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Kristin Lavransdatter (2005)

Kristin Lavransdatter (2005)
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Book Info

Author
Sigrid Undset
Genre
Poetry
Series
kristin lavransdatter
Rating
4.26 of 5 Votes: 5
Your rating
ISBN
0143039164 (ISBN13: 9780143039167)
Language
English
Publisher
penguin classics
Shops
Amazon.com,  Barnes & Noble
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About book Kristin Lavransdatter (2005)

Che tortura! Ne avrei sospeso la lettura già dopo i primi cinque capitoli, ma mi ero imposta di finirlo sia perché lo stavo leggendo insieme ad altri utenti sia perché speravo che migliorasse. Della Undset avevo già letto Jenny e mi era piaciuto nonostante una partenza lenta che non prometteva nulla di buono. Tutto il libro ruota intorno a Kristin figlia di Lavrans e seguiamo la sua vita dall'infanzia fino alla morte; la storia è ambientata nella Norvegia medievale. Kristin è il personaggio più odioso che abbia mai incontrato. Vuole comportarsi da persona devota, casta e pia ma è orgogliosa, prepotente ed egocentrica. Un po' tutti i personaggi sono contraddittori e cambiano comportamento da un momento all'altro senza che il lettore ne capisca il motivo; sembrano leggermente isterici. Non so se è colpa della scrittrice o della traduzione; questa, infatti, lascia molto a desiderare. Alcune volte si ha l'impressione che manchino dei pezzi nella storia e non si riesce a capire il motivo di alcune reazioni dei personaggi. Anche in questo caso non so se è colpa della traduzione o se è l'autrice che non ha le capacità di approfondire alcune aspetti psicologici dei personaggi.Il libro non mi è piaciuto soltanto per il comportamento incomprensibile e odioso dei personaggi, ma ho anche fatto fatica a sopportare il tema cristiano che è fortemente presente in ogni pagina. Di solito mi piacciono i libri con tema religioso o spirituale ma questo libro sembra una propaganda cattolica. Non essendo cattolica facevo fatica a star dietro a Kristin che ogni cinque pagine è convinta di aver peccato e corre dal prete per confessarsi pensando di risolvere in questo modo i problemi nati dal suo carattere. Nel comportamento di Kristin vedevo tutta l'ipocrisia di molti credenti che invece di farsi un esame di coscienza cercando di cambiare i lati negativi della propria personalità continuano a sbagliare pensando di trovare poi sollievo e pace nella confessione. Questo della confessione è solo uno dei tanti temi cristiani che ci sono nel libro, ma ce ne sono molti altri che mi irritavano. All'inizio avevo l'impressione che Kristin fosse una donna forte e coraggiosa ma man mano che andavo avanti nella lettura mi rendevo conto che era soltanto un'egoista testarda che non si metteva mai realmente in discussione per cambiare. Non sopporto le persone come lei.Ci sono altre cose che non mi sono piaciute:- nel libro non ci sono date ma gli avvenimenti sono indicati seguendo i giorni dei santi. In poche parole: un personaggio si rende conto di essere incinta il giorno di San Simone, spera di sposarsi prima di San Bartolomeo così che non si vede la pancia e di partorire il giorno della nascita della Vergine (i santi li ho messi io, non mi ricordavo l'ordine esatto che c'era nel libro). Per leggere il libro e capire quando si svolgevano i fatti dovevo continuamente cercare su internet i giorni dei santi. - ho fatto molta fatica a ricordare i nomi norvegesi soprattutto perché ogni personaggio era indicato come "...figlio di XYZ" quindi si aveva Lavrans figlio di Borgulf ma anche Lavrans figlio di Erlend; c'era anche un Borgulf figlio di Erlend ed Erlend figlio di Nicola. Ogni tanto c'era anche un errore di battitura quindi Borgulf diventava Biorgulfn e non sapevo se era un personaggio nuovo o un errore dell'editore.- non ci sono note. In questo libro sarebbero state molto apprezzate per capire anche meglio gli accenni storici della Norvegia medievale. Si parlava di un paio di re, di una regina che ha avuto figli da un secondo matrimonio e di complotti ma tutto era scritto dando per scontato che il lettore conoscesse alla perfezione i personaggi e gli avvenimenti storici.- alcune preghiere sono scritte in latino e non c'è la traduzione; il latino l'ho studiato più di vent'anni fa e purtroppo non lo ricordo così bene da poter capire intere frasi. Anche in questo caso delle note sarebbero state utili.- ogni volta che iniziava una parte interessante, come per esempio un'introspezione psicologica, questa si troncava e non era approfondita; altre parti erano prolisse e piene di dettagli inutili e noiosi. Forse l'unico pregio si trova nella descrizione dei paesaggi e degli usi e costumi norvegesi durante il medioevo; purtroppo queste descrizioni si perdono tra le molte altre cose che non ho apprezzato.English reviewIt was a torture to finish this book but I held on because I was reading it as a readalong with other members but also because by the same author I had read Jenny and liked it though the start was a little bit slow.My edition of Kristin Lavransdatter has the whole trilogy and the story deals with Kristin's life from childhood to death and it is set in medieval Norway.Kristin is the most hateful character I've ever met; she wants to behave like a devout person, chaste and pious but she is proud, arrogant and self-centered.The characters' behavior suddenly change and the reader doesn't know what happened in their mind and why they acted that way; they seem contradictory and hysterical. I don't know if it's the translator's fault or if the author isn't able to see deep in a person's behavior and talk about it. I hadn't a good translation and sometimes it seemed to me that some pieces were missing in the story; but also this, I don't know if it's fault of the translator or if it's the author who doesn't have the skill to deepen some psychological aspects of the characters. I didn't like the Christian religious theme of this book and it is the main theme. I usually like books with religious or spiritual theme but this one seems to be a Catholic propaganda. Not being Catholic I was struggling to keep up with Kristin that every five pages is convinced that she has sinned and runs to the priest for confession thinking to solve her problems born from her personality. In Kristin's behavior I saw all the hypocrisy of many believers that instead of changing the negative aspects of their personality making an introspection, they continue to make mistakes and then expect to find a solution, solace and peace with the confession. This is just an example but there are many other Christian themes that irritated me. At the beginning I had the impression that Kristin was a strong and brave woman but as I went on reading I realized that she was selfish and stubborn.There were many other things I didn't like:- in the book we haven't dates but everything happens following the days of the Saints. Everytime I had to look on the internet to know when something was happening otherwise it was confusing.- I had a hard time with Norwegian names mostly because each character was listed as "son of XYZ" so we have Lavrans son of Borgulf but also Lavrans son of Erlend; there was also a Borgulf son of Erlend and an Erlend son of Nicholas. Every now and then there was a typo so Borgulf became suddenly Biorgulfn and I didn't know if it was a new character or a mistake of the publisher. Perhaps I had this problem of the names because of the Italian translation, I don't know how they are written in English but in Italian it was really annoying and confusing.- there are no notes. These would have been much appreciated in order to understand even better the historical references of medieval Norway. There were a couple of kings, a queen who had children from a second marriage and cospiracies but everything was written assuming that the reader knew perfectly the historical characters and events. - some of the prayers are written in Latin and there is no translation; I studied Latin more than twenty years ago and unfortunately I don't remember it well enough to understand whole sentences. Also in this case the notes would have been useful. - every time an interesting part began, such as a psychological introspection, this is cut short and was not deepened; other parts were lengthy and filled with unnecessary and boring details. The only things I liked were the descriptions of the landscapes and of the customs of Norway during the Middle Ages; unfortunately these descriptions are lost among the many other things I didn't like.

Sigrid Undset's epic trilogy of life in 14th Century Norway Kristin Lavransdatter which was responsible for her receiving the 1928 Nobel Prize for Literature is unquestionably a major work that has aged very well. Because, it is a profoundly bleak and depressing work which ends with the heroine dying of the Black Plague, I am thus not quite sure who would actually enjoy it but most literature lovers will unquestionably be impressed by the quality of Undset's writing and thinking.The first thing that strikes the reader is how accurately Unset recreates the middle ages. There is not an iota of fantasy or romance in this work. Relative to the members of North Americas Middle Classes, the Nobles live in a life of abysmal poverty. The peasants are absolutely wretched. Most children die in infancy. By the time one reaches 50, death is already approaching. There is no golf or skiing in this world; the only leisure activity is consuming alcohol. Most people spend their entire lives within a 200 kilometre radius of their birth place. Only those who are recruited to serve on war or trading ships will ever travel further. Books are available only in Latin. Only a small percentage of the nobles and an even smaller percentage of the noblewomen will learn how to read. For fiction, Kristin Lavransdatter attains a very high level of historical fidelity and for this reason alone is worth reading.The reason why people continue to read this novel is because Kristin Lavransdatter the heroine is a fascinating character who leads a very full and complicated life. Kristin begins the novel as a selfish and irresponsible teenager who resists her parents' wishes to accept a good match because she is determined to marry a selfish and irresponsible man. In the middle section of the work she emerges as a strong mother who takes charge of the family estates while her husband gets embroiled in political intrigues that will ultimately bring down ruin on the family. In final section of the novel Kristin finishes the novel in heroic fashion as a nun who dies caring for those afflicted by the plague. In the big picture, Kristin is a woman who lives in difficult circumstances throughout her entire life and who acts at all times with intelligence, grit and principle. She is truly a delightful heroine.The key thing to enjoying this work for a North American may be in the choice of translation. I read the greatly panned translation done in the 1930s by Charles Archer of. According to Wikipedia, the original was written in standard Norwegian but Archer decided to give the work middle age atmosphere by larding the text with archaisms from Renaissance English. The result is a cascade of purple prose that reminds the reader of the waters of the Niagara River falling over the Escarpment between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario."Methinks", "Methoughts", "Fains" and "I Trows" abound on every page. The following extract provides a typical example of how the text reads. "Her mind was set on having her own way, and she heeded not else. Let them have their joyance, she cared not a jot. She would fain have drunk more that evening." (p. 640) A parodist with the National Lampoon would have exercised more restraint.I persisted through to the end possibly because I still have a teenager's taste for grotesque parody. The other explanation might be that I am a miserly sexagenarian who having already paid $2.00 CDN for a 1944 edition that I had discovered at the Salvation Army was reluctant to make a second purchase. Nonetheless, I think most readers would be well advised to spend the $US 20.99 necessary to obtain a Kobo or Kindle edition of the Penguin translation. If you never enjoyed Mad Magazine when you were in middle school, you will the Archer translation unbearable.

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Its difficult to talk about the books in this series as individuals. Really, it is the story of one life. I was not expecting to be as moved as I was by these stories. These lives wrapped me up so fully that I didn't noticed that I had become so deeply attached to Kristin. And now that I am done and she is gone I feel loss. Its difficult to write much about this story and not sound trite. Sweeping, epic, beautiful, are adjectives that all come to mind. What I can say is that at the end I was struck by how Kristin's life, in all its sadness and beauty was overcome by a larger force. Reading this was almost more than I could bear. I am so glad I've read these books.
—Megan

Well, well, well, Miss Undset has made it onto my 10-star list. She should be proud. She also won a Nobel Prize for her work, so there is that. Her Kristin Lavransdatter books are unquestionably works of massive scope on par with JRR Tolkien's Lord Of the Rings. A strange comparison, you say? Well I agree with you. The only thing that comes to mind immediately is the length of the two. But there is so much more. Where LOTR was preparation for battle with Sauron's forces, Kristin Lavransdatter was an intimate look into a Norwegian community. It's the attention to detail that struck me as similar. Tolkien and Undset both took such great care to imbue their work with eternal life. They captured that elusive something that can't be described, or rather could be described in many different ways. Undset obviously did massive research into 14th Century Norwegian customs before she put pen to paper. The community is not, like in so many other books, a static thing that serves as a canvas for the main character to travel across without resistance. In this sense the book displays Newtons Third Law. Each action Kristin makes is met with an equal and opposite reaction from her community. Such is reality. Sadly...The great wisdom this book imparted on me is what made it unforgettable. It's so layered that it portrays almost all aspects of a woman's life during the 14th century.(I specify the era because many things have changed since then but I wish to stress that I noticed that the similarities between the times are more prominent than the differences) Talk about a woman's perspective! Every budding teenage boy wanting to understand the complexities of a woman's mind should read this. Never before did I realize how different men and women really are. And the layers! How layered life actually is. Everything is like a circle within a circle within a circle with the inner most circle eventually becoming our intimate other. The second and third book are like a survival guide for the married couple. Erlend and Kristin are not always perfectly faithful - there are minor(well, you could call them major) mishaps between the two - but they never truly stop loving each other. They never stop caring for each other and their children, like most normal parents do. Now I can appreciate how remarkable my mom and pops really are, how truly magnificent women can be, and what it means to bring a life into this world. In fact, there is nothing that I didn't not not like about this book(double negatives included). There is magic, most who know me will attest to my love of all things magical. The prose are humble yet beautiful in there delivery. All in all the book was masterful. It taught me to appreciate life, not just my life but also the lives that are close to mine, more. And to quote Kurt Vonnegut 'If that isn't nice, I don't know what is.'
—Milo

Seven reasons why I really, really want to love Kristin Lavransdatter…1) I have long-standing crushes on both Scandinavia and ye olden days, and this book is a free trip straight to the heart of 14th-century Norway. Undset's portrayal of the life of one woman, from childhood until death, is fascinatingly intertwined with the tensions between the Catholic present and pagan traditions in medieval Norway. And her writing so evocative. You can just smell the cook-fire smoke in the wooden rooms, see the vistas of Kristin’s home valley and feel that itchy, stanky homespun tickling the back of your neck. 2) The amount of research Undset put into this project must have been just massive, yet it is integrated seamlessly with the story. None of this, "And now Kristin, you must put on this bridal crown, the wearing of which has been popular among our people from approximately 900 AD, though some records indicate the tradition originated in Sweden," historical-fiction awkwardness for Undset, no siree bob. 3) Kristin is a strong, well-characterized female lead, which is rarer than one would hope and something to appreciate in the fiction world.4) Undset bestowed convincing three-dimensionality upon the host of characters who parade in an out of her >1100 pages.5) The book contains some of the most beautiful and powerful descriptions of motherhood and mother-love I have yet encountered in a work of fiction, including the real pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and sleep-sharing stuff that that doesn’t usually make the cut.6) Not that I’m a total snob or anything, but…the Nobel Prize, for cripe’s sake!7) And, to cap it all off, the narrative glue that holds all of this together is an epic love story.I mean, sounds pretty amazing, right?? What kind of a lover of obsessively-researched historical fiction could fail to be enthralled by this one? …but just can’t.Well, as it turns out, the kind that I am, apparently. So after mulling it over for a while, here’s my major problem with this book:Stylistically, Undset intertwines a serious realism faithful to the pacing and events of life with the kind of jarring melodrama that would do the soaps proud. And for me, that combo just didn’t work. Even at 1124 pages, this book ain’t big enough for the both of them. And man, I wish the draaama was the one to go. The rest of the book deserves better.Take Undset’s treatment of death, for instance. Many characters died abruptly with little apparent symbolic purpose in the story which, great. Make this a vividly textured saga with the narrative arc of real life. But then the death of another character was so out there that had Kristin’s amnesiac evil twin showed up instead, it would have felt refreshingly believable by comparison. And it was similar with the central love story. On the realistic side, we have two passionate people who engage in repetitive loops of guilt, blame, recriminations, frustrations and misunderstandings and long periods of minimal emotional growth. Okay, fine. Painful, but could feel authentic. But then other times, the characters stubbornly adhered to paths that seemed completely at odds with their personalities and the moral world of the book as Undset herself created them, but conveniently led to maximum soap opera-y drama down the road. Which, I think, is why the entire Kristin/Erlend love thing left me cold from beginning to end. Stone cold. Like will-you-guys-shut-up-and-get-out-of-the-story-so-I-can-read-more-about-minor-characters-because-at-least-I-don’t-want-to-throttle-them cold. Now, I don’t think that unrealistic drama has no place in literature. It totally does. Even Shakespeare did the twins thing. But if you are going to go that route, a spoonful of humor really helps the melodrama go down. Kristin Lavrandatter’s strengths are the vibrancy of its world and Undset’s tone of dignified seriousness. The soapiness just felt silly, and it distracted me from the solemn beauty of the book. Those medieval times: minimal medicine and maximal religious tensions. Plenty of exciting stuff could happen without a single stretch, I promise. The section I ended up liking best focused on the late life of Kristin’s early suitor, because it united the good stuff with emotions and events that felt convincingly human and epic without jumping the shark. One more tiny issue: Undset’s occasional nonlinearity didn't add much for me. Something totally shocking and unexpected would happen, be dismissed in a couple of sentences, only to be explained after dozens, or even hundreds of pages of waiting. Minor quibble, though.Overall, I am glad that I read it, but I wanted so badly to luurrrrve it. Oh well. Maybe I should give its evil twin a call…
—Rachel

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