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The Emigrants
Bojer's novel of Norwegian emigration in the 1880s tells of young villagers who leave the Old World to seek a better life. Their trek takes them to homesteads in North Dakota, where they find that breaking the sod and surviving blizzards are easier than feeling at home in this new land.
365 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1924
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105 people want to read
About the author
Johan Bojer
154 books8 followersJohan 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.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 30, 2025
I read this right after finishing Giants in the Earth which is also a Norwegian immigrant story, but the two are different enough to both be enjoyable. Giants in the Earth was definitely more melancholy and focused primarily on one family's story, while The Emigrants tells the perspective of multiple people who emigrated from Norway together. These stories are the grown up version of Little House and I cherished the time I spent reading both books. A deep respect for my forbearers has been kindled in my heart after reading these stories. Amazing!
September 8, 2013
The emigrants (original title Vor Egen Stamme) is the story of a group of Norwegians who leave their homes for various reasons to follow one of their own who's been "over there" and now wants to break new land in North Dakota. It seems like a genuine story of the hardships and joys, successes and setbacks, and, perhaps most of all, the longing for both Norway and the US that defined the lives of these Norwegians. Without making this too much of a spoiler, this is not a book littered with happy endings, but the happiness that does exist seems all the more real for it, and for all that it describes a time that is gone forever it also describes timeless humanity.
April 22, 2020
Litt vanskeleg å plassere synes eg. Boka er frå 1924, men foretrekk Moberg og seinare Hoems sine bøker. Det er nok litt feil å lese denne boka til slutt, fordi den skildrer på mange måter livet der borte i den nye verda på ein god måte.
Det blir likevel litt for brei pensel til tider med skildringer av gamlelandet osv.
Men det er fleire gode enn dårlige augeblikk i boka så sånn ser er det god underhaldning.
Det blir likevel litt for brei pensel til tider med skildringer av gamlelandet osv.
Men det er fleire gode enn dårlige augeblikk i boka så sånn ser er det god underhaldning.
September 3, 2025
Really captured the wonder and terror of leaving somewhere with geography and moving to the Midwest. Following Norwegian emigrants from their fjords and crofts to the North Dakota prairie, this was a poetic meditation on place, belonging, and memory. Few books have prose whose pacing is so integral to the story, with long stretches of daily toil punctuated by fast, efficient bursts of energy. It felt surprisingly modern, despite being so grounded in the late 1800s pioneer experience.
December 25, 2019
One day a man comes back home and encourages people to pack up and move to the new world; The continent that has promised wealth reserved for them, where there is no social class distinction. The land that you are respected solely based on your work. You can climb up ladders of success and achievement, not by inheritance but your own endeavor. "Emigrants" is the story of a group of Norwegians in the late 19th century that migrate to North Dakota in pursuit of a better life and salvation.
Emigrants consist of three sections. The first section pictures the social-economic state of Norway in the late 19th century. One of the poorest European countries at the time (opposite of what it has become now), where most of the economy relies on agriculture. The country with beautiful fjords across it, separating it from a stretching ocean; alas, that poor soil has kept most of the people in poverty and state of starvation. The hero of the story, Eric, returns back from America after years to his hometown. He, as a person that has spent most of his childhood in poverty, has come back with a changed outlook that does not show any tinge of poverty in it. He has come back to persuade his people to go all the way to America with him to establish a Norwegian colony; to change their lives, to become rich, free, to guarantee a prosperous life ahead. He persuades a diverse group of people: a family that has been on the edge of starvation for years. A dreamer that wants to become rich, to change the living state of his family, and to marry the girl he loves. A convicted arsonist, and general's girl that escapes to marry him in the land of the free. Per, Anne, Jo, and Anton (mama's darling) that there is lesser development for their character.
The second part of the story describes the survival of the colony. They ride for months toward North Dakota (and stay in Wisconsin for a winter ). At the start of the summer, they reach the promised land, where there is nothing but prairie land. From the first, they start working and the whole chapter describes how they adapt themselves to their new lifestyle. Plowing the land with oxens for hours, building their sod huts selling their crops in a town hundred miles away and enduring a tough winter. Next year comes when they have lost their hero and Morten has become their leader. Years pass and pass by, they become richer and richer. They buy instruments to increase efficiency, to produce more, to get richer, to buy more instruments, and become richer.
The third part of the book starts where their life has become more stable and they are not fighting for survival anymore. New migrants join their community, they build their church, and appropriate houses for themselves. Life has shown its merciful face to them, train line gets connected to their town, they open the first post office, judiciary,... . Life has changed for them; the son of the poor has become the new wealthy landowner. The child of the dreamer has become a professor in Madison. The arsonist's son has become a businessman in Chicago.
The first part of the book lacks good character development, it feels rushed. Ola, Else, Eric, Morten, Kal, and Karen's characters are discussed well enough that you can connect with them; however, there are many other characters have been thrown in the story that you don't establish any connection with them, you don't understand them in the rest of the book. The second part is where the narrative becomes much better. The game of survival, the feeling of insecurity in the characters is depicted perfectly. The moments, where, I as an immigrant, can feel all the anxieties going on in their mind. Where you feel like they are talking about same America you know, with its beauties and difficulties. All of Eric's unrest during nights, going into delirium, apologizing for bringing them to the middle of nowhere. Ola's and the unsettling feeling of not deserving Else, general's girl; at the same time, getting drunk in every trip to town and finally becoming a champion of Alcohol prohibition. Morten and losing a loved one in the old country, pushing himself to make money and send them back to build Kvidal. And Per. To be honest, Per's thoughts were the most startling part of the book for me, when he slowly and slowly goes mad in the prairie. When the fear of his wife's unfaithfulness penetrates every cell of his body. Kal, the poor that becomes the richest among them. The same man that the fear of starvation is so deeply buried in him that works day and night, avoid any debt, avoids any extra cost; The psychological transformation of Kal and his family is one of the best depictions of the book.
Emigrants consist of three sections. The first section pictures the social-economic state of Norway in the late 19th century. One of the poorest European countries at the time (opposite of what it has become now), where most of the economy relies on agriculture. The country with beautiful fjords across it, separating it from a stretching ocean; alas, that poor soil has kept most of the people in poverty and state of starvation. The hero of the story, Eric, returns back from America after years to his hometown. He, as a person that has spent most of his childhood in poverty, has come back with a changed outlook that does not show any tinge of poverty in it. He has come back to persuade his people to go all the way to America with him to establish a Norwegian colony; to change their lives, to become rich, free, to guarantee a prosperous life ahead. He persuades a diverse group of people: a family that has been on the edge of starvation for years. A dreamer that wants to become rich, to change the living state of his family, and to marry the girl he loves. A convicted arsonist, and general's girl that escapes to marry him in the land of the free. Per, Anne, Jo, and Anton (mama's darling) that there is lesser development for their character.
The second part of the story describes the survival of the colony. They ride for months toward North Dakota (and stay in Wisconsin for a winter ). At the start of the summer, they reach the promised land, where there is nothing but prairie land. From the first, they start working and the whole chapter describes how they adapt themselves to their new lifestyle. Plowing the land with oxens for hours, building their sod huts selling their crops in a town hundred miles away and enduring a tough winter. Next year comes when they have lost their hero and Morten has become their leader. Years pass and pass by, they become richer and richer. They buy instruments to increase efficiency, to produce more, to get richer, to buy more instruments, and become richer.
The third part of the book starts where their life has become more stable and they are not fighting for survival anymore. New migrants join their community, they build their church, and appropriate houses for themselves. Life has shown its merciful face to them, train line gets connected to their town, they open the first post office, judiciary,... . Life has changed for them; the son of the poor has become the new wealthy landowner. The child of the dreamer has become a professor in Madison. The arsonist's son has become a businessman in Chicago.
The first part of the book lacks good character development, it feels rushed. Ola, Else, Eric, Morten, Kal, and Karen's characters are discussed well enough that you can connect with them; however, there are many other characters have been thrown in the story that you don't establish any connection with them, you don't understand them in the rest of the book. The second part is where the narrative becomes much better. The game of survival, the feeling of insecurity in the characters is depicted perfectly. The moments, where, I as an immigrant, can feel all the anxieties going on in their mind. Where you feel like they are talking about same America you know, with its beauties and difficulties. All of Eric's unrest during nights, going into delirium, apologizing for bringing them to the middle of nowhere. Ola's and the unsettling feeling of not deserving Else, general's girl; at the same time, getting drunk in every trip to town and finally becoming a champion of Alcohol prohibition. Morten and losing a loved one in the old country, pushing himself to make money and send them back to build Kvidal. And Per. To be honest, Per's thoughts were the most startling part of the book for me, when he slowly and slowly goes mad in the prairie. When the fear of his wife's unfaithfulness penetrates every cell of his body. Kal, the poor that becomes the richest among them. The same man that the fear of starvation is so deeply buried in him that works day and night, avoid any debt, avoids any extra cost; The psychological transformation of Kal and his family is one of the best depictions of the book.
February 17, 2013
This book was written in 1924, 100 years after the first organized emigration from Norway to America. Published first in Norwegian for Norwegians, the story begins with the social and economic difficulties that led to this mass migration. The story continues with the early hardships and the Americanization of the next generation. The book is good, but the story was better told by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg in his 4 book Emigrant series.
July 29, 2013
So many ppl in this , its one of those to go back and read again. I enjoyed it but it had some confusing situations, like WHO the hell was "Brownie" and in the very last paragraph what did he mean he know who was sowing, who was he talking about?
December 12, 2009
Very good book about Norwegian immigrants in the US. An even better book by this author is "Neverending Struggle" which I can't find listed on Goodreads.
October 6, 2011
After reading "Giant of the Earth" I found this just as engrossing. To think that it was written in 1925!
November 5, 2022
great read. reminded me of giants in the earth.
September 21, 2016
Loved it. The characters are all so great.
November 10, 2016
I can clearly imagine my family coming from Norway and settling in southwestern Minnesota.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews