Veien til verdens ende

by Sigurd Hoel

Romanen er først og fremst en barndomsskildring, bygd på forfatterens egne inntrykk og opplevelser fra barneårene. Men ved siden av disse erindringer fra guttens tredje til hans femtende år inneholder den skildringer av bygda og bygdefolket.

Genres: Fiction, Classics

238 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Sigurd Hoel was a Norwegian author and publishing consultant.
His literary career began with the short story «Idioten» («the Idiot») from 1918, when he won a writing contest. The same year he became an employee of «Socialdemokraten» («The Social Democrat», a newspaper) as a literature and theater critic.

In 1924 he traveled to Berlin to study socialism, and there he wrote his first novel, «Syvstjernen» (The Seven Star), before moving to Paris for a short time.

During the war Hoel and his wife went back to Odalen. He participated in the Resistance, and wrote articles for the Resistance press. In 1943 he was forced to flee to Sweden.

Hoel had a short connection to the landsmål movement, but later played an active part in the riksmål campaign. He was among the founders of the Author's Association of 1952 and was the chairman of the Riksmålsforbundet from 1956 to 1959.

As the main consultant for Norwegian and translated literature for Gyldendal publishing, Hoel made an impression on a whole generation of Norwegian literature. From 1929-1959 Hoel was the editor of the publisher's «Gold Series», where he introduced a number of foreign authors, often with an astounding foresight for which works would remain. The series comprised 101 books—among others, works from authors such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Franz Kafka. Hoel wrote prefaces for all of the books.

Reviews

[Sverre · Rating 2 out of 5]

A peculiar narrative placed in rural mountainous inland Norway in the 1920s written from the perspective of Anders, a boy growing up on the family farm with parents, siblings, servants and laborers. From beginning to end the book takes us through Anders’ life from his early childhood to his youth. Part I, titled ‘The Garden of Eden’, comprises his childhood. Anders is a very introspective, sensitive and apprehensive boy whose insecurity overshadows his formative years. Much of his time is spent trying to interpret the behaviors and customs of the adults in his surroundings. In Part II, titled ‘The Hamlet’, he becomes of school age and by the book’s conclusion he has his Christian confirmation although he is none too sure about God or theological propositions. He has a strained relationship with his father. One of the elderly farm workers, a woodsman, endears himself to Anders.

The book is completely involved with the narrow provincial environment. The influence of the outside world is almost nonexistent. Peoples’ mindsets are parochial, lacking any sophistication. Only one chapter of the book gives the reader any emotional involvement in what is happening. The rest of the book is lamentably melancholic although some incidents are provocative and even humorous. Anders can definitely be described as an anti-hero. The best I could feel about him was compassionate sympathy. Hoel was a popular author whom I have appreciated however I found this work to be quaint but a labored presentation. It is a good resource for someone interested in the rural lifestyle of backwoods Norway of one hundred years ago but would hold little attraction for most modern readers—especially non-Nordics

[Maren · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could rate this zero stars, I would.

[Lars Stian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sigurd Hoel, heder det sig, er en af Norges største forfattere. Underligt da, at han er så aldeles talentfattig. Ikke én linje i bogen var af nogensomhelst kunstnerisk kvalitet, efter min mening. Fortællerkunsten er vaklende og den forekommer mig underligt fremmed og upersonlig. Titlen er lovende - Veien til verdens ende - jeg forventede en roman med indsigtsfulde idéer, dybde, klogskab, et cetera - men den er ikkun pseudointellektuel, kvasidyb, den koger over af falskhed, zitrer af skinhellighed, det er en forfatter som trætter med mange ord i håb om at skjule for sin egen mangel på kunskab og talent.

To citater, som giver exempler på hvor irriterende forfatterens åbenbare selvfornøiethed af hvad han selv må have troet var meget dybt kan være: "Verden er stor og farlig. Like ved huset er den ikke så farlig, men lenger borte blir den farlig. Bak låven er den nokså farlig, for der kan han ikke se huset. Og nede i havnehaven er den fælt farlig, for der går oksekalven. (...) Det farlige han ikke har sett er farlig. Men det farlige han har sett er enda farligere. Farligst er feieren og Kall Nordavind" - man bliver jo udmattet af denne gjentagelse af ordet "farlig" og irriteres grendsesløst over dette kvasidybe fjas; forfatteren evner ikke skildre et barns sindelag. Gabriel Scott får det til så uendeligt meget bedre. Selv på Scotts verste, skriver han iallefald bedre, end dette trættende fjaset. "Verden er dager og netter. Nettene er anderledes enn dagene. Oftest sover han og vet ikke om det. Men av og til våkner han, og allting er mørkt og farlig (Atter dette satans "farlig") og anderledes, og han kan ikke se noget og graver hodet inn under teppet for å slippe å se." Dette skal kanske være dybt, kanske poetisk, jeg kan ærlig ikke sige, jeg forstår hensigten, thi det er ligeså mislykket hvad det nu end skal være. Dybt er det ikke, poetisk er det ikke, skjønt er det ikke, kun banalt. Altsammen er så inderligt banalt. Børnesind er blevet skildret uendelig meget bedre før. Et menneskets fulde udvikling og følelsesliv er blevet bedre behandlet et tusend ganger før. Jeg ser intet af verdi i denne bogen.

Sigurd Hoel tog del i sin tids kulturkamp - hvor han stod i den kulturfiendtlige kreds. Hans livssyn i denne tid, slig som den fremkommer igjennem hans digtning, er ligeså tynd og bleg og mangelfuld som hans skrivetalent. Han har nu dét tilfælles med sine allierede, Helge Krog og Nordahl Grieg, at han ikke kunde skrive, at han ikke viser noget tegn til dygtighed indenfor tænkingens område, og idethele ikke har tilbudt noget af kvalitet, kun slige trættende bind af en række ord, hvoraf den norske litteratur ikke har fået nogen gavn.

Ronald Fangen, Hoels samtidige, er en langt bedre forfatter. Ja, ligesom hos hans fiender kan undertiden kunsten vige og blegne lidt for tankens og filosofiens skyld. Men Fangen kan iallefald tænke. Han er belæst, han er meget klog, hans En lysets engel bør udrydde enhver lille tvivl om netop dette.

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

En fin og god bok. Begynte nesten å gråte noen ganger, men det var ikke mye som skjedde

[Tor Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/3

[Tidsfordriv · Rating 1 out of 5]

«Den kjedeligste boken jeg noensinne har lest» skrev jeg ned i notatene mine da jeg leste den. Står for det.

[Bent Andreassen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 pluss

[Åsne Sandvik · Rating 5 out of 5]

For en innsikt i barnet og barnets perspektiv, sjelden bra skildring!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enchanting stream-of-consciousness depiction of a young boy's childhood on a Norwegian farm. The book has two parts. The first half begins when the boy is about four years old and stays with him for close to two years; the second half covers more ground, taking the boy into his early adolescence. The focus here is all on the small yet mesmerizing events and objects of a childhood, and on the slow, exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying exploration of both one's own imagination and concrete surroundings. Thematically, the territory covered here might have been drawn from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in college for a course discussing adolescents in Scandinavia in the early 1900s. I love the viewpoint from which the book is written. It really makes you think about one remembers as a child and how much affect it has.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seeing the world through the eyes of a child. Started out well, but slowed down towards the end. Worth reading

[Elise Weseth]

Nydelig barndomsskildring.