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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.82372
EAN: 9780141181288
ISBN: 0141181281
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 448
Publication Date: 1999-11-01
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Studio: Penguin Classics

In Kristin Lavransdatter (1920-1922), Sigrid Undset interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century. The trilogy, however, is more than a journey into the past. Undset's own life—her familiarity with Norse sagas and folklore and with a wide range of medieval literature, her experiences as a daughter, wife, and mother, and her deep religious faith—profoundly influenced her writing. Her grasp of the connections between past and present and of human nature itself, combined with the extraordinary quality of her writing, sets her works far above the genre of "historical novels." This new translation by Tina Nunnally—the first English version since Charles Archer's translation in the 1920s—captures Undset's strengths as a stylist. Nunnally, an award-winning translator, retains the natural dialog and lyrical flow of the original Norwegian, with its echoes of Old Norse legends, while deftly avoiding the stilted language and false archaisms of Archer's translation. In addition, she restores key passages left out of that edition.

Undset's ability to present a meticulously accurate historical portrait without sacrificing the poetry and narrative drive of masterful storytelling was particularly significant in her homeland. Granted independence in 1905 after five hundred years of foreign domination, Norway was eager to reclaim its national history and culture. Kristin Lavransdatter became a touchstone for Undset's contemporaries, and continues to be widely read by Norwegians today. In the more than 75 years since it was first published, it has also become a favorite throughout the world.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics)
Review: A great book for those who love to read good literature.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: After the Romance
Review: Most romance novels present us with the trials and tribulations of star-crossed lovers, who in the end marry and live happily ever after. The first volume of Sigrid Undset's fine trilogy, THE WREATH, took us through the romance between Kristin Lavransdatter and Erland, concluding in their wedding. Unlike most romance novels, however, that novel foreshadowed the difficulties that the protagonists were likely to encounter in marriage. THE WIFE is the story of that marriage, with all of its strengths and weaknesses.

Once again, Undset succeeds in depicting a wide range of real people, in all their human glory. Kristin begins the novel with a pilgrimage in penance for her sin (she was already pregnant on her wedding day), and while she finds forgiveness, she struggles through the rest of the novel to learn how to forgive her husband. Erland begins the novel as an irresponsible man who seems lucky to have someone like Kristin. By the end of the novel, we see him rising above anything that could have been expected of him as he faces torture and imprisonment with dignity. There are no good guys and bad guys here, just human beings doing their best, yet struggling with their own passions and limitations. Undset's insight into the human condition is remarkable. And while Kristin and Erland do not achieve the illusory, romantic happiness that is celebrated in most romance novels, they find themselves with something much richer: a marriage in which a husband and a wife have learned to love each other in full knowledge of their mutual failings.

Undset was a great student of human nature, and she particularly understood our failings and our need to find redemption. By the end of the novel, Kristin has learned much in life, but her journey is not yet over. And so we move on to the final volume, THE CROSS.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Kristin Lavransdatter II, The Bride
Review: Sigrid Undset was the first woman to win the Nobel prize for literature. Since Kristin Lavransdatter was first published in America in the 1920s, succeeding generations have read it and found Kristin and Erland's story resonated in their hearts in a way that few books do. Undset has the rare gift of understanding the inner feelings of men as well as women.

Those who have struggled with the artificially archaic language of Charles Archer's translation will welcome this new version by Tiina Nunnally. She has also restored some parts that Archer eliminated, perhaps because he found them too sexually explicit for readers of English in the 1920s.

But, by all means start with the first volume, which, with volume III, is also available in the Nunnally translation.

Edmond Bliven

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Heart of the Medieval Mind
Review: Sigrid Undset perfectly captures one of the essential personal conflicts of the Middle Ages: the strictures of the Church and a patriarchal society on love and marriage. Having followed her heart and her feelings of love, Kristin is unfortunately therefore placed at odds with her family and the Church. Her search for reconciliation (or at least some accomodation) is fascinating, a marvelous spiritual journey. The typical medieval mind often had the terror of hellfire hanging over it, and we see this in the early part of this novel, as Kristin, full of guilt, makes a pilgrimage with her newborn son to find redemption. The politics of feudalism eventually intrude and complicate her life, as her husband becomes more involved in court intrigues. This translation is most excellent: it beats the silly pseudo-Old English one from the 1920's. I hope Tiina Nunnally will eventually translate all of Undset's works!

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: What a great read!
Review: This book is simply wonderful! I cannot wait until the third volume of this excellent translation is released. Kristen's life, though lived on a different continent, in a very different culture and society, so many ages ago, rings so true to contemporary life. The trials and joys that she experiences make this book a wonderful read. And what a romance it is, too! If your looking for a good story by a good storyteller, pick this up--start with the first book, though!

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