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Title: Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally ISBN: 0-14-118041-2 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.65 (20 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Wonderful Work Made Much, Much Better
Comment: (Note: My review is of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy as a whole work, rather than about Penguin's three individual volumes. I felt very much caught up in the forward movement of these stories and didn't really see them as separate "books". And, of course, the original Kristin was published in one volume of three sections.)
As a reader who has more than once during the past 40 years tried to read the clunky Archer version of this wonderful work, I can only add to the praise given the Nunnally translation. I just this summer finished the final volume of Kristin Lavransdatter, and can recommend it to anyone wanting to be immersed in a terrific, panoramic medieval tale full of all those things that make for a great story: love, hate, valor, treachery, sin, redemption, etc.- all that good stuff.
Kristin and husband Erlend form the core around which this remarkable story is built; they are believably human, noble, fallible. Undset's special strengths are her characters, narrative thrust and, finally, in her wonderful descriptions of the wild, beautiful landscape of medieval Norway.
Yes, this is one of those daunting, big fat historical novels. However, this newest incarnation does justice to a wonderful work of world literature; to my mind, anyone willing to invest the time in reading it will be rewarded many times over.
Rating: 5
Summary: Five stars for the story, not the translation!
Comment: I cannot comment on the quality of the Tiina Nunally translation. I do not know Norwegian, so I cannot say whether the new version is batter than the old. Really, I like them both. My rating is based on my love of Undset's novels. This was the first one I read, having stumbled upon it while shelving books in my college library. I opened the book and was spellbound. I spent the rest of the day reading The Wreath, then went on to read the other volumes. I had never been to Norway, and had never heard of Sigrid Undset, but it seemed as if I had always known these people and their world. I still get that feeling, and I have re-read Kristin Lavransdatter many times since then.
Others have mentioned their appreciation of the story for its strong portrayal of an individual trying to find her own path in a highly structured society. I agree. But another thing I have loved about Undset's writing is the way she blends vivid observations of the world of nature with detailed pictures of the human society in which her heroine lives. I think this is what made the book so convincing to me. At the time of her story, even the most wealthy and powerful people lived lives that were essentially rural. Although Undset follows her characters through religious strivings and political intrigues that modern people can relate to, Kristin and her family are firmly grounded in the daily life of an agricultural community. They had to aware of weather, the seasons, and the cycles of plant and animal life in a way that many modern people can no longer experience, except through literature.
Rating: 4
Summary: Beautiful Translation
Comment: I find it interesting that most of the division on this book still stems from the translation. Nunnally is an excellent and faithful translator of Norwegian. To answer the one reviewer as to how some of us feel qualified to judge, there are some of us who do read Norwegian. I was shocked at the liberty Archer had taken with Undset's works, going so far as to change the titles (the original titles do in fact translate as The Wreath, The Wife and The Cross, not as Archer's overwrought titles). Nunnally's translation returns dignitiy and immediacy to the work. One reviewer noted that the story need not have taken place in the middle ages but in almost any century. This is one of the main points and the Undset's use of a contemporary idiom enforces this impression. Finally we can read this novel not just as some medieval costume drama but as a timeless story of love and morality and judge it on its literary merits. It is also heartening to see that Nunnally has now also given us a new translation of Jenny. Finally Undset is some much needed attention.
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Title: Kristin Lavransdatter: The Mistress of Husaby (Kristin Lavransdatter (Vintage)) by Sigrid Undset ISBN: 0394752937 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1987 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Gunnar's Daughter (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Sigrid Undset, Arthur G. Chater ISBN: 014118020X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title:Kristin Lavransdatter ASIN: B0001GH5RO Publisher: Home Vision Entertainment Pub. Date: 06 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $26.96 |
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Title: The Axe (The Master of Hestviken/Sigrid Undset, Vol 1) by Sigrid Undset ISBN: 0679752730 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 December, 1994 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Jenny by SIGRID UNDSET, TIINA NUNNALLY ISBN: 158642050X Publisher: Zoland Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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