Growth of the Soil

Peasant characters simply trying to live life in the Norwegian backcountry learn to face tragedy and evil, without experiencing absolute disaster, in Knut Hamsun’s Growth of the Soil. Thanks in part to a simplistic writing style and calm, almost detached third-person point-of-view, Hamsum blends misery and misfortune with tenderness, wisdom, and even humor. Readers come to learn from and identify with the fortitude, principals, and inner strength of these souls throughout their epic tale of early settler life.