Det gode samvite

by Olav Duun

Translated from the Norwegian by Edwin Bjorkman. Olav Duun (November 21, 1876 - September 13, 1939) was a noteworthy author of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He once lacked only one vote to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

304 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Olav Duun was a noteworthy author of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He stands as a remarkable synthesis of the Norwegian folk spirit and the European cultural form. The most notable works are his six volume, The People of Juvik, which deals with four generations of a family of peasant landowners. He once lacked only one vote to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was nominated twenty-four times, in fourteen years.

Olav Duun er en av de viktigste nynorskforfatterne fra første halvdel av 1900-tallet. Med en bakgrunn som fisker i Namdalen i Nord-Trøndelag kunne han skildre tilværelsen langs kysten friskt og livaktig, i et språk som var preget av dialekten hans.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lars Leeness is a man with little moral sense, prone to dishonest dealing. Per Burland, his neighbor across the fjord, is a proud man who once shares in his neighbor's dishonesty, and feels that the ever deepening tragedy his household falls into is the price they all pay for his sins. Through the generations, Burland and Leeness and their children strive to come to terms with the deeds of their past, with the agony of a troubled conscience, and with the guilt of their loved ones. Small tragedies give way to great betrayals, and even greater forgiveness, all of which these people find hard to bear. Some of them deny they have a conscience at all; only to find, in the aftermath of their actions, that their conscience can still drive them to places they would never have guessed. Olav Duun writes with plain prose that often rises momentarily to moments of high poetry, especially in evoking the mood of the Norwegian fjord and the life of the old farmstead in changing times. His writing is easy to read; I often found myself up late at night continuing to read, unable to stop reading. His voice is unpolished and colloquial (fitting, as in its original Norwegian the book was written in landsmaal, the peasant dialect), but flows like water in a clear mountain spring. Truly beautiful writing, and a truly beautiful story.