Kristin: A Reading

by Andrew Lytle

Distinguished novelist, critic, and teacher Andrew Lytle turns his creative insight to a much overlooked literary classic, Nobel Prize winner Sigrid Undset's Saga of Kristin Lavransdatter. Lytle's sensitive interpretation will be an invaluable companion to modern readers of this classic.

112 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1992

About the author

Andrew Nelson Lytle (December 26, 1902 – December 12, 1995) was an American novelist, dramatist, essayist and professor of literature. He was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and early in his life planned to be an actor and playwright. He studied acting at Yale University and performed on Broadway when he was in his 20s.
Unlike other Southern intellectuals who left the region never to return, Lytle went home after the death of a kinsman. Except for brief sojourns elsewhere, he remained in the South for the rest of his life.
(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book — first encountered in its embryonic state as a lecture my freshman year at the university where Dr. Lytle lived & taught — that started my need to read the Kristen Lavransdatter epic. While some might not understand the purpose of this book and what they interpret merely as a retelling of a epic tale, for those of us students at the time, it was a necessary piece in a greater whole of understanding so much of all the literature we were expiring at the time (most importantly, those works that come out of the American South).

[Rye Thomasdatter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to have unique insights particularly in the Christian perspective. A perspective that is lacking in the conversation around this book at large and one vitally important to the text. It's almost as of society today is beyond uninterested in its implications but unqualified altogether to make remarks with the depth you find in this reader.

[Rico · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I missed something. I was expecting a connection between the agrarian imagination and Kristen, but instead my impression was that Lytle thinks Erland can do no wrong while everyone else around him is deeply flawed. I don't concur with Lytle's reading in many cases, to my disappointment.

[Jonna Higgins-Freese · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know, I know. Based on the adoring preface, Lytle is apparently one of the luminaries of literary study and a god. Luckily, I no longer live in a scholarly world where I have to pay attention to such things. I failed to understand how and why this book was even published. Much of it was a retelling of the plot of Kristin Lavransdatter -- which sets a high bar, because it's so well written in the first place that it's better to actually read the book. I didn't notice that Lytle's "reading/retelling" added anything to my understanding of the book.