*Updated (First posted Aug 18 12:45 pm)
Were I to build a statue to the greatest character in this book it would be to Erlend Nikulausson.
Sigrid Undset describes death with great accuracy. And bodily injury. The most painful reading for me in the book was one that occurred early, the injury to Kristin's little sister Ulvhild. That stayed with me throughout the ensuing 800 or so pages, so painful that I have never been able to reread it. When in the future I think of this book it will be that, unfortunately, that I will remember above all else. And I wish that wasn’t so.
What else? I will remember Erlend and Kristin’s incredible passion for each other. I will remember Kristin’s bitchiness. Man, that’s about all.
I had been struck that Erlend was almost never in Kristin's thoughts after his death, a death that was caused at only one remove by Kristin. Married twenty-something years, eight sons, rapturous, delirious love-making—and Erlend really, really-really loved Kristin. Kristin has a moment of clearheadedness about him near the end, after his death of course: Erlend Nikulausson never hurt another person out of malice and he never held a grudge. Those are the two major defects in the character Kristin Labrandsdatter’s character. She’s all very Jante’s Law. Guess that’s why they built a statue to her.
I won’t remember the book for these but these are some wrapping up thoughts:
-Rape reappears, the word is actually used. Kristin's favorite son Gaute. Odd--"strange"--that it should reappear so late in the book and by the character of Gaute. That whole thematic constellation however does not reappear. Maybe it was more or less normal.
-Dreams and dream-like wakefulness.
-The mountainous detail. It occurs throughout and it is as purposeless as a mountain. It just is.
-Characters reappear out of the blue. Stiltedly. Simon Darre (Andresson) most prominently. Erlend's brother Gunnulf after 400 pages. Last we read of Gunnulf Kristin had cruelly driven him away for his criticism of Erlend. When Gunnulf reappears it is, what else, when Kristin is walking, on her last pilgrimage which is to end with her death from the Black Plague in the nunnery that she joins. Gunnulf again criticizes Erlend and Kristin again rebuts, but this time with an admission that she had never treated Erlend well. It is true, she never did.
-Kristin dies with Erlend's best friend Ulf at her side. He just reappeared. He was always in the background when present but, what are the chances, he shows up at Kristin's convent, helps her go fetch the Plague-blacked body of an old woman.
-The ending is weird and meaningless. Kristin dies and Ulf and some other guy walk outside into the air. It's a brilliant white day, snow, melting snow. No metaphor there, that's just the kind of day it was.
-I was also struck throughout the book that no one ever pays for killing! Maybe it was more or less normal.
-The book is very religious, very Roman Catholic, the horrible deaths, the guilt, salvation. The moral of the story is to avoid the sins of bodily flesh. Not cruelty, not killing, fucking.
-Kristin is about 50 years old when she dies. Her death scene is described by Miss Undset well with the light (red here) in Snows of Kilimanjaro and other accounts.
It is not a great book. I cannot recommend it. Do I regret reading it? All of my mature adult life I have been cognizant of time and resentful of those or that which wastes my time. I recall now that I let this anger show once writing about Kristin Labransdatter: “Miss Undset, do not waste my time.” Sure, that is arrogant of me. It is truly felt. I make no apologies for it. I’m glad to be done with the book. So, do I regret it? At 12:45 pm today I wrote, “Nah. I’ve got all this time on my hands lol, what else am I going to do?” Now the book has been back up on the bookshelf and it’s almost ten hours laters. Yeah, I regret reading it a little bit. It was long, too long. It took me an awfully long time to read. Now I’ve got to find another goddamned book to read. Yeah, I do feel a little that it wasted my time. I forgot until a few hours ago that I had started to read it years ago, got 200-250 paged into it before putting it aside, too! That’s 25% of the book! So I wasted more time on it. So yeah, I regret it a little. Don’t regret it a little, too.
Were I to build a statue to the greatest character in this book it would be to Erlend Nikulausson.
Sigrid Undset describes death with great accuracy. And bodily injury. The most painful reading for me in the book was one that occurred early, the injury to Kristin's little sister Ulvhild. That stayed with me throughout the ensuing 800 or so pages, so painful that I have never been able to reread it. When in the future I think of this book it will be that, unfortunately, that I will remember above all else. And I wish that wasn’t so.
What else? I will remember Erlend and Kristin’s incredible passion for each other. I will remember Kristin’s bitchiness. Man, that’s about all.
I had been struck that Erlend was almost never in Kristin's thoughts after his death, a death that was caused at only one remove by Kristin. Married twenty-something years, eight sons, rapturous, delirious love-making—and Erlend really, really-really loved Kristin. Kristin has a moment of clearheadedness about him near the end, after his death of course: Erlend Nikulausson never hurt another person out of malice and he never held a grudge. Those are the two major defects in the character Kristin Labrandsdatter’s character. She’s all very Jante’s Law. Guess that’s why they built a statue to her.
I won’t remember the book for these but these are some wrapping up thoughts:
-Rape reappears, the word is actually used. Kristin's favorite son Gaute. Odd--"strange"--that it should reappear so late in the book and by the character of Gaute. That whole thematic constellation however does not reappear. Maybe it was more or less normal.
-Dreams and dream-like wakefulness.
-The mountainous detail. It occurs throughout and it is as purposeless as a mountain. It just is.
-Characters reappear out of the blue. Stiltedly. Simon Darre (Andresson) most prominently. Erlend's brother Gunnulf after 400 pages. Last we read of Gunnulf Kristin had cruelly driven him away for his criticism of Erlend. When Gunnulf reappears it is, what else, when Kristin is walking, on her last pilgrimage which is to end with her death from the Black Plague in the nunnery that she joins. Gunnulf again criticizes Erlend and Kristin again rebuts, but this time with an admission that she had never treated Erlend well. It is true, she never did.
-Kristin dies with Erlend's best friend Ulf at her side. He just reappeared. He was always in the background when present but, what are the chances, he shows up at Kristin's convent, helps her go fetch the Plague-blacked body of an old woman.
-The ending is weird and meaningless. Kristin dies and Ulf and some other guy walk outside into the air. It's a brilliant white day, snow, melting snow. No metaphor there, that's just the kind of day it was.
-I was also struck throughout the book that no one ever pays for killing! Maybe it was more or less normal.
-The book is very religious, very Roman Catholic, the horrible deaths, the guilt, salvation. The moral of the story is to avoid the sins of bodily flesh. Not cruelty, not killing, fucking.
-Kristin is about 50 years old when she dies. Her death scene is described by Miss Undset well with the light (red here) in Snows of Kilimanjaro and other accounts.
It is not a great book. I cannot recommend it. Do I regret reading it? All of my mature adult life I have been cognizant of time and resentful of those or that which wastes my time. I recall now that I let this anger show once writing about Kristin Labransdatter: “Miss Undset, do not waste my time.” Sure, that is arrogant of me. It is truly felt. I make no apologies for it. I’m glad to be done with the book. So, do I regret it? At 12:45 pm today I wrote, “Nah. I’ve got all this time on my hands lol, what else am I going to do?” Now the book has been back up on the bookshelf and it’s almost ten hours laters. Yeah, I regret reading it a little bit. It was long, too long. It took me an awfully long time to read. Now I’ve got to find another goddamned book to read. Yeah, I do feel a little that it wasted my time. I forgot until a few hours ago that I had started to read it years ago, got 200-250 paged into it before putting it aside, too! That’s 25% of the book! So I wasted more time on it. So yeah, I regret it a little. Don’t regret it a little, too.
