Fiction_CLASSICS

Mysteries is a classic of European literature, one of the seminal novels of the twentieth century. It is the story of Johan Nagel, a strange young man who arrives in a small Norwegian coastal town in order to spend the summer. His presence acts as a catalyst, releasing the hidden impulses, concealed thoughts and darker instincts of the local people. Cursed with the ability to understand the human soul, especially his own, Nagel can foresee, but cannot prevent, his self-destruction.

One evening in Rome, in the beginning of the last century, two people meet in the street: researcher Helge Gram and painter Jenny Winge. They embark on an affair, and when they meet again in Kristiania, Helge introduces Jenny to his family. Helge’s parents are living in a sinister marriage, something Helge is clearly marked by. This becomes a heavy burden to Jenny’s and Helge’s relationship, and after a while, they split up. Jenny, however discovers that she has much in common with Helge’s father; something which in turn leads him to leave his wife. This new relationship is soon to have tragic consequences for Jenny’s life. Jenny, the novel that marked Undset’s breakthrough as a modern writer, is an intelligent novel about one woman’s dream of love and her tragic fight to make that dream come true. Undset reveals a truth that has been hard for the modern individual to accept; that there is no necessary connection between freedom and happiness.

Imaginative and intelligent, Alberta is a misfit trapped in a stiflingly provincial town in the far north of Norway whose only affinity is for her extrovert brother Jacob. Combining mastery of style and characterization with brilliant descriptive writing, this powerful story of a young woman’s rebellion is universally regarded as one of the greatest novels to come from Scandinavia.
«Ahead of her time . . . like Virginia Woolf though much tougher. A classic.» Times Literary Supplement

In this first volume of the Bjørndal-trilogy, Beyond Sing the Woods, we get acquainted with the Bjørndal family and the limited reality in the village where they live.
We witness how the position of the family makes it the focus of attention in the villages, and how gossip, envy and evil become part of the family’s reality. We encounter everything: love, dilemmas, and the troubles of finding the right solutions and living the lives they should.
Few family novels have ever succeeded in making the people and the life they led so alive and real as Gulbranssen does in this book.
The trilogy:The Wind from the Mountains, No Way Around
The books became an unparalleled success with critics and readers alike, with an estimated total print run of 12 million.

“A tall, stork-like man” enters the night train on the central station in Oslo. He is the 32 year old composer Ask Burle, and he is heading home to bury his younger brother Balder. And there, in the shaking, darkened sleeping car, Ask starts searching his memories of lost times. From here, the captivating story of one of the greatest Norwegian post-war novels unfolds. It is a vital and tender knock-out of a novel.

A compelling and ambitious tale of suffering and redemption – set in Norway. Idun Hov could have led a normal life. She is no less intelligent than her successful twin sister, Kathrine – a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker – but a succession of traumatic childhood experiences condemn Idun to a life spent mostly in a mental hospital (at her sister’s instigation). There she begins to write. The trials of her own life and of Norway itself enter her writing: her experiences fuse with the German occupation of her country, the shame of collaboration, and the moral and spiritual upheavals of a small nation, and of a sister, betrayed. This is a luminous novel, written with the finest psychological insight and a streak of devastating black comedy. Shame was the winner of the prestigious Norwegian Critics’ Award in 1997.