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The Emigrants #2
Invandrarna
När Karl Oskar och Kristina kommer fram till New York möter de ett land som tar emot dem med öppna armar. Och omgående börjar de den långa färden till Minnesota, där de ska bygga sitt nya hem. Som sällskap har de sina reskamrater från Ljuder socken och de blir också en stor trygghet...
Som del två i Utvandrarserien gavs Invandrarna ut första gången 1952 och har sedan dess lästs och älskats av många. Serien har också levt vidare genom både Jan Troells rosade filmer och Björn Ulvaeus och Benny Anderssons hyllade musikal "Kristina från Duvemåla". Utvandrarserien är en tidlös kärlekshistoria kantad av hungersnöd, drömmar och längtan.
***
Hela Utvandrarserien på svenska:
Bok 1: Utvandrarna
Bok 2: Invandrarna
Bok 3: Nybyggarna
Bok 4: Sista brevet till Sverige
Därtill finns Din stund på jorden som är ett slags uppföljare till Utvandrarserien.
Som del två i Utvandrarserien gavs Invandrarna ut första gången 1952 och har sedan dess lästs och älskats av många. Serien har också levt vidare genom både Jan Troells rosade filmer och Björn Ulvaeus och Benny Anderssons hyllade musikal "Kristina från Duvemåla". Utvandrarserien är en tidlös kärlekshistoria kantad av hungersnöd, drömmar och längtan.
***
Hela Utvandrarserien på svenska:
Bok 1: Utvandrarna
Bok 2: Invandrarna
Bok 3: Nybyggarna
Bok 4: Sista brevet till Sverige
Därtill finns Din stund på jorden som är ett slags uppföljare till Utvandrarserien.
490 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1952
206 people are currently reading
2198 people want to read
About the author
Vilhelm Moberg
177 books204 followersVilhelm Moberg was a Swedish journalist, author, playwright, historian, and debater best known for his Emigrant series of novels about Swedish emigrants to America. He also wrote other novels and plays and also participated in public debates about the Swedish monarchy, bureaucracy, and corruption. Among other works are Raskens (1927) and Ride This Night (1941), a historical novel of a 17th-century rebellion in Småland acknowledged for its subliminal but widely recognised criticism against the Hitler regime.
A noted public intellectual and debater in Sweden, he was noted for very vocal criticism of the Swedish monarchy (most notably after the Haijby affair), likening it with a servile government by divine mandate, and publicly supporting its replacement with a Swiss-style confederal republic. He spoke out aggressively against the policies of Nazi Germany, the Greek military junta, and the Soviet Union, and his works were among those destroyed in Nazi book burnings. In 1971, he scolded Prime Minister Olof Palme for refusing to offer the Nobel Prize in Literature to its recipient Alexander Solzhenitsyn – who was refused permission to attend the ceremony in Stockholm – through the Swedish embassy in Moscow.
A noted public intellectual and debater in Sweden, he was noted for very vocal criticism of the Swedish monarchy (most notably after the Haijby affair), likening it with a servile government by divine mandate, and publicly supporting its replacement with a Swiss-style confederal republic. He spoke out aggressively against the policies of Nazi Germany, the Greek military junta, and the Soviet Union, and his works were among those destroyed in Nazi book burnings. In 1971, he scolded Prime Minister Olof Palme for refusing to offer the Nobel Prize in Literature to its recipient Alexander Solzhenitsyn – who was refused permission to attend the ceremony in Stockholm – through the Swedish embassy in Moscow.
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September 20, 2020
“And I come down to deliver them…and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” – Exodus 3:8, quoted by Vilhelm Moberg in Unto a Good Land
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Unto a Good Land is Vilhelm Moberg’s second book in what was originally a planned trilogy about the emigration of a group of people to the United States from the province of Smaland, located in southern Sweden. As it turned out, in order to complete the saga he had to write a fourth book.
What follows are the main characters in the books and their motivations for leaving their homeland in 1850 and sailing to a new land:
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Unto a Good Land is Vilhelm Moberg’s second book in what was originally a planned trilogy about the emigration of a group of people to the United States from the province of Smaland, located in southern Sweden. As it turned out, in order to complete the saga he had to write a fourth book.
What follows are the main characters in the books and their motivations for leaving their homeland in 1850 and sailing to a new land:
Karl Oscar Nilsson had inherited a small parcel of land, but the soil was thin and rocky and he had to heavily mortgage the farm in order to survive bad crop years. He was a hard worker but that has never been a guarantee of prosperity. And in his case, no matter how hard he and his wife Kristina labored, the family continuously faced hard times and even famine.
Karl Oskar wanted to live in a land where the sweat of his brow would reap some economic benefit. Emigration to America, he believed, would allow him to provide a better life for his wife and their three small children.
Robert Nilsson, Karl Oscar’s younger brother, as the second son of a farmer, had no prospects of inheriting any of the small holdings of his family. Emigration represented his chance to escape his life of drudgery as an indentured farmhand.
Danjel Andreasson, Kristina’s maternal uncle, had been banished from Sweden due to his religious beliefs. The powerful state Lutheran church was intolerant of any and all dissent in religious matters -- and Danjel was a dissenter.
He viewed America as a place where he and his family would have the freedom to worship as they pleased.
Jonas Petter Albrektsson had an altogether different reason for wanting to leave Sweden. He felt trapped in an unhappy marriage at a time when divorce simply was not an option.
Ulrika of Vastergohl was a former prostitute who was looking to escape her past and to start a new life along with her teen-aged daughter, Elin.
The first book in the series, The Emigrants, concluded with the group reaching New York after a horrendous voyage across the Atlantic. Early in Unto a Good Land, they began their overland journey westward with the territory of Minnesota being their ultimate goal. After spending ten weeks crossing the Atlantic, it took them five more weeks to travel the 1500 miles to Minnesota.
They travelled by river steamboat, train (which they had never seen before), lake steamboat, river steamboat again, and Mississippi steamboat, arriving at the town of Stillwater, Minnesota Territory, located on the St. Croix River. And even then their ordeal did not end until the little group of sixteen walked thirty miles along the river until they reached Taylors Falls.
There would have been eighteen, but on their voyage across the Atlantic scurvy claimed one of their numbers and on the river boat on the Illinois River, cholera claimed a second.
After arriving at Taylors Falls, Karl Oscar, Jonas Petter, and Danjel scouted the surrounding area in order for each of them to lay claim to 160 acres which was their legal right under the terms of The Homestead Act.
Although they had arrived too late to plant a crop, there was still much for them to do. For one thing, they had to build homes that would protect them from what would be a harsh Minnesota winter. Karl Oskar and Kristina faced another daunting prospect. Kristina had been pregnant when the emigrants left Sweden and now she would be forced to give birth in a remote area without benefit of a doctor or even an experienced midwife.
I have read about emigration, immigration, and migration for as long as I can remember. Always at the back of my mind as I read is the thought about whether or not people would have made the decision to pull up stakes and begin what was likely to be such an arduous and dangerous journey if they actually knew what risks they were undertaking. Furthermore, it wasn’t just single men who sailed from Sweden to America or travelled overland to California or Oregon or other points westward, but entire families, often with small children. The motivation, or perhaps desperation, would have to be extremely powerful to compel parents to place the lives of their children in such extreme jeopardy.
Or maybe it was ignorance of what they faced that allowed them to take that chance.
As dangerous as the Swedish emigrants’ journey from New York to Minnesota was in 1850, consider the plight of a family a decade earlier travelling in a covered wagon from Missouri to California or Oregon; at least the Swedish emigrants did not have to cross grasslands, deserts, and mountains and had to walk only thirty miles.
On the other hand, most of the pilgrims heading to California and Oregon could speak English, unlike the Swedes who felt they were “deaf mutes” who could not make themselves understood nor understand what was being said to them.
It is also true, as Moberg points out, that when the settlers reached their destination, the danger abated only by degree. Starting over is never easy, but it is many times more difficult in a remote wilderness.
It has been pointed out that Moberg’s research was so meticulous and that his books adhered so closely to the historical record that they could be read as historical documents. In fact, he was once quoted as saying that he considered his four books to be more than historical fiction, that they should be read as documentary novels.
Several critics have written that Moberg’s writing did for the Swedish emigrants what O.E. Rolvaag did for the Norwegians in his Giants in the Earth trilogy. That is indeed high praise.
Thanks again, Diane. I’m looking forward to Book III: The Settlers.
June 20, 2019
The first book in this series got our emigrants off the ship in New York Harbor, after a long grueling ocean voyage. They had survived seasickness, scurvy, depression, fear, poor food and unsanitary conditions in an over crowded hold, but they were here, in the New World. Now they faced dwindling funds, hunger and weakness, and the inability to understand the language, or make themselves understood, only to be told they still had to travel 1500 miles to Minnesota Territory! So it's back onto a paddle boat to Albany, by railroad car to Buffalo, across the Great Lakes on another paddle steamer, then a change of boats to go north on the Mississippi to Stillwater, Minnesota, where they had to walk the remaining 30 miles to Taylor Falls, their final destination. When they arrived, they had been journeying for 6 months, and still had to stake out their 160 acres, build a house before the winter, gather food and firewood, learn local customs. And did I mention they had 3 small children, and Kristina was pregnant with a 4th? By this point in the novel, I was exhausted, and I hadn't lifted a finger except to turn pages.
But they made it. Our little group of hardy emigrants, 16 in all, made it. They worked, they helped each other and were helped in turn by those already here. There were hardships and slip-ups, problems and scarcities. But they made it. They were in America, the promised land, and it was even better than they had expected in many ways.
I think I love Pioneer novels so much because it shows me what a great country this is. Or used to be, sadly. I have two more in this tetrology, and can't wait to see what's next for these people I've come to love. Even Ulricha, the village whore in Sweden. She ends up marrying a preacher, because America can also mean a second chance.
But they made it. Our little group of hardy emigrants, 16 in all, made it. They worked, they helped each other and were helped in turn by those already here. There were hardships and slip-ups, problems and scarcities. But they made it. They were in America, the promised land, and it was even better than they had expected in many ways.
I think I love Pioneer novels so much because it shows me what a great country this is. Or used to be, sadly. I have two more in this tetrology, and can't wait to see what's next for these people I've come to love. Even Ulricha, the village whore in Sweden. She ends up marrying a preacher, because America can also mean a second chance.
March 30, 2021
The book series is about Kristina and Karl Oskar Nilsson and in this the have emigrated to America. A great Swedish classic that beautifully shows the life and struggles of people searching for a better life in the later 1800s - early 1900. Not quite sure when this was set. Liked Vilhelm Moberg way of writing characters, it made them an honest depiction on wanting a better life but also missing the home they left.
October 2, 2022
Born into a cash-strapped family mostly of small farmers, Vilhelm Moberg (1898-1973) was a major figure in 20th-century Swedish literature, writing novels and plays both for the stage and radio, as well as nonfiction, including two volumes of a history of Sweden which he died before completing. His major body of work is the four novels which make up the Emigrants series, of which this one, originally published in 1952, is the second. It uses fiction to tell the story of the first generation of the great wave of immigration from Sweden to America, beginning in the mid-19th century. Moberg had his own family connection to the immigrant experience; of his maternal grandparents' seven kids, only his mother stayed in Sweden. All the rest immigrated to America; they corresponded with the family in Sweden, and later financially assisted his parents. He grew up reading a lot of letters from America, took an interest in the country and in the Swedish-American community, and eventually (while writing his series) visited many of his 100+ American relatives in their own country.
When I read this book as a 12 or 13-year-old boy (it was one of many I ran across in my grandmother's bookshelves, on my frequent visits to her), I knew nothing about the author, and had no clue that it was part of a series until I saw bits and pieces of the film adaptation(s) starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann, made ca. 1971 but aired on PBS in the 80s. (What I saw of these was well done, IMO; but I didn't see the whole thing, and have never read the other three books.) So I'm writing this review from my memories of about 57 years ago, supplemented by a library check-out of the same edition I read to refer to. (That edition, of course, wasn't the 1995 reprint to which this review is attached; it was the 1954 first U.S. edition, translated by Gustaf Lannestock and published by Simon and Schuster, but the former has a much more attractive cover. :-) ) Granted, if I would re-read it now, I could probably appreciate aspects of it better, and there's a fair amount of detail that I've forgotten. However, there's also a fair amount that I remember quite well, along with my impressions as a reader at the time; and the book did have a particular interest and significance for me even at that young age, because I'm of Swedish stock myself, and grew up listening to my grandmother's memories of her early life in southeastern Minnesota, where this book is set. (She was born there in 1886, but her parents were recent immigrants.) Granted, this book is set about a generation before her time; but I still felt a kinship with the characters, and a sense that their experience, though fictional, tied into my own real-life heritage. Given that a Goodreads review isn't a professional review, but rather simply part of the record of an ordinary reader's lifetime experience with books, I think I can do it sufficient justice for our purposes.
I'd place Moberg solidly in the Realist tradition. Even as a tween kid, I could tell that he knew a lot about the history of the time period (this book covers the years 1850-51, beginning in New York harbor with the arrival of the ship carrying Karl Oskar and his family) and about the lifeways and physical environment of the newly-arrived immigrants. (Now, learning about the huge amount of documentary research, both in Sweden and in the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society, that he put into this project, the solidity of the historical description isn't surprising.) But it's integrated nicely into the text; there's never a lecture-like quality. There's a certain amount of sordid content --Moberg describes some of the machinations of thugs and grifters out to take advantage of the naivete of uneducated new immigrants, for instance-- and not all of the Swedes are paragons of good character and/or common sense. Some content I would describe as "earthy." But there's no sex, and no significant bad language (if there was, it would have stuck in my memory). In English translation, the prose is straightforward, richly descriptive, and never bored me; the narrative pace is steady, neither white-knuckled nor particularly slow. Most of the major characters were likeable or at least sympathetic (though Robert I wanted to shake some sense into).
There's no direct preaching of a message here; insofar as there is one, it arises from the storyline itself. The overall impression you take from it is admiration for the great majority of decent, hard-working people determined to build homes and better lives for themselves and their families in a new land. I was struck in places by their sense, and appreciation, of the vast contrast between the highly class-conscious, oppressive milieu of the old country and the much freer, more democratic ways of the young U.S. (It wasn't a surprise to learn, in researching Moberg for this review, that politically he was very sympathetic to the downtrodden, and wanted to replace Sweden's monarchy with a republic.) While I didn't pick up any sense that the author was necessarily a Christian himself, his treatment of the strong Christian faith of Danjel and some of the other immigrants came across as respectful. To me, the spiritual journey of the reformed prostitute Ulrika was really moving; and I read this at a time when I hadn't yet made a personal Christian commitment myself. (This book's title is a biblical allusion, from Exodus 3:8 which serves as an epigraph: "And I am come down to deliver them...and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.")
From the bits and pieces I saw of the film adaptations, I know the later novels of the series have some depressingly grim and grisly content, dealing (among other things) with the bloody Sioux uprising of the early 1860s, and featuring the massacres at Sleepy Eye, New Ulm, and their environs, which don't tempt me to read the books. But, while I won't share any spoilers, this book does end on an upbeat and optimistic note.
Tragically, following a losing battle with clinical depression in his later years, Moberg took his own life at the age of 74. But he left a legacy of genuine contribution to the world literature of historical fiction in the 20th century.
When I read this book as a 12 or 13-year-old boy (it was one of many I ran across in my grandmother's bookshelves, on my frequent visits to her), I knew nothing about the author, and had no clue that it was part of a series until I saw bits and pieces of the film adaptation(s) starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann, made ca. 1971 but aired on PBS in the 80s. (What I saw of these was well done, IMO; but I didn't see the whole thing, and have never read the other three books.) So I'm writing this review from my memories of about 57 years ago, supplemented by a library check-out of the same edition I read to refer to. (That edition, of course, wasn't the 1995 reprint to which this review is attached; it was the 1954 first U.S. edition, translated by Gustaf Lannestock and published by Simon and Schuster, but the former has a much more attractive cover. :-) ) Granted, if I would re-read it now, I could probably appreciate aspects of it better, and there's a fair amount of detail that I've forgotten. However, there's also a fair amount that I remember quite well, along with my impressions as a reader at the time; and the book did have a particular interest and significance for me even at that young age, because I'm of Swedish stock myself, and grew up listening to my grandmother's memories of her early life in southeastern Minnesota, where this book is set. (She was born there in 1886, but her parents were recent immigrants.) Granted, this book is set about a generation before her time; but I still felt a kinship with the characters, and a sense that their experience, though fictional, tied into my own real-life heritage. Given that a Goodreads review isn't a professional review, but rather simply part of the record of an ordinary reader's lifetime experience with books, I think I can do it sufficient justice for our purposes.
I'd place Moberg solidly in the Realist tradition. Even as a tween kid, I could tell that he knew a lot about the history of the time period (this book covers the years 1850-51, beginning in New York harbor with the arrival of the ship carrying Karl Oskar and his family) and about the lifeways and physical environment of the newly-arrived immigrants. (Now, learning about the huge amount of documentary research, both in Sweden and in the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society, that he put into this project, the solidity of the historical description isn't surprising.) But it's integrated nicely into the text; there's never a lecture-like quality. There's a certain amount of sordid content --Moberg describes some of the machinations of thugs and grifters out to take advantage of the naivete of uneducated new immigrants, for instance-- and not all of the Swedes are paragons of good character and/or common sense. Some content I would describe as "earthy." But there's no sex, and no significant bad language (if there was, it would have stuck in my memory). In English translation, the prose is straightforward, richly descriptive, and never bored me; the narrative pace is steady, neither white-knuckled nor particularly slow. Most of the major characters were likeable or at least sympathetic (though Robert I wanted to shake some sense into).
There's no direct preaching of a message here; insofar as there is one, it arises from the storyline itself. The overall impression you take from it is admiration for the great majority of decent, hard-working people determined to build homes and better lives for themselves and their families in a new land. I was struck in places by their sense, and appreciation, of the vast contrast between the highly class-conscious, oppressive milieu of the old country and the much freer, more democratic ways of the young U.S. (It wasn't a surprise to learn, in researching Moberg for this review, that politically he was very sympathetic to the downtrodden, and wanted to replace Sweden's monarchy with a republic.) While I didn't pick up any sense that the author was necessarily a Christian himself, his treatment of the strong Christian faith of Danjel and some of the other immigrants came across as respectful. To me, the spiritual journey of the reformed prostitute Ulrika was really moving; and I read this at a time when I hadn't yet made a personal Christian commitment myself. (This book's title is a biblical allusion, from Exodus 3:8 which serves as an epigraph: "And I am come down to deliver them...and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.")
From the bits and pieces I saw of the film adaptations, I know the later novels of the series have some depressingly grim and grisly content, dealing (among other things) with the bloody Sioux uprising of the early 1860s, and featuring the massacres at Sleepy Eye, New Ulm, and their environs, which don't tempt me to read the books. But, while I won't share any spoilers, this book does end on an upbeat and optimistic note.
Tragically, following a losing battle with clinical depression in his later years, Moberg took his own life at the age of 74. But he left a legacy of genuine contribution to the world literature of historical fiction in the 20th century.
October 31, 2020
I loved this book. Even better than the 1st one I think. It is the first book I have truly enjoyed since February when my brother died. Nothing has touched my heart and mind like this until now.
I am also an emigrant, having moved from the UK to Canada 20 years ago. My way was a lot easier than this family's but the feelings they had were very similar. It took me 2 years to stop grieving my land of birth until I felt that this was my home. As an immigrant I can say that this book is very accurate.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone who is interested in emigrant stories or who experienced loss, grief, and starting again.
I am also an emigrant, having moved from the UK to Canada 20 years ago. My way was a lot easier than this family's but the feelings they had were very similar. It took me 2 years to stop grieving my land of birth until I felt that this was my home. As an immigrant I can say that this book is very accurate.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone who is interested in emigrant stories or who experienced loss, grief, and starting again.
March 16, 2017
Utvandrarna från Ljuder socken i Småland har äntligen nått sitt nya hemland – det stora Nordarmerika. Tillsammans beger de sig till Minnesota där en av de medresande har sin son. Där ämnar sig Karl Oskar hitta mark för att börja sitt liv som en amerikansk bonde och försörja sin familj. Hans reskamrater, även Kristina, tvivlar stundtals på honom då det visar sig vara långt till Minnesota men i Karls Oskar sinne vilar minnet efter hans avlidna dotter Anna vilar fortfarande tungt och han vägrar att förlora ett till barn på det sättet.
Karl Oskar drömmer att bygga ett nytt hem som ska kunna ge honom möjligheten att verkligen ta hand om sin fru och sina barn; aldrig ska de gå igenom allt de var tvunga att gå igenom i fosterlandet. Men hans yngre bror Robert, den evige naiva drömmaren, har fått nys om guldruset i Kalifornien och det är det enda han kan tänka på. Han bara inväntar den dagen han kan hoppa på nästa båt och ta sig till guldets land. Där ska han bli rik och försäkra sig att han aldrig ska behöva ha någon mer husbonde i hela sitt liv.
Moberg är en mästare. Hans karaktärer är levande och älskvärda – även om de har sina uppenbara brister (jag tänker speciellt på deras tendens att tänka på nativamerikaner som hedningar eller djurliknande). Men det är aldrig på ett sätt så att man ogillar dem, utan snarare kommer deras fördomar på sådana sätt att man skulle vilja sätta sig ner med dem och diskutera ämnet för att de ska få kunskap och förståelse om saken.
Jag är alltid lite vaksam när det gäller att läsa böcker som utspelar sig för i tiden för många av böckerna har en tendens att vara sexistiska eller dylikt. Men trots att man ser stora klyftor mellan män och kvinnor i Mobergs böcker så känns det som att det är karaktärerna som är sexistiska och inte själva boken. Det är en stor skillnad (speciellt när det handlar om transpersoner, men det är kanske inte så relevant just här) och har stor inverkan på hur man ser på karaktärerna. Karl Oskar och Kristina (fast speciellt Kristina) har en tendens att se världen på ett sådant sätt som kyrkan säger att de ska se den. Trots det så känns dynamiken mellan dem rätt jämlik; Karl Oskar beter sig inte överkastad Kristina.
Däremot är det definitivt inte jämställt mellan dem och det är väldigt uppenbart ibland - som det faktum att Karl Oskar ofta beger sig utanför hemmet men det är endast väldigt sällan som Kristina kommer utanför deras ägor. Det är något som uppenbart drabbar henne hårt då hon inte har några vänner i närheten.
Vad jag älskar mest med böckerna är hur mycket jag har kommit att älska deras familj. Trots att det inte händer jättemycket – även om det finns små handlingar i boken så är det inte en stor handling med början, mitt och slut genom hela boken – så är det helt underbart att läsa sexhundra sidor om deras liv. Jag skulle antagligen kunna läsa ett hel bok om pajbak om det är Kristina som bakar – och så är ju paj otroligt gott.
Karl Oskar drömmer att bygga ett nytt hem som ska kunna ge honom möjligheten att verkligen ta hand om sin fru och sina barn; aldrig ska de gå igenom allt de var tvunga att gå igenom i fosterlandet. Men hans yngre bror Robert, den evige naiva drömmaren, har fått nys om guldruset i Kalifornien och det är det enda han kan tänka på. Han bara inväntar den dagen han kan hoppa på nästa båt och ta sig till guldets land. Där ska han bli rik och försäkra sig att han aldrig ska behöva ha någon mer husbonde i hela sitt liv.
Moberg är en mästare. Hans karaktärer är levande och älskvärda – även om de har sina uppenbara brister (jag tänker speciellt på deras tendens att tänka på nativamerikaner som hedningar eller djurliknande). Men det är aldrig på ett sätt så att man ogillar dem, utan snarare kommer deras fördomar på sådana sätt att man skulle vilja sätta sig ner med dem och diskutera ämnet för att de ska få kunskap och förståelse om saken.
Jag är alltid lite vaksam när det gäller att läsa böcker som utspelar sig för i tiden för många av böckerna har en tendens att vara sexistiska eller dylikt. Men trots att man ser stora klyftor mellan män och kvinnor i Mobergs böcker så känns det som att det är karaktärerna som är sexistiska och inte själva boken. Det är en stor skillnad (speciellt när det handlar om transpersoner, men det är kanske inte så relevant just här) och har stor inverkan på hur man ser på karaktärerna. Karl Oskar och Kristina (fast speciellt Kristina) har en tendens att se världen på ett sådant sätt som kyrkan säger att de ska se den. Trots det så känns dynamiken mellan dem rätt jämlik; Karl Oskar beter sig inte överkastad Kristina.
Däremot är det definitivt inte jämställt mellan dem och det är väldigt uppenbart ibland - som det faktum att Karl Oskar ofta beger sig utanför hemmet men det är endast väldigt sällan som Kristina kommer utanför deras ägor. Det är något som uppenbart drabbar henne hårt då hon inte har några vänner i närheten.
Vad jag älskar mest med böckerna är hur mycket jag har kommit att älska deras familj. Trots att det inte händer jättemycket – även om det finns små handlingar i boken så är det inte en stor handling med början, mitt och slut genom hela boken – så är det helt underbart att läsa sexhundra sidor om deras liv. Jag skulle antagligen kunna läsa ett hel bok om pajbak om det är Kristina som bakar – och så är ju paj otroligt gott.
December 22, 2023
Fantastisk bok - äventyret fortsätter med samma rövgäng. Vissa karaktärer tillkommer, vissa faller bort av diverse anledningar.
Något som slår mig är hur väl författaren (manlig sådan) lyckas skildra dem besvär som kan antas vara öronmärkta för kvinnor (läs patriarkala strukturer, hur kvinnlighets form definieras av mäns tycke etc). Och då är boken först utgiven 1952 — det var väl ganska konservativt och mossigt då i dessa frågor, ”även” i Sverige. Fan, hade ens första vågens feminism kommit då?
Överlag är detta en bra skönlitterär bok med sympatiska karaktärer som lever i samtid långt borta från en själv, men lever ändå i liknande situationer med med samma känslor och begär - vi är ju trots allt alla människor. Nåväl, två böcker kvar i serien. Hittills är allt sammantaget 5+.
Om vi ändå ska hålla på o drälla med litteratur/kulturkanon för att skapa samhörighet (…) så ska dessa böcker in. Punkt slut.
Något som slår mig är hur väl författaren (manlig sådan) lyckas skildra dem besvär som kan antas vara öronmärkta för kvinnor (läs patriarkala strukturer, hur kvinnlighets form definieras av mäns tycke etc). Och då är boken först utgiven 1952 — det var väl ganska konservativt och mossigt då i dessa frågor, ”även” i Sverige. Fan, hade ens första vågens feminism kommit då?
Överlag är detta en bra skönlitterär bok med sympatiska karaktärer som lever i samtid långt borta från en själv, men lever ändå i liknande situationer med med samma känslor och begär - vi är ju trots allt alla människor. Nåväl, två böcker kvar i serien. Hittills är allt sammantaget 5+.
Om vi ändå ska hålla på o drälla med litteratur/kulturkanon för att skapa samhörighet (…) så ska dessa böcker in. Punkt slut.
March 29, 2022
Moberg refers to his trilogy detailing the immigration of Swedes to America as a set of documentary novels. This installment is set in 1850, was published in 1952, and here I am reading it 2022. Moberg is writing about a set of events from a century earlier, and I'm reading them another 70 years out, and it's a fascinating look both at the Swedish experience of immigration, and the pieces of the story that Moberg wanted to highlight and record.
As in all pioneer stories, the theme of discovery and imposing order and productivity on the untouched chaos of nature is present throughout the book, though Moberg's characters are kinder and more sensitive to the Indigenous peoples of Minnesota than many other accounts like this. But Moberg doesn't just present hardship and righteous labour that overcomes - he also balances his account with the bewilderment of finding yourself in a place where you don't speak the language, know who to trust, and are vulnerable and powerless against enemies like cholera. Certainly, Karl Oskar builds a home for his family with his own two hands, wresting domesticity from the wilderness with the sweat of his brow, but this hero narrative is tempered with his dependency upon his fellow Swedish immigrants, and their experience of being totally awash as they first arrive.
Moberg also gives a character who uses the immigration as a chance for complete rebirth, but unlike in many stories, Ulrika is a woman old enough to have a daughter in her late teens. Rather than a story of a man reinventing himself, Moberg shows us a woman stretching the limits of her agency in a time when women did not have much of it.
This is a story about the American experience, but it's not what I would call an American story. Though Moberg retreads many of the familiar paths of immigration to America stories, he brings a different sensibility to things that I enjoyed.
Also, it's totally wild to me that Kristina is most worried about the danger of snakes to her children when they're out alone in the woods, and not, you know, bears.
As in all pioneer stories, the theme of discovery and imposing order and productivity on the untouched chaos of nature is present throughout the book, though Moberg's characters are kinder and more sensitive to the Indigenous peoples of Minnesota than many other accounts like this. But Moberg doesn't just present hardship and righteous labour that overcomes - he also balances his account with the bewilderment of finding yourself in a place where you don't speak the language, know who to trust, and are vulnerable and powerless against enemies like cholera. Certainly, Karl Oskar builds a home for his family with his own two hands, wresting domesticity from the wilderness with the sweat of his brow, but this hero narrative is tempered with his dependency upon his fellow Swedish immigrants, and their experience of being totally awash as they first arrive.
Moberg also gives a character who uses the immigration as a chance for complete rebirth, but unlike in many stories, Ulrika is a woman old enough to have a daughter in her late teens. Rather than a story of a man reinventing himself, Moberg shows us a woman stretching the limits of her agency in a time when women did not have much of it.
This is a story about the American experience, but it's not what I would call an American story. Though Moberg retreads many of the familiar paths of immigration to America stories, he brings a different sensibility to things that I enjoyed.
Also, it's totally wild to me that Kristina is most worried about the danger of snakes to her children when they're out alone in the woods, and not, you know, bears.
July 26, 2018
3.5 stars
July 25, 2017
Tycker verkligen om Utvandrar-sviten. Hur språket berättar, är väl använt och enkelt. Och hur karaktärerna växer fram utan tillgjordhet.
March 4, 2020
Karl-Oskar, Kristina och de andra utvandrarna fortsätter sin resa som invandrare i det nya landet Amerika. Trots en lång och slitsam seglats över havet är resan inte slut än; det väntar tåg, kanalbåt, ångbåt, vagn och gång innan de når sin nya hemort Taylor’s Falls i Minnesota. Väl framme börjar nybyggandet och förberedelserna inför den nya familjemedlemmens ankomst och den stundande vintern.
Jag tyckte ännu mer om Invandrarna än Utvandrarna. Det är samma mysiga och spännande berättelse i långsamt mak, men i del två lär jag känna karaktärerna ännu mer. Och börjar tycka om dem ännu mer. Som scenerna när Ulrika hjälper Kristina vid förlossningen, när Karl-Oskar går vilse och hallucinerar och får någon slags ångestattack och när Kristina i slutet delar med sig av sin hemlängtan till Karl-Oskar. Då älskar jag de här karaktärerna. Vilhelm Mobergs karaktärer känns så levande. Jag gillar verkligen att följa med invandrarna och se dem försöka stadga sig i Amerika och lära känna språket och kulturen i det nya landet.
Ser verkligen fram emot del 3 och 4. Eftersom ljudböckerna jag lyssnat på nu är en aning förkortade funderar jag på att läsa dem istället, för att inte missa något.
Jag tyckte ännu mer om Invandrarna än Utvandrarna. Det är samma mysiga och spännande berättelse i långsamt mak, men i del två lär jag känna karaktärerna ännu mer. Och börjar tycka om dem ännu mer. Som scenerna när Ulrika hjälper Kristina vid förlossningen, när Karl-Oskar går vilse och hallucinerar och får någon slags ångestattack och när Kristina i slutet delar med sig av sin hemlängtan till Karl-Oskar. Då älskar jag de här karaktärerna. Vilhelm Mobergs karaktärer känns så levande. Jag gillar verkligen att följa med invandrarna och se dem försöka stadga sig i Amerika och lära känna språket och kulturen i det nya landet.
Ser verkligen fram emot del 3 och 4. Eftersom ljudböckerna jag lyssnat på nu är en aning förkortade funderar jag på att läsa dem istället, för att inte missa något.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2023
Vispār jau gan pirmā, gan otrā "Izceļotāju" grāmata uzvedās visai huligāniski. Tikko atvestas no bibliotēkas, ar elkoņiem nobīdīja daudzas citas, kas papīra vai elektroniskā formā iesāktas, puslasītas vai rindā esošas, un iespiedās priekšā. Citiem vārdiem, ļoti aizraujošs stāsts. Labi, ka šobrīd trešās un ceturtās grāmatas vēl mājās nav. Citām nu būs iespēja...
Pirmā grāmata iesāk stāstu par Kārļa Oskara un Kristīnes ģimenes izceļošanu uz Ameriku un beidzas ar ierašanos Ņujorkā. Otrā grāmata ved izceļotājus dziļi Amerikas vidienē un beidzas ar pirmo pārziemošanu un pavasara sagaidīšanu.
Pirmā grāmata iesāk stāstu par Kārļa Oskara un Kristīnes ģimenes izceļošanu uz Ameriku un beidzas ar ierašanos Ņujorkā. Otrā grāmata ved izceļotājus dziļi Amerikas vidienē un beidzas ar pirmo pārziemošanu un pavasara sagaidīšanu.
June 17, 2025
Jag lyssnade på Magnus Roosmans fina inläsning och grät mig igenom den här boken. Berättelsen tar sin början vid ilandstigningen i New York och följer utvandrarna på sin resa till vidare till Minnesota, under det första året i det nya landet. Tempot är betydligt högre än i första boken och karaktärerna utvecklas till hela människor: Karl-Oskar, Kristina, Ulrika och deras liv i den nya världen. Deras längtan, förtvivlan, strävan och hopp. Ulrika som föds som på nytt, som lever fritt, får upprättelse, som aldrig vill tänka på Sverige igen, Karl-Oskar som stretar på som en ardennerhäst, som tittar på sin döda dotters skor för att påminna sig om varför den enda vägen som finns är framåt, och Kristinas hjärtskärande hemlängtan: här är vi nu, det här blir bra, men hemma blir det aldrig, det är föralltid här borta. Vill bara ge henne en kram. Jag kan verkligen rekommendera att ge dom här böckerna lite tid - det är värt det. ❤️
March 15, 2019
I den andra delen av Utvandrar-serien har hela gänget från Ljuder socken äntligen kommit fram till Amerika. New York, närmare bestämt. Robert och Arvid bekantar sig genast med ett skitig och levande gata där marknaden trängs med små butiker och massor av olika människor - Broadway. Att komma från ett fattigt Småland och sedan kliva av båten i New York är självklart häpnadsväckande, men sedan börjar färden till Minnesota. Väl där blir det en kamp för Karl-Oskar och Kristina att skapa sig ett hem, såväl ekonomiskt som fysiskt och psykiskt.
Moberg skriver ju så fint, så enkelt, men samtidigt på ett sätt som (likt i första boken) ger karaktärerna ett visst djup. Nu är inte längre Arvid och Robert i fokus på samma sätt som tidigare, vilket jag tyckte var lite tråkigt. Samtidigt har jag förstått att Nybyggarna kommer handla mer om dom, så mig går det ingen nöd på. Som mest rörande var här skildringen av Kristinas inre kamp. Hon längtar hem och skäms för det, vilket kulminerar i en rörande dialog mellan henne och Karl-Oskar i slutet av boken. Såååååå himla fint. Gud, som jag älskar dessa karaktärer. Jag tror det enda som drog ned denna bok med en stjärna (jämfört med första boken) var att den inte längre utspelar sig i Sverige (duh!). Det gör att jag helt enkelt har lite lite svårare att se miljöerna och tidsperioden framför mig. Naturlig grej.
Huvudpersonerna lever fortfarande enligt kyrkan - Kristina håller sig i hemmet, lagar mat och tar hand om barn. Karl-Oskar jagar, bygger och plöjer upp en åker. Båda är det rädda för "hedningar", ursprungsbefolkningen som bor på andra sidan sjön. Är de farliga eller inte...? Ett samvetskval som gnager inuti Kristina, och som självklart på många sätt får en att tänka på dagens främlingsfientlighet. Tänk att vi människor alltid hållit på såhär. Tagit avstånd från varandra i en hård värld.
För visst är det precis det Moberg skildrar: Hur människan lyckas rota sig även i en främmande miljö. Jag tror det är därför Kristina och Karl-Oskars relation berör mig så mycket! I ett främmande land med obarmhärtiga väder och främmande människor så har de trots allt varandra, och en skog med bördig jord som bara tycks vänta på att de ska rota sig just där. En skickligt beskriven balansgång av hopp och förtvivlan som gör att man hålls kvar i historien, vänder ännu ett blad, trots att handlingarna egentligen är små och bitvis odramatiska. Man älskar människorna.
Så - där har ni några ord om andra delen i Utvandrarsviten. ÄÄÄLSKAR. Glömde boken hos mamma och pappa i typ en månad, läste en småkass deckare här hemma i brist på annat (mer om den sen, har inte läst ut den än.) Är redan 40 sidor in på Nybyggarna! Frälst!
Moberg skriver ju så fint, så enkelt, men samtidigt på ett sätt som (likt i första boken) ger karaktärerna ett visst djup. Nu är inte längre Arvid och Robert i fokus på samma sätt som tidigare, vilket jag tyckte var lite tråkigt. Samtidigt har jag förstått att Nybyggarna kommer handla mer om dom, så mig går det ingen nöd på. Som mest rörande var här skildringen av Kristinas inre kamp. Hon längtar hem och skäms för det, vilket kulminerar i en rörande dialog mellan henne och Karl-Oskar i slutet av boken. Såååååå himla fint. Gud, som jag älskar dessa karaktärer. Jag tror det enda som drog ned denna bok med en stjärna (jämfört med första boken) var att den inte längre utspelar sig i Sverige (duh!). Det gör att jag helt enkelt har lite lite svårare att se miljöerna och tidsperioden framför mig. Naturlig grej.
Huvudpersonerna lever fortfarande enligt kyrkan - Kristina håller sig i hemmet, lagar mat och tar hand om barn. Karl-Oskar jagar, bygger och plöjer upp en åker. Båda är det rädda för "hedningar", ursprungsbefolkningen som bor på andra sidan sjön. Är de farliga eller inte...? Ett samvetskval som gnager inuti Kristina, och som självklart på många sätt får en att tänka på dagens främlingsfientlighet. Tänk att vi människor alltid hållit på såhär. Tagit avstånd från varandra i en hård värld.
För visst är det precis det Moberg skildrar: Hur människan lyckas rota sig även i en främmande miljö. Jag tror det är därför Kristina och Karl-Oskars relation berör mig så mycket! I ett främmande land med obarmhärtiga väder och främmande människor så har de trots allt varandra, och en skog med bördig jord som bara tycks vänta på att de ska rota sig just där. En skickligt beskriven balansgång av hopp och förtvivlan som gör att man hålls kvar i historien, vänder ännu ett blad, trots att handlingarna egentligen är små och bitvis odramatiska. Man älskar människorna.
Så - där har ni några ord om andra delen i Utvandrarsviten. ÄÄÄLSKAR. Glömde boken hos mamma och pappa i typ en månad, läste en småkass deckare här hemma i brist på annat (mer om den sen, har inte läst ut den än.) Är redan 40 sidor in på Nybyggarna! Frälst!
June 4, 2025
Är besatt
March 14, 2022
Andra delen i Mobergs utvandrar svit, så bra!
March 18, 2015
This sequel was as good as the first book. I'm having a hard time putting into words why this story is so compelling. It's quietly dramatic, has lovely pacing, and really great character development. The amount of work Moberg put into researching the history of this era is evident and appreciated.
May 29, 2018
Något av det bästa jag läst, helt klart en ny favoritbok. Jag kan inte beskriva med ord hur mycket jag bryr mig om karaktärerna i den här serien. ÅH! Något jag speciellt tyckte om i just den här boken var en kvinnlig vänskap som växte fram, ungefär det finaste jag läst om. Ser så mycket fram emot att fortsätta med Nybyggarna!
October 7, 2020
Det var inte samma wow-upplevelse som med första boken i serien men fortfarande är historien fantastisk.
April 27, 2025
Så så bra skriven det är sjukt. Vill läsa trean nu❤️
February 1, 2019
Ik heb dit boek verkregen toen de locale bijbliotheken geïntegreerd werden in de hoofdbibliotheek en de inwoners van onze gemeente gratis boeken konden komen uitzoeken die niet mee zouden verhuizen. Het is eigenlijk het tweede deel in reeks van vier, maar zeer goed op zichzelf leesbaar.
Het is het verhaal van een groepje van zestien Zweden die naar Amerika emigreren. De zoon van een oudere vrouw is vijf jaar geleden al naar Amerika vertrokken, en zijn beschrijving van de nieuwe wereld in zijn brieven doet deze mensen besluiten om ook het avontuur te wagen. Het verhaal in dit boek begint bij hun laatste dagen op de grote boot die hen over de oceaan gebracht heeft, en gaat verder met hun aankomst, en hun verdere reis per stoomboot en trein tot in Minnesota, waar de zoon woont. De eerste tijd verblijven ze in diens huisje, maar spoedig gaan ze op zoek naar een plek waar ze zelf een huis willen bouwen en land ontginnen. We volgen vooral het gezin van Karl Oskar Nilsson. Ze zijn eigenlijk op een niet zo goede tijd aangekomen, op het eind van de zomer, te laat om nog gewassen te kunnen verbouwen en te kunnen oogsten voor de winter. Die eerste winter is dan ook verschrikkelijk moeilijk, maar de Zweden helpen elkaar er doorheen. Het boek eindigt in de lente, als Karl Oskar eindelijk kan gaan ploegen en zaaien, en vol vertrouwen is dat de tijd van ontberingen voorbij is en dat het vanaf nu enkel beter kan gaan.
Het boek is misschien nogal ouderwets geschreven, en het verhaalt dan ook nog eens de belevenissen van deze mensen in het jaar 1850. Daarom vindt ik deze schrijfstijl wel passend.
Het is geschreven op een manier dat je echt kan meeleven met deze pioniers.
Het is het verhaal van een groepje van zestien Zweden die naar Amerika emigreren. De zoon van een oudere vrouw is vijf jaar geleden al naar Amerika vertrokken, en zijn beschrijving van de nieuwe wereld in zijn brieven doet deze mensen besluiten om ook het avontuur te wagen. Het verhaal in dit boek begint bij hun laatste dagen op de grote boot die hen over de oceaan gebracht heeft, en gaat verder met hun aankomst, en hun verdere reis per stoomboot en trein tot in Minnesota, waar de zoon woont. De eerste tijd verblijven ze in diens huisje, maar spoedig gaan ze op zoek naar een plek waar ze zelf een huis willen bouwen en land ontginnen. We volgen vooral het gezin van Karl Oskar Nilsson. Ze zijn eigenlijk op een niet zo goede tijd aangekomen, op het eind van de zomer, te laat om nog gewassen te kunnen verbouwen en te kunnen oogsten voor de winter. Die eerste winter is dan ook verschrikkelijk moeilijk, maar de Zweden helpen elkaar er doorheen. Het boek eindigt in de lente, als Karl Oskar eindelijk kan gaan ploegen en zaaien, en vol vertrouwen is dat de tijd van ontberingen voorbij is en dat het vanaf nu enkel beter kan gaan.
Het boek is misschien nogal ouderwets geschreven, en het verhaalt dan ook nog eens de belevenissen van deze mensen in het jaar 1850. Daarom vindt ik deze schrijfstijl wel passend.
Het is geschreven op een manier dat je echt kan meeleven met deze pioniers.
July 30, 2023
Fängslande från start till mål. Gripande och fascinerande historia om invandrarna från Sverige som på något sätt fortfarande känns aktuell. Livet såg annorlunda ut 1850, men fenomenet som sådant förekommer fortfarande.
July 24, 2022
Absolut att de här böckerna är för tjocka och långrandiga men tycker ändå att temat är så pass viktigt och evigt att den gott förtjänar sin klassikerstatus
November 4, 2022
Riktigt bra.
July 16, 2025
Den föregående var litet bättre men jag menar kom igen
May 17, 2023
Det gör ont att läsa hur den Vite Mannen har farit över haven och ansett att han har rätt till mark, utan hänsyn till naturen och ursprungsbefolkning. Det är det som fortfarande lever kvar (rasism) och har lett till den miljösituation vi har idag.
May 19, 2024
Så fint att se karaktärsutvecklingen hos dem alla! Dessutom så fint skriven
August 26, 2017
I have a goal to read all the books in this tetralogy, which is about Swedish emigrants that come to North America and settle in the Minnesota Territory. The first book deals with Karl Oskar Nilsson and his wife Kristina in Sweden and the difficult life they led there, which ultimately caused them to emigrate, along with 11 others. The second book starts with their arrival in New York in July 1850 and ends with the one-year anniversary of their departure from Sweden, April 14, 1851. The first book was slow reading, and I found that the second book dragged a bit at the beginning. However, once the Swedish emigrants arrived in Stillwater, Minnesota and began settling near Taylors Falls in the Minnesota Territory, I couldn't put it down. I find books about pioneers fascinating, and I marvel at how these people survived and thrived despite all the hardships they endured.
Six of my great-grandparents emigrated from Sweden (the other two from England), and, although they didn't seek land in an unsettled region of the Midwest but rather settled in Chicago, I still imagine that they had similar struggles. One of the struggles was finding contentment in their new home and not longing for their homeland. Kristina struggled with this more than the others, and one poignant moment in the last chapter is when she finally is able to confide her longing for Sweden to her husband. Karl Oskar admits that he, too, has had that longing come over him, but when he felt that way, he would tell himself, "One day our children will thank us for emigrating to America." He goes on to say that "she [Kristina] must think ahead, of their children, and their children's children in time, of all the generations after them. All the ones who came after would feel and think and say that she had done right when she moved from Sweden to North America." I am sure my great-grandparents felt that longing, and I would like to say to them that I am thankful that they emigrated. We now have five generations born in the USA and are grateful for the life we have here. But we still remember our Swedish ancestors and keep alive their memories in traditions handed down through the generations.
Six of my great-grandparents emigrated from Sweden (the other two from England), and, although they didn't seek land in an unsettled region of the Midwest but rather settled in Chicago, I still imagine that they had similar struggles. One of the struggles was finding contentment in their new home and not longing for their homeland. Kristina struggled with this more than the others, and one poignant moment in the last chapter is when she finally is able to confide her longing for Sweden to her husband. Karl Oskar admits that he, too, has had that longing come over him, but when he felt that way, he would tell himself, "One day our children will thank us for emigrating to America." He goes on to say that "she [Kristina] must think ahead, of their children, and their children's children in time, of all the generations after them. All the ones who came after would feel and think and say that she had done right when she moved from Sweden to North America." I am sure my great-grandparents felt that longing, and I would like to say to them that I am thankful that they emigrated. We now have five generations born in the USA and are grateful for the life we have here. But we still remember our Swedish ancestors and keep alive their memories in traditions handed down through the generations.
January 6, 2014
This second of Moberg's four book series on 19th century emigration from Sweden to Minnesota continues to be fascinating. The author follows various characters, among them illiterate or barely literate peasants from Smaland who have left Sweden and traveled in 1850 to America to settle.
Early on in this Volume (2), Karl Oskar (a key figure), Kristina, Robert, Arvid, Danjel, Ulrika,and the others are caught in red tape in the harbor of New York for a few days before they undertake the slow westward journey together.
Once again, as I noted about Book 1, Moberg reveals the thought-processes of the illiterate Arvid and his highly imaginative, youthful friend Robert, whose ability to read is not always accompanied by judicious reasoning or correct interpretations. The dynamic duo provide brief moments of humor -- their encounter with a "corpse" as they walk around New York for the very first time and their alligator conversation are two sections not to be missed.
More importantly, the depiction of the challenges endured by Karl Oskar elicits empathic wonder interspersed with groans mixed in with respect. The author lets us see our characters who must forge ahead making vital decisions without sufficient knowledge or context in which to decide.
We see how close disaster lurks for each, how strangers, fellow emigrants, personal resources and individual natures help and/or hinder their settlement. We watch them stumble into a future with only a vague sense of how ill-prepared, ignorant, vulnerable, and desperate their situation is or could be, secretly cheering when various obstacles are overcome, lamenting when they are not, quivering with their uncertainties.
We see their yearnings, and this glimpse into their hearts helps us see what sustains them, how they cope with building shelter and providing food necessary for survival in a strange, new land where language, custom, and nature are all mysteries.
It is hard to imagine readers not rooting for Karl Oskar to succeed, yet all the while trembling on his behalf.
Early on in this Volume (2), Karl Oskar (a key figure), Kristina, Robert, Arvid, Danjel, Ulrika,and the others are caught in red tape in the harbor of New York for a few days before they undertake the slow westward journey together.
Once again, as I noted about Book 1, Moberg reveals the thought-processes of the illiterate Arvid and his highly imaginative, youthful friend Robert, whose ability to read is not always accompanied by judicious reasoning or correct interpretations. The dynamic duo provide brief moments of humor -- their encounter with a "corpse" as they walk around New York for the very first time and their alligator conversation are two sections not to be missed.
More importantly, the depiction of the challenges endured by Karl Oskar elicits empathic wonder interspersed with groans mixed in with respect. The author lets us see our characters who must forge ahead making vital decisions without sufficient knowledge or context in which to decide.
We see how close disaster lurks for each, how strangers, fellow emigrants, personal resources and individual natures help and/or hinder their settlement. We watch them stumble into a future with only a vague sense of how ill-prepared, ignorant, vulnerable, and desperate their situation is or could be, secretly cheering when various obstacles are overcome, lamenting when they are not, quivering with their uncertainties.
We see their yearnings, and this glimpse into their hearts helps us see what sustains them, how they cope with building shelter and providing food necessary for survival in a strange, new land where language, custom, and nature are all mysteries.
It is hard to imagine readers not rooting for Karl Oskar to succeed, yet all the while trembling on his behalf.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 265 reviews