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Settlers of the Marsh
Settlers of the Marsh was first published in 1925, after a struggle by the author to persuade publishers that his first novel would meet public acceptance. Some critics immediately condemned this hypnotic story of the loss of innocence on the Manitoba frontier, calling it “obscene” and “indecent.” Churches issued warnings to their congregations to avoid its scandalous contents. Only several decades later was Settlers of the Marsh recognized for what it is – a landmark in the development of the Canadian novel, and a work of realism in the tradition of Thomas Hardy.
A psychological portrait of life in the Canadian West, Settlers of the Marsh presents with chilling accuracy the hopes, passions, and anxieties of young pioneers.
A psychological portrait of life in the Canadian West, Settlers of the Marsh presents with chilling accuracy the hopes, passions, and anxieties of young pioneers.
222 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1925
45 people are currently reading
438 people want to read
About the author
Frederick Philip Grove
72 books8 followersFrederick Philip Grove was a German-born Canadian novelist and translator.
He was a prolific translator in Germany, working under his original name Felix Paul Greve and posing as a dandy, before he left Berlin to start a new life in North America in late July 1909. Settling in Manitoba, Canada, in 1912, he became a well known Canadian fiction writer exploring Western prairie pioneer life in vibrant multi-cultural communities. A bigamist, married twice, Grove constructed his entire life as an intricate web of fact and fiction. He died in 1948 on his estate in Simcoe, Ontario, where he had resided since 1930.
He was a prolific translator in Germany, working under his original name Felix Paul Greve and posing as a dandy, before he left Berlin to start a new life in North America in late July 1909. Settling in Manitoba, Canada, in 1912, he became a well known Canadian fiction writer exploring Western prairie pioneer life in vibrant multi-cultural communities. A bigamist, married twice, Grove constructed his entire life as an intricate web of fact and fiction. He died in 1948 on his estate in Simcoe, Ontario, where he had resided since 1930.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 13, 2020
When I read Frederick Philip Grove's 1925 novel Settlers of the Marsh for grade eleven English in the fall of 1983 (when we were, except of course for the standard Shakespeare play we read every year, focussing almost exclusively on both recent and not so recent Canadian literature), the general consensus at that time was still and heavily so that the author, that Frederick Philip Grove was of Swedish background and that his Settlers of the Marsh (as well as many of his novels) should therefore be regarded as not only a historical novel about the experiences of new Canadian immigrants, about Canadian pioneers in general, of their hopes, their passions and anxieties, their triumphs and tragedies, as well as that abuse, brutality and even murder could indeed also often be part and parcel to the immigrant experience, but also and in particular that Settlers of the Marsh with its focus on specifically recent Swedish immigrants to Canada seemingly served as a document of Frederick Phillip Grove's own experiences as a recent arrival from Sweden and the lives of his fellow compatriots. However, considering that it has now been pretty well proven without a doubt that Frederick Philip Grove was NOT of Swedish but of German ethnicity and that he very deliberately hid much of his background not only due to the unfortunate proliferation of major anti-German attitudes and sentiment during and post WWI but also and rather sadly due to the nefarious and nasty fact and truth that Grove was in fact a bigamist who had simply deserted his first wife in Kentucky and then proceeded to move to Manitoba where he married a young schoolteacher whilst still being legally wedded to his deserted first wife Elsa, much of what was considered possible historical background and reality in Settlers of the marsh, or more to the point what we had been taught and told were likely the author's own immigration experiences (or at least heavily based on them) should really be taken with majorly huge grain of salt.
Now with regard to the novel itself, Settlers of the Marsh is probably Frederick Philip Grove's (whose original German surname appears to have been Greve) most well-known and lastingly famous work of fiction. It is an easily read, often frenetic in pace, naturalistic, generally brutally honest, direct and painfully realistic tale of pioneer hopes, dreams and disappointments as well as how personal wishes and strivings also can so easily be destroyed or be rendered into lamentable remains of sad shreds of said desires by brutality, sexual abuse and deliberate terror (including in the marriage bed), spun into a web of pain, disappointment and suffering (which also includes the threat and reality of murder and mayhem). But that all having been said, while I can and do to a certain extent both much cheer and laud that Frederick Philip Grove so painfully and with intensity of feeling portrays that and how the main fault especially regarding sexual abuse and brutality rests and lies for the most part with the perpetrators (and even if said perpetrator, such as is the case with Ellen's family, is the husband, is Ellen's own father, Grove thankfully never shies away from depicting and presenting him as an absolute monster who continuously torments and relentlessly tortures his wife and daughter), there is still (in my opinion) within the pages of Settlers of the Marsh and even if this might indeed and obviously also be a sign of the times, much too much below the surface blaming and chastisement of women present, especially with regard to main protagonist Niels, who might indeed be naive but whose killing of his promiscuous wife even though he obviously should have been more than well aware of the fact that he was indeed marrying the local prostitute has always made me cringe a bit with regard to how emotionless the depiction of the murder is presented and indeed how Niels is kind of given a bit too much authorial support and not even remotely enough condemnation and criticism. And well, the ending of Settlers of the Marsh, with Ellen basically and seemingly taking much of the blame for what has transpired onto herself, blaming herself for not accepting Niels' hand in marriage due to her own traumatic life experiences and that she had promised her mother that she would not submit herself to any man, personally, I do find all of this rather troubling to say the least (and now that I am a bit more aware of Frederick Philip Grove's personal background, especially his peccadilloes with regard to the callous abandonment of his first wife, it certainly does make me wonder even with my appreciation of Settlers of the Marsh as a realistic and naturalistic, but also authentic and evocative story of pain, sadness and ultimate forgiveness, whether the author, whether Grove does or perhaps more to the point whether he did in fact also tend to at least partially blame women for the abuse they have endured or still do endure through and from the men in their lives and if he also blamed his first wife for her abandonment by him).
Now with regard to the novel itself, Settlers of the Marsh is probably Frederick Philip Grove's (whose original German surname appears to have been Greve) most well-known and lastingly famous work of fiction. It is an easily read, often frenetic in pace, naturalistic, generally brutally honest, direct and painfully realistic tale of pioneer hopes, dreams and disappointments as well as how personal wishes and strivings also can so easily be destroyed or be rendered into lamentable remains of sad shreds of said desires by brutality, sexual abuse and deliberate terror (including in the marriage bed), spun into a web of pain, disappointment and suffering (which also includes the threat and reality of murder and mayhem). But that all having been said, while I can and do to a certain extent both much cheer and laud that Frederick Philip Grove so painfully and with intensity of feeling portrays that and how the main fault especially regarding sexual abuse and brutality rests and lies for the most part with the perpetrators (and even if said perpetrator, such as is the case with Ellen's family, is the husband, is Ellen's own father, Grove thankfully never shies away from depicting and presenting him as an absolute monster who continuously torments and relentlessly tortures his wife and daughter), there is still (in my opinion) within the pages of Settlers of the Marsh and even if this might indeed and obviously also be a sign of the times, much too much below the surface blaming and chastisement of women present, especially with regard to main protagonist Niels, who might indeed be naive but whose killing of his promiscuous wife even though he obviously should have been more than well aware of the fact that he was indeed marrying the local prostitute has always made me cringe a bit with regard to how emotionless the depiction of the murder is presented and indeed how Niels is kind of given a bit too much authorial support and not even remotely enough condemnation and criticism. And well, the ending of Settlers of the Marsh, with Ellen basically and seemingly taking much of the blame for what has transpired onto herself, blaming herself for not accepting Niels' hand in marriage due to her own traumatic life experiences and that she had promised her mother that she would not submit herself to any man, personally, I do find all of this rather troubling to say the least (and now that I am a bit more aware of Frederick Philip Grove's personal background, especially his peccadilloes with regard to the callous abandonment of his first wife, it certainly does make me wonder even with my appreciation of Settlers of the Marsh as a realistic and naturalistic, but also authentic and evocative story of pain, sadness and ultimate forgiveness, whether the author, whether Grove does or perhaps more to the point whether he did in fact also tend to at least partially blame women for the abuse they have endured or still do endure through and from the men in their lives and if he also blamed his first wife for her abandonment by him).
June 5, 2019
A very interesting story,especially for the time it was written in (1925). Niels Lindstedt is added to my list of literature good guys.
July 24, 2017
This is a powerful novel first published in 1925 by an immigrant from Prussian Germany. Grove was an accomplished translator of best-selling English and French books into German. At the age of 33, after having emigrated to the U.S. three years earlier, he moved in 1912 to Canada to teach school in rural Manitoba. Later, ‘The Settlers of the Marsh’ he wrote his first novel in English and its successful but controversial reception assured the popularity of his future novels until his death in 1948 aged 69.
Here is a power novel. Critics have said that it stretches the credulity of its main character, the Swede Niels Lindstedt’s naïveté to the limit. I can agree with that to a point but nuances of sexual enlightenment were not intrinsic to rural society in Sweden or Canada prior to the Great War. The novel is placed in northern Manitoba where land was still plentiful for settlers who were hoping for success despite inhospitable climate and much arduous work required. There are a number of quirky characters who cohabit Lindstedt’s environs. But he is singly occupied with getting his land, clearing it, building structures and acquiring animals. He is pensively occupied and socially reserved. But there are two women who attracts his curious attention: the young introverted Ellen Amundsen and the extroverted widow, Mrs. Vogel. They are as opposite as any two could be, in their backgrounds and demeanor. Niels feels attraction for both but is bewildered to the point of being stupefied.
A dark cloud hangs over the last half of this novel. Cruel desperation continues to steer a convulsive situation in a cataclysmic direction. The very ending is somewhat open-ended but most readers will know where it will lead… I will definitely be reading more of Grove’s books.
Here is a power novel. Critics have said that it stretches the credulity of its main character, the Swede Niels Lindstedt’s naïveté to the limit. I can agree with that to a point but nuances of sexual enlightenment were not intrinsic to rural society in Sweden or Canada prior to the Great War. The novel is placed in northern Manitoba where land was still plentiful for settlers who were hoping for success despite inhospitable climate and much arduous work required. There are a number of quirky characters who cohabit Lindstedt’s environs. But he is singly occupied with getting his land, clearing it, building structures and acquiring animals. He is pensively occupied and socially reserved. But there are two women who attracts his curious attention: the young introverted Ellen Amundsen and the extroverted widow, Mrs. Vogel. They are as opposite as any two could be, in their backgrounds and demeanor. Niels feels attraction for both but is bewildered to the point of being stupefied.
A dark cloud hangs over the last half of this novel. Cruel desperation continues to steer a convulsive situation in a cataclysmic direction. The very ending is somewhat open-ended but most readers will know where it will lead… I will definitely be reading more of Grove’s books.
November 18, 2010
First published in 1925 this selection from the New Canadian Library was condemned by critics and churches. It’s a realistic and grim portrayal of the life faced by immigrants on the Manitoba frontier, and a story of lost innocence. Niels Lindstedt is a recently arrived young Swede who homesteads near the marshes. Hardworking, he prospers and dreams of the wife and family he hopes will share the fruits of his labour. He is naïve and sexually innocent. He has his eye on Ellen Amundsen, but the widow Vogel has her eye on him, and although he attempts to avoid her, he is vulnerable when Ellen states that she will never marry. Ellen witnessed the brutal life that her mother led, and promised not to subject herself to such a life. Tragedy follows, although the novel ends with a faint promise for the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2016
Other than greatly enjoying the descriptions of setting in terms of time and place I found the main character completely unbelievable in his naivete. Also, at first I was delightfully surprised with one of the main female characters (Ellen). But the whole book fell apart in the last 50 pages or so.
What is most interesting to me, reading this in 2016, is how little has changed. Male violence is minimized (and excused because reasons) and women's 'femininity' and reduction to reproductive utility is still lauded.
What is most interesting to me, reading this in 2016, is how little has changed. Male violence is minimized (and excused because reasons) and women's 'femininity' and reduction to reproductive utility is still lauded.
March 6, 2015
At first glance it looks like it's going to be an incredibly dull read, but in this case the first glance is completely wrong.
A really bizarre take on sexuality, settlers, immigration and loneliness set in the harsh Canadian prairies.
And Frederick Philip Grove himself is worth a Google - he faked his own death!
A really bizarre take on sexuality, settlers, immigration and loneliness set in the harsh Canadian prairies.
And Frederick Philip Grove himself is worth a Google - he faked his own death!
February 6, 2017
What a waste of time this book was. Stupid male entitlement fantasy by an author who has no idea what judicious use of ellipses would look like.
June 5, 2024
I read this as part of a challenge to myself to read more Canadian literature. So far a majority of the few Canadian novels I’ve read have been fairly depressing and dark. Why is that? (Maybe I’m just choosing the wrong books.)
As I began this novel, I really did not enjoy the style. (So many sentences ending in …) It didn’t grip me until about halfway through. It reminded me of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, with its torturous psychological journey through the motives of someone who commits a crime. The slightly awkward prose heightened this comparison for me, as it almost feels like a work in translation.
The introduction in my edition disparaged the hopeful ending (it spoils the tragedy), but I liked it.
As I began this novel, I really did not enjoy the style. (So many sentences ending in …) It didn’t grip me until about halfway through. It reminded me of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, with its torturous psychological journey through the motives of someone who commits a crime. The slightly awkward prose heightened this comparison for me, as it almost feels like a work in translation.
The introduction in my edition disparaged the hopeful ending (it spoils the tragedy), but I liked it.
November 20, 2016
Spoilers I guess since there is one particular event in this story that I really want to talk about.
I was liking this story a lot the whole way through. The story takes place where I'm from in a time of history that I find very interesting. Neils is an interesting character to me and I found his hard work and success to be a little inspiring. His relationship with Ellen and his subsequent decision to marry Clara was all very intriguing and made for a good story. Then when his marriage with Clara started to fall apart, that was very good too.
Then she says she's going to ruin his life because he tries to essentially hold her prisoner. I got excited for the direction it was taking. BUT she doesn't really do anything! And the book acts like she's the worst woman on the planet. Finally he finds out what all of the readers knew all along (that she was the "village whore") and this drives him mad and he goes to confront her and finds her with two men and then kills her. Fine. I figured he would be hung for his crimes, tragic ending to a good story, works out fine. But then the ending seems so misogynistic when the jury and even later the warden of the prison decide that this dude is a good dude and his wife was terrible and basically deserved it. I had such a huge problem with that moment. That last chapter almost soured me to the entire book.
The majority of the book was still enjoyable but man I hated that ending.
I was liking this story a lot the whole way through. The story takes place where I'm from in a time of history that I find very interesting. Neils is an interesting character to me and I found his hard work and success to be a little inspiring. His relationship with Ellen and his subsequent decision to marry Clara was all very intriguing and made for a good story. Then when his marriage with Clara started to fall apart, that was very good too.
Then she says she's going to ruin his life because he tries to essentially hold her prisoner. I got excited for the direction it was taking. BUT she doesn't really do anything! And the book acts like she's the worst woman on the planet. Finally he finds out what all of the readers knew all along (that she was the "village whore") and this drives him mad and he goes to confront her and finds her with two men and then kills her. Fine. I figured he would be hung for his crimes, tragic ending to a good story, works out fine. But then the ending seems so misogynistic when the jury and even later the warden of the prison decide that this dude is a good dude and his wife was terrible and basically deserved it. I had such a huge problem with that moment. That last chapter almost soured me to the entire book.
The majority of the book was still enjoyable but man I hated that ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2013
This book was quite a surprise! First published in 1925(!), it was then widely condemned and banned due to its sexual content. By today's standards, it would barely raise an eyebrow. Sexual tension pervades the story but is dealt with in a psychological manner--nothing graphic. The characters are thoroughly believable in the context of the times and the pioneer culture. The extreme naivete and innocence of Niels Lindstet would never be possible in this day and age. Grove unfolds the story as it affects young Niels and the two women in his life, Clara Vogel and Ellen Asmundsen. All three are to blame in part for the terrible ongoing tragedy that besets their lives. While I wouldn't say the ending qualifies as happy, it sets the stage for healing and hope. The writing style reflects the times (nearly 90 years ago!) and the descriptions are often a little overdone , but that shouldn't stand in the way of a good read.
September 7, 2017
This was quite good. It's sort of like one of those Willa Cather Prairie Trilogy books or a more adult version of Little House on the Prairie. Which is all to say it's about homesteaders/pioneers back a century and some ago. But, the difference here is we're talking about settlers in Canada, perhaps Saskatchewan or Alberta.
The protagonist is a repressed young Swede, who is very hard working. In his early time, he works like a dog for other people, saves up some money and gets himself his own farm/homestead. He works like a dog to set that up. There's a beautiful, young woman in a nearby homestead, Ellen, who can work like a man and whom Neils Lindstet finds attractive. But Ellen doesn't want to marry. She doesn't want to be someone else's property/drudge. Somehow, Neils gets entangled with Mrs. Lund, a "merry widow". Things go downhill from there. Will Neils ever get things straightened out, at least a little bit?
The protagonist is a repressed young Swede, who is very hard working. In his early time, he works like a dog for other people, saves up some money and gets himself his own farm/homestead. He works like a dog to set that up. There's a beautiful, young woman in a nearby homestead, Ellen, who can work like a man and whom Neils Lindstet finds attractive. But Ellen doesn't want to marry. She doesn't want to be someone else's property/drudge. Somehow, Neils gets entangled with Mrs. Lund, a "merry widow". Things go downhill from there. Will Neils ever get things straightened out, at least a little bit?
August 19, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the book because it told of the solitary lifestyle in a harsh area, but I got bogged down in the description of the marriage. The fact of it happening was interesting, but the details went on sooo long. The afterward Kristjana Gunnars was very informative about the prairie genre of Canadian literature, and increased my understanding considerably. Still looking for Canadian books for my class the semester after next, and I rejected this until reading the afterward. The afterward made me feel that this should definitely be included because of it being prairie genre, and it should be this over As for Me and My House .
February 24, 2019
Pioneer life in the Canadian wilderness of Manitoba sure was back breaking; Sexual naivete is not good; don't marry the district whore, as it will only end badly; but the love of a true maiden's heart will save you in the end; these are the things I learned from this novel! Also women sure are fickle in their ways of thinking!
Read
November 10, 2009Interestin story telling about the Canadian prairie frontier and it's immigrants. Similar to what I know about my immigrant ancestors to Canada. Better read to myself than to listen to being read outloud.
February 7, 2013
Review to come.
January 28, 2011
More of a 2 1/2 star book. It was ok and interesting to read about the Canadian immigration experience.
September 14, 2012
really great book!
March 19, 2024
QUOTATIONS
At 39%: As they crossed the yard, imponderable things, incomprehensible waves of feeling passed to and fro between them: things too delicate for words; things somehow full of pain and anxious, disquieting anticipation: like silent discharges between summer clouds that distantly wink at each other in lightning.
At 41%: The air is breathless: even the slight, wafting flow from the east has ceased. Nature lies prostrate in expectation of the scourge that is coming, coming. The wall of cloud has differentiated: there are two, three waves of almost black; in front, a circling festoon of loose, white, flocculent manes, seething, whirling . . . A winking of light runs through the first wave of black. A distant rumbling heralds the storm . . .
At 42%: What was life anyway? A dumb shifting of forces. Grass grew and was trodden down; and it knew not why. He himself--this very afternoon there had been in him the joy of grass growing, twigs budding, blossoms opening to the air of spring. The grass had been stepped on; the twig had been broken; the blossoms nipped by frost . . .
At 60%: Something that had been puzzling him very much arose again before his mind. In certain moments there was a peculiar look in her eyes. He had seen that look before: alluring, seductive, appealing to something in him of which he was ashamed. And as he rode the plow, in those days of the Indian summer: those days that before all others are reminiscent and chaste: when the light of the sun seems to be floating in the air like millions of bronzed little powdery particles--one day that memory crystallised.
At 94%: . . . those ambitions which are indispensible, the lowly ones, are really the highest on earth: the desire for peace and harmony in yourself, your surroundings . . .
At 100%: I thought I could live my life as a protest against the life my mother had lived. . . . I should have known . . .
At 39%: As they crossed the yard, imponderable things, incomprehensible waves of feeling passed to and fro between them: things too delicate for words; things somehow full of pain and anxious, disquieting anticipation: like silent discharges between summer clouds that distantly wink at each other in lightning.
At 41%: The air is breathless: even the slight, wafting flow from the east has ceased. Nature lies prostrate in expectation of the scourge that is coming, coming. The wall of cloud has differentiated: there are two, three waves of almost black; in front, a circling festoon of loose, white, flocculent manes, seething, whirling . . . A winking of light runs through the first wave of black. A distant rumbling heralds the storm . . .
At 42%: What was life anyway? A dumb shifting of forces. Grass grew and was trodden down; and it knew not why. He himself--this very afternoon there had been in him the joy of grass growing, twigs budding, blossoms opening to the air of spring. The grass had been stepped on; the twig had been broken; the blossoms nipped by frost . . .
At 60%: Something that had been puzzling him very much arose again before his mind. In certain moments there was a peculiar look in her eyes. He had seen that look before: alluring, seductive, appealing to something in him of which he was ashamed. And as he rode the plow, in those days of the Indian summer: those days that before all others are reminiscent and chaste: when the light of the sun seems to be floating in the air like millions of bronzed little powdery particles--one day that memory crystallised.
At 94%: . . . those ambitions which are indispensible, the lowly ones, are really the highest on earth: the desire for peace and harmony in yourself, your surroundings . . .
At 100%: I thought I could live my life as a protest against the life my mother had lived. . . . I should have known . . .
January 10, 2020
Rounded down from 3.5
The only other book I think I've read about early settlers on the Canadian Prairie provinces was Shandi Mitchell's spectacular book Under This Unbroken Sky, so I was looking forward to additional perspectives.
This provided it - from the viewpoint of Scandinavian settlers who seem to have arrived two or three decades before the Ukrainians and therefore were more established and "civilized - ie conforming to Western culture. Their little expat community made making the homestead easier. Not a lot of plot though.
The only other book I think I've read about early settlers on the Canadian Prairie provinces was Shandi Mitchell's spectacular book Under This Unbroken Sky, so I was looking forward to additional perspectives.
This provided it - from the viewpoint of Scandinavian settlers who seem to have arrived two or three decades before the Ukrainians and therefore were more established and "civilized - ie conforming to Western culture. Their little expat community made making the homestead easier. Not a lot of plot though.
February 20, 2024
A fantastic novel set in the marsh and prairies of 1920s Manitoba, following Niels, a Swedish immigrant, as he works at settling the land and building a life for himself. A story about hopes and dreams, love and hate, determination, and the evils that men and women can perpetuate. It was refreshing to read a book about home. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I am certain to reread it for years to come.
August 7, 2025
The introduction provided quite the build-up for the book itself but I really was not prepared for a “romance novel”. I like reading adventure stories, and early Canadian settler stories about working on the land, but this book got caught up in the “unrequited” love angle. The behaviour of the two main women drove me nuts. As the story progressed it paralleled an event from our own family history that occurred around that very time in a neighbouring province.
September 29, 2019
A beautiful novel. If not for a Canadian literature course, I would probably never have picked this book up which was written in 1924. It’s historical accuracy provides a psychological study of the realities of a Swedish settler’s life in the Canadian prairies. That might sound boring, but this novel is anything but. This was the best read I have had in a very long time.
February 13, 2021
Recommended by my boss’s boss! I wasn’t a little scared to read this one knowing I’d have to report back. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. Nice reading about a Canadian settler experience and their narrow world. Parts of the book conveyed such authentic atmosphere, but other parts seemed to be so fantastic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2023
This is one of my favourite books. I read it in high school, and loved it. Read it again in my 30's and got a whole different take on it, but still loved it. Slipped into it again last week like a warm bath or hot cup of cocoa, and it did not disappoint. The prose seems somewhat old fashioned, but it's still a lovely read.
July 7, 2022
I read this in high school and since I grew up in Manitoba and had to do a book report on it I did a deep dive into it. Still remember how much I engaged with it even at the age of 17.
August 10, 2022
Glad I read it, don't want to fool with it again. Weird book.
September 19, 2022
A sweet romance cloaked in the struggle to survive on the Manitoba frontier. Spoiler alert: the threats to life and limb come more from the novice farmers and uncouth newcomers than from the marsh.
April 5, 2024
Canadian fiction of Dutch settlers, read for book club. Interesting history, interesting storyline, though not quite believable.
June 26, 2024
The takeaways from Settlers of the Marsh are that of an old, wise man revealing the regrets and joys of his life. Grove displays this life through a man named Niels. He does this in windows, broken up throughout Niels' life, where years will go by in a sentence.
Through memories of beauty, torment, and struggle, we learn that life is short. A decision you make one night can seemingly ruin what you have spent your life building, and you may never achieve your goals. While this may drive one to madness, and deteriorate a person unrecognisably, life will always be better once you accept it. Happiness is achieved through acceptance, rather than striving for more. And once you accept, you may find that these goals contrive of themselves.
And, as life is short, so too are its roughest parts. Your mistakes and grievances will one day fade, and a pain that feels like an eternity will one day seem like a distant dream. So does Grove's novel portray life, in which Niels' prosperity so quickly turns to torture. But from this torture, once Niels accepts his position, forgives himself, and repents, a beautiful future materialises itself, and all so quickly.
The last lesson from Niels' life is to appreciate the beauty of nature, of relationships. Throughout the windows of Niels' life, it was not the work or the money that was focused on, but the sway of the trees in the wind, and the gazes between blushing adolescents.
Through memories of beauty, torment, and struggle, we learn that life is short. A decision you make one night can seemingly ruin what you have spent your life building, and you may never achieve your goals. While this may drive one to madness, and deteriorate a person unrecognisably, life will always be better once you accept it. Happiness is achieved through acceptance, rather than striving for more. And once you accept, you may find that these goals contrive of themselves.
And, as life is short, so too are its roughest parts. Your mistakes and grievances will one day fade, and a pain that feels like an eternity will one day seem like a distant dream. So does Grove's novel portray life, in which Niels' prosperity so quickly turns to torture. But from this torture, once Niels accepts his position, forgives himself, and repents, a beautiful future materialises itself, and all so quickly.
The last lesson from Niels' life is to appreciate the beauty of nature, of relationships. Throughout the windows of Niels' life, it was not the work or the money that was focused on, but the sway of the trees in the wind, and the gazes between blushing adolescents.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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