"DISCARD"

      

   Discard is stamped several places in the book. Printed in 1934, even older than I, likely it was a discarded library book that I found in a used book store in the '90s. Now I've just read it for the first time. In the early '90s I was on a kick of reading Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) the Norwegian author. Thinking I'd read all of Hamsun when I looked at this old copy of The Road Leads On I realized I hadn't. So I did. 

   At 536 pages it's not a quick read but I'm glad I read it. Hamsun spins a good tale. It's also fascinating to glimpse Norwegian life in the late twenties. The theme of his writings, that nature is better than culture, is less pronounced in this book than in some of his others, Pan. for instance. Neither is the stream of consciousness the primary composition technique. His books are peopled with interesting characters and this is certainly true in Road. 

  Reading Jon Fosse, the Noble Prize winner in 2023, also Norwegian, is what brought me back to reading Hamsun again. As the pioneer of introspective novels Hamsun should not be forgotten. 

Takk for alt,

Al