Hunger - Knut Hamsun BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2015
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Hunger is 'Better Than Food'?
I know, hard to swallow.
@@BetterThanFoodBookReviews hahaha
That was a good one, but the reply of #Better Than Food's reply wasn't bad either.
I'm halfway through...had me like , " is this Raskolnikov's long lost brother?"
Enjoying it so far.
ive read crime and punishment right before reading hunger and i've thought exactly the same!
Couldn't agree more
I read hunger first, and subsequently crime and punishment some years later. The resemblance was striking :O
Great observation. Hamsun was a great fan of Dostovjeski.
Apples and oranges...
Dostoevsky was a slave of Tsarist Russia - Orthodoxy oppressive mentality and had an addictive personality. Hamsun was a Free Man. Dostoevsky wrote in Russian - a language that can be poetical, but never philosophical. Hamsun wrote in Danish-Norwegian, a language that has all the philosophical qualities of High German, plus the northen mysticism-infused poetry that nourished Hamsun during his childhood in Nordland.
Besides, if you think that Sult is a book about "hunger", you haven't understood it.
"To translate is to betray". Never listen to "experts" who talk about books written in a language that they don't master. If you like Hamsun, learn Norwegian.
Nobody takes seriously a "Shakespeare" expert who doesn't speak perfect English.
This is still stand-out for me:
“God had poked His finger down into my nerves and gently, almost without thinking, brought a little confusion among those threads. And God had pulled His finger back, and behold--there were filaments and fine rootlike threads on His finger from the threads of my nerves. And there remained an open hole behind His finger which was the finger of God, and a wound in my brain behind the path of His finger.But after God had touched me with the finger of His hand, He let me be and touched me no more and let nothing evil come upon me. He let me depart in peace and He let me depart with the open hole. And nothing evil will come upon me from God who is the Lord through all Eternity....”
Book gave me impression that protagonist tries to fool us into believing him. He is a liar, dying of his own stupidity and pride. His prison is his mind.
Your interpretation is on point. My own experience is that I can relate to the protagonist in this book because I have the same problem in communicating my own needs if I need help. Instead of that i play like the protagonist „the big men“. It’s true he is a liar and victim of his own pride.
A pity that the author haven’t wrote in this book how he solved his problem and destroyed his ego.
In the end the Book is a description of the horror about a person who is going more and more mad by distancing of society and liar to himself.
(The K in Knut is not silent!) :)
Excellent review! I always find it so refreshing to hear you talk about books that I absolutely love which otherwise, to my great dismay, are usually never discussed on any of the other BookTube channels that I frequent! :)
+Brixton Sandhals Thank ya for catching that one, glad you're enjoying!
+Brixton Sandhals Which other BookTube channels do you frequent?
@@BetterThanFoodBookReviews Knut is pronounced like Canute, but without the A.
Really great Review once again. You're slowly becoming my favorite UA-camr.
your reviews, aside from reminding me of all the books I would like to read, are wonderful, always!
I'm really loving the commitment and quality you're putting into the channel(s), Cliff. I'm finding myself coming to youtube solely for your reviews now
+Tim Hernandez Quality? It's just a random guy sitting in front of a camera, recording his views on some crappy books.
+futureskeptic Well yeah, no. Some people are terrible at forming their thoughts effectively on camera, and I personally enjoy what's recommended on this channel
+futureskeptic Crappy books? Oh, you poor dear. You're one of those, aren't you? One of those illiterates. You either don't read or don't read anything deprived of wizards or vampires or with a reading level above that of a fifteen year old girl obsessed with romance and shiny things, which is as good as not reading at all.
kyle whitehead I only read books on philosophy and science. Btw, not all the books he reviews are lame, but most of them are. Seriously, who gives a rhino's testicle about a banjo players' autobiography?
futureskeptic Beckett. Bukowski. Houellebecq. John Milton. Not "lame" by any stretch of the imagination. And if you don't even read novels and therefore haven't read anything he's spoken about, what are you doing passing off your uninformed prejudice as an opinion?
Have you ever read Of Human Bondage? Would make for a great review
Yaay! I feel honoured that you reviewed a book i suggested, though i'm sure I wasn't the only factor. Thank you so much, you really gave me an even deeper appreciation for this great psychological book. A true descent into mental despair. i'll throw you some more suggestions soon. Merci and adios my friend.
You should check out Mysteries by Knut as well!
Every book I'm searching for a review there is always a video from you!
Especially the gritty ones...
Great work overall, enjoying your content
You really love literature. I like your attitude.
About f***ing time. I've been on a hunger strike waiting for this review.
You actually made me want to read Hamsun again, I did not see that coming.
I read this book when I was 14. It would probably be a completely different experience now as a more mature reader, even though I liked it back then as well.
That book is not for 14-year olds... At 28 ome m i g h t start touching it. it's nuts!
Wonderful review, I feel like I've already read the book with your descriptive and vibrant review. Enjoyable!
As a Norwegian, and as someone who has read several biographies of Hamsun, I've come to speculate that the reason Hamsun was a Nazi-sympathizer is actually because he hated the British, and less that he loved the ideology of Nazism in particular. He was in many ways a romantic, who hated modern living and the industrialization that was going on before and during his life, and I think that he saw the British as a source of that industrialization, and didn't want the rural farm life of Norway to disappear, hence he opportunistically supported the Germans because he believed they might allow the continuation of that kind of life in Europe and stop the spreading of the work houses and industrial centers that were increasingly becoming part of the European landscape. I might be wrong though, as I said, only speculation.
Anyway, good review and yes, a great book indeed! :)
Indeed. He quite clearly was infatuated by Hitler. And yet when he finally got an invitation to meet Hitler, he asked Hitler to get Terboven to stop arresting and torturing Norwegian citizens, which made Hitler furious.
You are dangerous and sick.
I'm pretty sure this was Heidegger's rationale as well (i.e. the threat of industrialization of other major powers, not necessarily just Britain).
Tom you more than anyone
Hooga *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
Other reviews for this book on YT are incomprehensibly moronic.
Yes, could not agree more!
hows that Herman Miller Aeron Chair treating you?
thanks! because of this review I went down to our grandmas old books to look at Hamsund again and found a first edition of his collected works with a Signed copy of hunger in Norwegian 😄
Edward RM WOW - very cool, hope that's yours one day, tell Grandma she has excellent taste.
Definitely going to try to read this one. Love the reviews man.
+ZacharyIslazy Thankya
Hello i just found out about this channel today . i want to work on an absurdist novel for my Dissertation . would you recommend a very interesting one please ?
Irene Silver *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
this is in my crate of unread books. been waiting for it to get cold to try it.
Another wonderful review, will certainly pick up through your link. Keep em up. The more decadent the better. Recommendation: Agua Viva by Clarice Lispector.
I am swedish who used to live in Norway and really impressed how you are giving time tö sö much greät änd glörious Skandinavisk litteratur. You have the Vikings respect!
Being a huge Hamsun fan Mysteries and Pan are his masterpieces
Hello from Colombia. I have read in spanish two of his titles, Growth of the Soil, and Trilogía del Vagabundo, which really consists of three books. I have loved Hamsun, and his prose. I am actually reading "Hunger". Greetings from Colombia.
Greetings! Great country, glad to have you watching Juan, hope all is well - any Columbian authors you'd recommend?
I first heard of the book when it was dramatised and broadcast on R3 in 1981. Stephen Rea played the writer. Well worth reading especially when you are in your early twenties and fond of books by people like Camus and Dostoevsky
Thanks Clifford.
If your into Norwegian litterature. I would defintlely reccomend a novel called "The Violins" or in Norwegian "Fiolinane" by a writer called Jan Roar Leikvoll. So far it isn't translated into english, but some of his other novels are. Sadly he died in 2014 only 40 years old. Trought his life he had a brain tumor which is said to have had an affection on his unique, poetic, and grotesque writing style.
Just read it. Loved it.
But what if you go home with someone and the whole collection of books isn't really there's ?
I just finnished a book called Perfume, by patrick suskind. I really think you'll love it! you're videos are amazing by the way!!!
That is a great suggestion! Beautiful book.
Yes. It’s a great one
Happy birthday to you! Thank you!
Wow nice channel! interesting and informative. An excellent book choice. Subscribed.
Hey, very good idea for a channel on yt, I have just found it, so I will surely look it up and read some books of your recommendation... I don't know if you consider viewers suggestions, but I would like to recommend you Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun, I think it shows more why he won Nobel Prize... Anyway, great job, and lot of greetings and support from Serbia...
Thank you for taking the time to Make this video.
One of my favorite books.
Very impressive book and good observation
Great review, I can't seem to get into Hamsun myself though even he's basically required reading over here.
By the way, are you ever going to review some poetry collections or do you just want to stick to prose?
+Gaydolf Schmitler Nah the poetry is coming, and some philosophy too once I get it together here. Thanks for watching!
Have you seen the movie? Hunger (1966) Hope you'll enjoy it.
+Hymn to Art
The book is way better
*Swedish-Norwegian production with Per Oscarsson as the protagonist. I also recommend Knut Hamsun biopic with the great, late Max von Sydow as Hamsun* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
A good friend of mine lives just 5 mins from "Nørholmen Gård" wich is the house Hamsun bought after winning the Nobel Price. Hamsun lived his last years in that house. Driving past that house with my Grandpa when I was little, and he telling me that a great writer called Hamsun lived in that house we are driving past right over there was how I discovered Hamsun in the first place.
kult
hi do you have a summary in text of the book Hunger
+Firoz Khan
The main character lives a poor life in Oslo with little to no belongings, but with great pride and creativity to such a degree that he always makes sure he has enough money to dress properly and cut his hair. He also tries to earn money by writing articles.
Various forms of hunger (hunger for food, for success, for love, and for owning stuff for example) makes the main character daydream, hallucinate, suffer from mood swings, and being alienated from the rest of the society, and he eventually realizes that he's lost contact with reality and leaves on a boat.
Firoz Khan *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
Thank you for the great book reviews. Keep them coming.
I just finished this book. I bought it on your review. I think the book should be titled PRIDE. The author had many opportunities to eat (like being listed as homeless and eating in the jail) and being in places that inspire him (the city square). Instead he's more interested in complaining about his life and his choices. Even when given the opportunity to eat (say when the landlady gives him 10 Kroner) he refuses it out of pride.
thats the point tho... he acts irrationally, its literally one of the core parts of the book: humans are fucked and not rational at all
Ecstatic that you're covering this one. Truly one of the most raw and depressing books ever written.
Also, you deserve every shred of exposure you can get on this site. You're like The Needle Drop of books!
+G. R. R. Tolkien It would be so cool if Better than Food could cohost an episode on one of Anthony's podcasts.
That would be pretty damn cool.
It's no where near one of the most depressing books ever written, it even has a sort of happy ending!
Ligotti's first two collections just got a Penguin Classics reissue. you should review 'em!
It is amazing.
Why haven't I read this yet?
I read this book completely at random, just from the title. Knowing nothing I chose it from Gutenberg.org
I was quite impressed and probably read it in a day or two. (It's been a few years). I liked the refusal to admit reality, and how his viewpoint would change depending on his fortune that day.
Based Knut Hamsun
this book is one giant ED trigger.
love it!
well not really that giant since it has up to 200 pages but anyway
He is a reliable narrator. Rest is cool :)
“It helped a little,” at the very end of his rant should be read with more cadence. The beauty of Hamsun and why he blows every other writer out of the art in general is because of his subtle comments, like the one you read. It’s imperative to catch these things when reading Hamsun and not take them for granted. The true master of all writers; in my opinion, of course.
Growing those nails out for finger style guitar playing?
Great Review, Great Channel!
Suggestion- Chess Story By Stefan Zweig
He was the genius. "The Hunger" is masterpiece.
Dex Jelo o *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
Is that a plastic cup? Are you drinking from a plastic cup at home?
Amazing author
did knut hamsun really cut his own leg?
Yes, he ate it
Why I’m l too late for this review 🤨
I was about 5 pages into this book, and then I realized Ylayali isn't not even the girl's real name, just a name that calls out to the narrator due to hunger-based hallucinations. I was like NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOOOOOOOOOPE - I had to get rid of it.
Brian Ray *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
You should read The Growth of the Soil. Nuanced, simple, and the crown jewel that won him the Nobel Prize.
5:20 which page is that?
Not sure, you may find on google
nevermind, found it. page 151
Also Andreas Latsko Men in War is fucking one of a kind, and short read.
You look very nice in that lovely white shirt Sir.
5:20 which page is that?? its for homework. please answer quickly!!!
you pronounce the 'k' in 'Knut' to its like "K-Nute" :)
A rapper, Q'nute!
Excellent reflections. I've never read anything that old quite like it...a descent into madness and despairing humiliation with absurd humor. I thought it must have been written in the 1920s, not the 1880s!
i am reading this book. great review. i suggest all young writers read every knut hamsun novel pre-'growth of the soil'.
also, dude you should be acting in like noah baumbach films but please, just for me, cut your finger nails, please.
also please keep on reviewing.
peace brother
just discovering you chan' man! fuckin' good job damn! Keep it up!
Manuel Coatentiec of course man, thanks for watchin
What's that you're drinking Cliff?
+Andy McKinney dat cold brew
Ram and Coke, I think
Sisay Gebre-Egziabher *RUM! Türk Havva Yollari!*
Reminds me of nausea
Norwegian version of Raskolnikov.
I read this when I was a law student bugging off from my classes (40 years ago), and I pretty much identified with him. Been better off reading Crime and Punishment, but then I'd probably have murdered someone.
Patrick S *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
Wish my literature teacher was as handsome as you!
TheTravinch *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
I read "Hunger" years ago. I liked it, but wasn't blown away. My friends think there's something wrong with me. I'll have to re-visit Hamsun one of these days and give him another try. Especially after that bit about pissing off HItler. Good review.
J. Cloyd *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
I'm with you. I'm reading this at 39 and feel like it's a Herman Hesse novel minus a plot.
This is truly one of the best books ever written.
Tom *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
Why it’s one of the best for you? Is it still or did your change your mind? Your comment is five years old...
I'm trying. It came highly recommended but I'm not getting much out of it. It just feels like a Hesse book minus a proper plot. Maybe I'm too old or too lame.
Your pronunciation of Knut Hamsun and Sult caused my spinal cord to rupture in cringe.
" Noot Hamsen "
"I was reading it while walking in the street...it was always raining...Bukowski used to say...by the way his name Noot" 😬eww
Nothing is better than food! Paradox. I just want to know how you say the author's name. Not listen to a Bukowski/Hamsun impression! Sweet! You said it! I'm out!
Melissa Moose *He read Nietzsche, too much!* ua-cam.com/video/XwWVuNG4hSw/v-deo.html
The blurb on my cover of "Hunger" read - "One of the most disturbing novels in existence". It really wasn't that disturbing. Good read, but not that disturbing. Cormac McCarthy has more disturbing stuff. Tim O'Brien has more disturbing stuff.
Interesting, but your finger nails need a trim.
A well-written book, but I absolutely hated the protagonist.
*Solid contribution! Thanks, Merci, Kiitos, Danke, Tack. Kapp Khun Kapp. Johnnie de Bangkok straight from T H A I L A N D* ua-cam.com/video/nnwi5oxrv7w/v-deo.html
So, Hitler wasn't quite as evil as we've all been told by the sounds of it. Who'd have thought.
lol what do you mean? he wasnt that evil because he hung out with Hamsun, or...?
This review stinks.