Ovind: A Story of Country Life in Norway

by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Elizabeth Hjerleid (Translator), Silvert Hjerleid (Translator)

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Classics

88 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1869

About the author

Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit."
Bjørnson is the author of the lyrics to the Norwegian National Anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet".

Reviews

[Bryan]

The story starts slow, but picks up about a quarter of the way in. Bjørnson has his own distinctive voice, but he is reminiscent of Ibsen, but focuses more on spiritual themes. The story follows a peasant boy as he grows up and eventually gets a good education and is successful. Along the way he falls in love with an unattainable girl from a more well-to-do family. Over all this is a moral tale of how right wins out in the end.