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ROSA by Knut Hamsun

ROSA

by Knut Hamsun

Pub Date: Jan. 26th, 1998
ISBN: 1-55713-259-X

Rosa ($12.95 paperback original; Jan. 26, 1998; 256 pp.; 1-55713-259-X): A vigorously colloquial new translation of the great Norwegian novelist's 1909 tragicomedy, which bears an interesting incidental resemblance to Willa Cather's A Lost Lady. Like several of Hamsun's stories, it concerns the ``education'' of a young wanderer (a talented painter, Parelius) recently arrived in a fishing village (Sirilund) and thrown headlong into its inhabitants' disorderly lives. The relationships among the beautiful ``widow'' Rosa, the adoring Parelius, the wealthy shipowner (Hartvigsen), who means to add Rosa to his possessions, and a most surprising visitor from the past are explored with masterly skill. Altogether, an absorbing narrative that amply displays its author's narrative economy and gift for vivid characterizations. Translator Lyngstad has given new life to one of Hamsun's most underrated works.