Uus tempel

by Johan Bojer, August Hanko (Translator)

Johan Bojer on uusrealist, üks tuntumaid norra kirjanikke oma psühholoogiliselt väljatöötatud, probleemiderohke loominguga.
Nagu Ibsenit ei huvita Bojeritki sedavõrd kirjeldatud inimene, vaid mõte, mida see inimene kehastab. Juba oma esimestes, väga edukates draamades ja romaanides näitab Bojer, kuidas inimesed välise hiilguse saavutamiseks kannavad üle oma elu raskuspunkti välisilma. Meeleldi kõrvutab ta neid siis mõne eeskujuga, selgitades, kuis täiuslikku elu võib elada vaid enda isiksusele tuginedes. See veendumus muutubki aja jooksul ta toodangu põhiteemaks, mis poolenisti vähemalt on puhas ideedeluule: oma teeside tõestamiseks ei pṍrka ta tagasi isegi teatud kunstlikkusest.

288 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Johan Bojer was a popular Norwegian novelist and dramatist. He principally wrote about the lives of the poor farmers and fishermen, both in his native Norway and among the Norwegian immigrants in the United States. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times.

Reviews

[Karen Boblett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I wanted to read because the author has been nominated five times for a Nobel Prize. It was written in Norwegian and translated into English 95 years ago.

The story starts off slowly, but as you get into the plot, it becomes clear who and what the novel is going to be about. The two main characters, Lorentz and his older sister Louise are taken as children from their parents who can not afford to keep and feed them. Merle, their mother has a very rich relative who is childless and this woman takes them both in. As the years go on and they are grown, the lady at Bruseth adopts them and they only know her as Mother. She was sixty years old when the children came to her.

I found the book to be extremely well written and easily understood. I am recommending this book because of the writing and the descriptive content. The story is a simple one that makes the reader think about why the character of Lorentz is doing what he thinks is best for him and the humanity he will be working with.

By today's standards, there isn't any blood, gore or mysterious situations going on. But, how and why the story develops keeps the reader interested in what is happening. While reading this novel, the reader, too, thinks that maybe there is some truth to Lorentz's beliefs.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is good to read "old" books once in a while. This one was originally published in 1927. I read it in Estonian translation but that translation, in 1971, was published not in Estonia but in Canada. Hence it sounds a bit quaint on top of being written in a different era. It is definitely Scandinavian in tone. I say so because I recently gave an Australian friend a Scandinavian novel to read and her verdict was that it was completely alien to her, she could not relate to it at all.
The first two-thirds of "The New Temple" I liked very much. It deals with moral values, poverty, pride, fairness, property and material wealth. There are interesting observations about electricity (refusal to have electricity installed in the house, refusal to eat food not cooked on Christian fire) and the setting of Norwegian countryside is just lovely. The central characters are Lorents and Lovise - brother and sister who as small children were removed from their home and natural parents - quite an interesting set-up. However, the central theme, because of the title and Lorents' soul searching, must be the new temple, but that part is less easy to comprehend. The way I read it, there was nothing new about the temple.
Certainly an interesting reading experience.