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Title: Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics.) by Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally ISBN: 0-14-118128-1 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: After the Romance
Comment: Most romance novels present us with the trials and tribulations of star-crossed lovers, who in the end marry and live happily ever after. The first volume of Sigrid Undset's fine trilogy, THE WREATH, took us through the romance between Kristin Lavransdatter and Erland, concluding in their wedding. Unlike most romance novels, however, that novel foreshadowed the difficulties that the protagonists were likely to encounter in marriage. THE WIFE is the story of that marriage, with all of its strengths and weaknesses.
Once again, Undset succeeds in depicting a wide range of real people, in all their human glory. Kristin begins the novel with a pilgrimage in penance for her sin (she was already pregnant on her wedding day), and while she finds forgiveness, she struggles through the rest of the novel to learn how to forgive her husband. Erland begins the novel as an irresponsible man who seems lucky to have someone like Kristin. By the end of the novel, we see him rising above anything that could have been expected of him as he faces torture and imprisonment with dignity. There are no good guys and bad guys here, just human beings doing their best, yet struggling with their own passions and limitations. Undset's insight into the human condition is remarkable. And while Kristin and Erland do not achieve the illusory, romantic happiness that is celebrated in most romance novels, they find themselves with something much richer: a marriage in which a husband and a wife have learned to love each other in full knowledge of their mutual failings.
Undset was a great student of human nature, and she particularly understood our failings and our need to find redemption. By the end of the novel, Kristin has learned much in life, but her journey is not yet over. And so we move on to the final volume, THE CROSS.
Rating: 5
Summary: Kristin Lavransdatter II, The Bride
Comment: Sigrid Undset was the first woman to win the Nobel prize for literature. Since Kristin Lavransdatter was first published in America in the 1920s, succeeding generations have read it and found Kristin and Erland's story resonated in their hearts in a way that few books do. Undset has the rare gift of understanding the inner feelings of men as well as women.
Those who have struggled with the artificially archaic language of Charles Archer's translation will welcome this new version by Tiina Nunnally. She has also restored some parts that Archer eliminated, perhaps because he found them too sexually explicit for readers of English in the 1920s.
But, by all means start with the first volume, which, with volume III, is also available in the Nunnally translation.
Edmond Bliven
Rating: 5
Summary: The Heart of the Medieval Mind
Comment: Sigrid Undset perfectly captures one of the essential personal conflicts of the Middle Ages: the strictures of the Church and a patriarchal society on love and marriage. Having followed her heart and her feelings of love, Kristin is unfortunately therefore placed at odds with her family and the Church. Her search for reconciliation (or at least some accomodation) is fascinating, a marvelous spiritual journey. The typical medieval mind often had the terror of hellfire hanging over it, and we see this in the early part of this novel, as Kristin, full of guilt, makes a pilgrimage with her newborn son to find redemption. The politics of feudalism eventually intrude and complicate her life, as her husband becomes more involved in court intrigues. This translation is most excellent: it beats the silly pseudo-Old English one from the 1920's. I hope Tiina Nunnally will eventually translate all of Undset's works!
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Title: Kristin Lavransdatter: The Bridal Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter (Vintage)) by Sigrid Undset ISBN: 0394752996 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1987 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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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: 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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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: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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