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Title: Giants in the Earth : A Saga of the Prairie (Perennial Classics) by Ole Edvart Rolvaag ISBN: 0-06-093193-0 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 August, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.72 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: THEY CAME...THEY SAW...THEY CONQUERED...
Comment: This is the first in a trilogy of books about the Norwegian settlement of the Dakota Territory. The second book is titled, " Peder Victorious", and the third and last book is titled, "Their Fathers' God." The author, a Norwegian who emigrated to the United States in 1896 and eventually became a professor at St. Olaf's College, wrote it in Norwegian, but it is every bit as American as apple pie.
This is a beautifully written, lyrical book about the experiences of the early Norwegians who settled in the vast prairie of the Dakota Territory during the latter half of the nineteenth century. It speaks of their isolation and desolation, as well as of the hardships inherent in pioneering so far West with so little resources at hand with which to do so. Dependent solely upon their inner resources, hard work, ingenuity, and whatever goods they had managed to haul with them, these peasant, would-be-farmers from Norway would be the stuff of which this country was made. Their resilience in the face of relentless hardship, adversity, and deprivation is stunning, as is their belief in a better life.
The story focuses on a small group of Norwegians who traveled together from the same small fishing hamlet in Norway and formed a settlement. Pioneers, they paved the way for those who were yet to come. The author details their trials and tribulations, with the focal figure of this group being an individual by the name of Per Hansa, who arrived in the vast prairie of the Dakota territory with his wife, Beret, and their three children. Yet, despite these central characters, all that happens revolves around the land and the elements that sustain it and drain it from season to season.
It is Per Hansa, however, who, perhaps, best epitomizes the enterprising spirit of the first settlers to the Dakota Territory, while his wife, Beret, represents those whose coping mechanisms were less able to make a smooth transition to their new environs. Per Hansa, bursting with energy and enthusiasm, is a man who thinks out of the box and refuses to let the elements get the best of him. He is a natural leader upon whom the others rely, a symbol of the pioneering spirit that revolutionized this country and made it great.
Beret, on the other hand, symbolizes those who see a relentless uphill fight to try to make something out of seemingly nothing. She fails to see the beauty around her, seeing only the stillness, the isolation, and what she perceives as the interminable loneliness. Therein lies the heart of the dichotomy in their relationship, as Per Hansa sees his cup as half full, while Beret sees hers as half empty.
Yet, despite Per Hansa's joy in the land, there is an underlying bittersweet moroseness that permeates the book that serves to underscore the great sacrifice that these early pioneers had to make in order for their settlement of the Great Plains of the Dakota Territory to work. It is grounded in an understanding by the author of the Norwegian immigrant culture and experience. It is a book that is brimming with feeling and written by an author who had the soul of a poet. Those who have read and enjoyed the quartet of books written by Swedish author, Vilhelm Moberg, about the early Swedish settlers of Minnesota, will likewise enjoy this book, as will all those who love lyrically written historical fiction. I very much look forward to reading the remaining two books in this trilogy.
Rating: 5
Summary: Follow Your Father's Advice
Comment: For years, my father repeatedly urged me to read this book about the pioneer life of Norwegian immigrants. Although my father is from Texas and has no Norwegian roots, he read this book in high school and it apparently made quite an impact upon him. Moreover, my great-grandmother on my mother's side immigrated from Norway around 1900 and this gives me some insight into her experience. The author does an outstanding job of conveying the mental as well as the physical struggles that pioneer families faced in the 1870's. I never contemplated that the isolation of pioneer life could be so difficult. The book was a quick read after the first 50 or so pages, and I am now moving on to Peder Victorious. I am glad I finally followed my father's advice.
Rating: 5
Summary: My Mom's Favorite Book
Comment: It's true that I've never read this book and almost certainly never will, but it's also true that this was my mother's favorite book when she was a girl and my mother has excellent taste in literature so, via her, I highly highly recommend Ole Edvart Rolvaag's immortal classic, "Giants in the Earth". Trust her, you'll love it.
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Title: Peder Victorious: A Tale of the Pioneers Twenty Years Later by O. E. Rolvaag, Ole Edvart Rolvaag ISBN: 0803289065 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 1982 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Their Fathers' God by Ole Edvart Rolvaag, Trygve M. Ager ISBN: 0803289111 Publisher: Univ Of Ne Press Pub. Date: March, 1983 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Norwegians in Minnesota (The People of Minnesota) by Carlton C. Qualey, Jon Gjerde ISBN: 0873514211 Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Boat of Longing (Borealis Books) by O.E. Rolvaag ISBN: 0873511840 Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1985 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Norway to America: A History of the Migration by Ingrid, Semmingsen ISBN: 0816610002 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1980 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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