Written in 1917, Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil) is believed to be norwegian Knut Hamsun masterpiece, awarding him with a Nobel Prize in 1920, a manifest in the form of a novel, against the decadent and materialistic modern age in opposition to the humble rural life. The book is separated in two parts: the first introduces us to Isak and his simple life dealing with duties at his farm at Sellanraa, on the woods of Norway. Along the book we see several episodes of Isak's life: his marriage with Inger, a sami girl with a hare lip; the birth of their children; the arrest of Ingred after infanticide; the growing of their sons; the return of Ingred. Despite all this, Isak remains unmoved and unchanged in his farm, away from the modern world. Isak does not change as the book goes. He is the same humble person he was and always will be. On the other side, all the characters that come in contact with the modern age change for the worse, blind to the beauties and easy life in the big cities and lost to the necessities of the rural life. The second part of the book, which is shorter, expands beyond Isak to the folks at the farms surrounding Sellanraa and their hardships as they clash with the decadent modern age. |
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