The Boat of Longing

by O.E. Rølvaag

From the rocky, mist-enshrouded shores of Norway to the bustling streets of Minneapolis, O. E. Rölvaag lyrically chronicles the experiences of Nils Vaag, a young Norwegian immigrant. Abandoning the life of a fisherman in Nordland, a region poor but full of mystical beauty, Nils emigrates to the New World in 1912. There he sweeps saloons, lives in a boardinghouse called "Babel" for the many languages used by its residents, and begins to find his way among the people of the city.

The Boat of Longing was Rölvaag's favorite of all his books and the only one set in urban America. When it was first published in English in 1933, it received wide praise from American critics. This edition includes an introduction by Einar Haugen, professor emeritus of Scandinavian and Linguistics at Harvard University and author of a critical study of Rölvaag.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Scandinavian Literature

319 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 1974

About the author

Ole Edvart Rølvaag was born in the family's cottage in a small fishing village on the island of Dønna, in the far southern district of Nordland county, Norway. Dønna, one of the largest islands on the northern coast of Norway, is situated about five miles from the Arctic Circle. He was born with the name Ole Edvart Pedersen, one of seven children of Peder Benjamin Jakobsen and Ellerine Pedersdatter Vaag. The settlement where he was born had no official name, but was referred to as Rølvaag, the name of a narrow bay on the northwestern point of the island where the fishermen kept their boats. At 14 years of age Rølvaag joined his father and brothers in the Lofoten fishing grounds. Rølvaag lived there until he was 20 years of age, and the impressions he received during the days of his childhood and his young manhood endured with him throughout his life.[2]

An uncle who had emigrated to America sent him a ticket in the summer of 1896, and he traveled to Union County, South Dakota to work as a farmhand. He settled in Elk Point, South Dakota, working as a farmhand until 1898. With the help of his pastor, Rølvaag enrolled in Augustana Academy in Canton, South Dakota where he graduated in 1901. He earned a bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1905, and a master's degree from the same institution in 1910. He also had studied for some time at the University of Oslo.

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like a Norse fairy tale, like a prose poem to the immigrant experience of America. The confusion and lonliness of young Nils Vaag, an only child who seeks the promise of a better life, is keenly felt as he walks the streets of Minneapolis. He believed the stories of streets paved in gold, unlimited opportunities, untold riches to be had, and decided to see for himself what it was all about.
He left behind a broken-hearted mother and father who lived for his letters and longed for his homecoming. Even though they still have each other, his leaving destroys any hope of their future plans with their son as the saviour and companion of their old age. But like most good parents, they supported that which would make him happy.
This novel elucidates the feelings and experiences of both sides of the immigrant coin: The hope and expectations of the young man who seeks a new life in a strange and wonderful new country, and those left behind who long for any word of the boy they love.
This was a rich novel and a joy to read. I was drawn into these characters lives and emotions with Rolvaag's language and descriptions of both the natural world of the sea and sky and land of Norway, and the urban streets of Minneapolis and it's boarding houses and neighborhoods. I got lost in these two worlds, which is high praise from me.

[Thechicgeek · Rating 5 out of 5]

O.E. Rolvaag has spoiled me. I read Giants in the Earth and now The Boat of Longing. Rolvaag's writing is just so incredibly rich, compelling, poetic and beautiful, that so many books pale in comparison. His titles are apt to him....He is a Giant and he keeps you Longing for more.
This is a story of a young Norwegian immigrant that comes to America seeking his fortune. Rolvaag, once again, weaves a delicious tale full of imagery, emotion, folklore, human relationships and love. Love for one's homeland, the love for those left behind, and the longing to find and create a better life. This compelling story leaves me pondering the elusive "American Dream." I am an American and I love America. Living in America doesn't always feel like a dream come true to me. Rolvaag gives us insight into the romanticized ideals of immigrants that creates their longing to come to America and to realize that dream. Choosing to follow our hearts and pursue our dreams is never easy. Rolvaag leaves me wondering if choosing to leave those we love and our life as we know it in search of more is worth the risk? For those with a wandering heart, imagination and curiosity for life, yes, the hardships are just a detour on the path. Those that travel and those that are left behind all pay a price. I am haunted by the ending of this story and only wish that Rolvaag were alive to write another.
I highly recommend this book. It was a sheer joy to read.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I enjoy Rølvaag's novels, and this was no exception, but as a work of literature it is nothing special or memorable. The symbolism is too contrived and obvious (the Boat of the title, the “Poet,” the two immigrant women who represent the Old World and the New World, etc.). Subplots and characters are dropped from the narrative, never to return. While this might mirror the experience of having people and events pass from one’s life in a flash, the way Rølvaag chooses to handle the transitions are forced and unrewarding. Trying to straddle the line between mythical mysticism (the open and closing sections) and the grim realities of immigrant life (the middle section, as represented by Nils and Jo’s experiences in America) just didn’t work for me, as the former felt out-of-place and the latter just wasn’t gritty enough, compared to other works of immigrant literature at the time. It’s a shame because I do like reading Rølvaag's fiction. I just didn’t think this was one of his best efforts. It was an enjoyable read, but had the potential to be so much more powerful.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the interplay between native mythology surrounding death, premonitions, intense live and devotion and loss of all kinds.

[Linda Harkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translations always leave me wishing I could have read the story in its original language. And, so it is with The Boat of Longing. It really is not as much a tale set in the Hurtigruten as an account of a family whose only son emigrates from Norway to the US, specifically to Minneapolis, hoping to make his fortune. Jo by the Sea and Mother Anna have all they need to live contentedly, but Nils must leave his parents in his late teens to seek a better life. Initially, he writes his parents but eventually loses contact. Brokenhearted, the introverted Jo by the Sea voyages to America only to be turned away when he cannot produce an affidavit from his son stating that Nils will support him. Jo returns to Mother Anna, finds his fishing boots and trawl lines, heads out to the Great Ocean itself, but is never again seen.

I apologize for the spoilers, but I doubt anyone in my circle will read this book. It was published in 1933, and I got it via interlibrary loan. No doubt it lost some of its punch through translation, but I persevered and am glad I did in that the story sheds light on the Norwegian psyche.

[Rasma Haidri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and very Norwegian tale. A bit uneven, and it even feels incomplete in parts, but what is there is so successful at rendering that semi-tragic, melancholic, nostalgic Norwegian mood. I live in the Nordland where he sets the Norwegian part of the novel, and I used to live in the US midwest where the American part is set. My grandparents were Norwegian immigrants a decade later than Rølvaag's character. I felt the novel gave me insight into the stumbling beginnings of the American Dream for these people who had less in America than what they left behind, with the single exception of a wild hope based on dreams or illusions of opportunity. But the loss of the Norwegian landscape remained with them like a phantom limb. It does not surprise me that Rølvaag loved this novel best.

[John Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of us who live in the Northern Plains of the US found much we could relate to in GIANTS IN THE EARTH, the story of a Norwegian immigrant family moving to this prairie landscape with its unremitting wind and long winters. It helps us be grateful for modern conveniences that make this area more livable. That books is less hopeful about settling in America, than this book that O.E. Rolvaag wrote just before his death in 1933. The book is written like a prose poem. The book begins in Nordland, Norway where the boy, Nils, works with his father, Jo, as a fisherman. His friend, Per, convinces Nil to move to Minneapolis with him. They settle in a part of a Minneapolis which is now paved over by the West Bank of the University of Minnesota, where I spent 6 years in graduate school. I found the descriptions of this area of town before it was bulldozed over to be quite interesting. He has a positive view of Minneapolis. He writes his parents, Jo and Anna, regularly but after working for a winter cutting trees in northern Minnesota, he quits writing. The last part of the book moves back to Norway and Jo setting out to America to find his son. I enjoyed this book quite well and enjoyed this story of the urban immigrant's experience.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excruciatingly slow in some places, profound and luminous in others. I enjoyed it for the descriptions of young Minneapolis, the stark Norwegian coast, the violin and the way he describes playing music, and the poetic use of language. From this novel I've selected my next handle, or nom de plume: Seatang and Kelp.

All the best in the new year,

--Seatang and Kelp

[Hannah Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, quiet, dreamy book.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tender portrait of a young Norwegians love of his parents and their fishing life in Norway, his emigration to the US and settling in Minnesota. So good.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark. Boat of Longing symbolizes death and is seen mystically and various times throughout the book. Begins in Norway and continues in Minneapolis in the 1800's. It reminds me of signs of death, i.e., seeing friends and family who have already died. Those dying see and reach for the dead. Throughout the book Rolvaag compares the idealized life Norwegians thought they would find in America and the reality of daily life. Note: Rolvaag was a professor at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. After reading a second time for Ager book group I expanded the meaning of the longing to not just for the dead. I was also interesting to picture immigrants walking along Hennepin and other Minneapolis landmarks with the local residents. Note: Babel was a descriptive name for a boarding house that had immigrants from many countries.

[Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely the best of the five or so books I've read about Scandinavian immigration to the upper midwest. It could be because the urban setting matches my own experience better, but I also appreciated the mythological themes, Rolvaag's complex characterization, and impressionistic nature scenes (although these last can be overwrought and oblique sometimes).

[Ambior Sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting, but I finished feeling a bit unfulfilled, disappointed. I enjoyed the beginning in Norway--the wild, beautiful, somewhat sad isolation of the place and people in his family, and I enjoyed his discovery of Minneapolis and the diversity there, but the story sort of petered out at the end.

[Jean Carlton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. A look at the experience of the parents whose children head to America....the pain, the longing. The experiences of both sides of the situation. It tugged at my heart. Great writing - poignant story. (2011)

2nd reading (2017) ...ditto above!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shining example of why I love my book club---I would have never sought out this book on my own, but it was a beautiful, shimmering book that I still picture as a boat on the horizon of a blazing sun.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystical, poetic book of tragic longing. This novel tells the story of a young Norwegian immigrant and the family he leaves behind. Rolvaag's telling of this immigrant story, first published in 1933, surpasses many of the immigrant stories we see in today's literature.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tragic beauty.

[Marie Ash-Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another brilliant book by author/professor/immigrant Ole Rolvaag. I highly recommend this book as I do all of his books.

[Per O · Rating 5 out of 5]

The saddest book I have read and the most beautiful.