer and scream at the same time. A frustrating, thought-provoking, and powerful read.

[Svein · Rating 4 out of 5]

En svært god bok av en av de tøffeste nordmennene på 1800tallet. Den måten han den gangen skrev om relgionens hykleri og klassesamfunnet er imponerende og også fortsatt skummelt relevant nå over 120 år senere.

[Eline M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heavy, but with a serious theme. But the language is too heavy to actually enjoy the book effortlessly.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Go fru Løvdal! Uforglemmelig scene da hun kritiserer skolen i selskapet. Boken har generelt en herlig beskrivelse av denne fritenkeren av en kvinne. Meget god bok. Meget trist slutt...

[Sigrid Tjønnøy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gammel klassiker som fortsatt kan oppleves som aktuell