HUNGER

Knut Hamsun

Hunger

by Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) Translated by George Egerton

Hunger (Norwegian: Sult,), by Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun, was published in its final form in 1890. It has been hailed as the literary opening of the 20th century and an outstanding example of modern, psychology- driven literature. The novel is loosely based on the author's own impoverished life before his breakthrough in 1890. Set in late 19th century Kristiania, Hunger recounts the adventures of a starving young man whose sense of reality is giving way to a delusionary existence on the darker side of a modern metropolis. While he vainly tries to maintain an outer shell of respectability, his mental and physical decay are recounted in detail. His ordeal, enhanced by his inability or unwillingness to pursue a professional career, which he deems unfit for someone of his abilities, is pictured in a series of encounters which Hamsun himself described as ‘a series of analyses.’ In many ways, the protagonist of the novel displays traits reminiscent of Raskolnikov, whose creator, Fyodor Dostoevsky, was one of Hamsun's main influences. (Wikipedia)

Total running time: 6:46:52 Read by Greg W.

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Cover design: Kathryn Delaney Cover art: Self-Portrait, The Night Wanderer, by Edvard Munch (1923)

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