Shallow Soil

Not only is this book Knut Hamsun’s most significant work, but it gives the very best description available of life in Christiania towards the close of the century. A book of exquistie lyric beauty, of masterly psychology, and finished artistic form, it is so rich in idea and life that one must refrain from touching on the contents in order to keep within the narrow limits of this essay. A most superbly delicate delineation of the feminine soul is here given in the drawing of Hanka and Aagot; nowhere else is woman’s love in its dawn and growth described with such mastery, with a deftness and sureness of touch which reminds one of the very greatest passages in that Danish classic, Niels Lyhne. Professor Carl Morburger