Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun

 

For the penultimate book in my Round the World challenge, I turned to a recommendation from my mate Padge's auntie: Growth of the Soil. 

Knut Hamsun was born in Norway in 1859 and rose to prominence in the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century as a writer. He is hailed by many as the father of modern literature, and cited as an influence by many authors. He rather fell from grace during WWII as a vocal supporter of the Nazi regime. However, he gave aid to Norwegians held prisoner for resistance activities and argued for their release when he was granted an audience with Adolf Hitler, sending the Führer into a temper which lasted three days. Otto Dietrich described the meeting as the only time anyone got a word in edgeways with Hitler, though this is likely because Hamsun was mostly deaf at this time and talked on regardless. After the war, many of Hamsun's books were burned in protest of his actions, and the man himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital and was fined for treasonous activity. 

Growth of the Soil follows Isak as he claims a portion of Norwegian wilderness and brings it under agrarian control. As he builds a farm and a family, the area around him develops, other settlers stake claims, and civilisation is slowly brought to the wilds. Eventually, copper is discovered on the land, and there is a brief economic boom. 

After reading the first couple of chapters, I was under the impression it was going to be a bit of slog. The book is written in an old-fashioned style (even considering its 1917 publication date) and is unremittingly pastoral. However, the further I progressed, the more the story behind the narrative became apparent. I'm not sure I've read a novel before where the narrator is considerably more naive than the characters. The simplistic style hides a far more complex and nuanced narrative; what we are told are just the shadows on Plato's cave wall, and we must read between the lines to build up the full picture.

Hamsun is very pro hard work, and those who flourish do so because of their own graft. While individuals who rely on a less industrious means, investment or extracting rather than creating, ultimately fail. I think there are overtones of Hamsun's questionable (to say the least) political views in the book with its portrayal of a bucolic life, and his presentation of the Sami (called Lapps as normal in 1917). But there is also nuance. In the second half of the novel, Isak looks back fondly at the simple life he led when setting up the farm, but does not remember the uncertainty and stress he underwent, how things very nearly didn't work out for the best. And there is also the two cases of infanticide, which are presented as moral grey areas, though I think Hamsun was trying to make a point that harsher punishment is actually to the benefit of those on the custodial end of affairs.

Ultimately, Growth of the Soil shows civilisation in microcosm, from its first tentative steps to tame nature, to the reliance on financial systems which are totally alien to the populace. Despite my first impressions, the book is unbelievably modern. Considering it is over 100 years old, it reads more like a contemporary author aping the style of the 19th century. I disagree with some of the political points I think he is trying to make (which fall short of fascist, but are of a traditionalist bent) but they are not made in a dogmatic fashion. 

I think it is only fair to separate the art from the artist, and give this ★★★★☆.