Knut Hamsun Remembers America: Essays and Stories, 1885-1949

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing perspectives on American civilization
Review: Written by Knut Hamsun (1920 Nobel Prize winner for his novel "The Growth of the Soil", and who later became infamous for betraying his country of Norway to support the Nazis even as Vidkun Quisling did), Knut Hamsun Remembers America: Essays And Stories 1885-1949 is inherently interesting presentation of thirteen essays and stories based on Hamsun's experiences during the four years he spent in the United States when he was a young man. Translated into English and edited for a contemporary readership by Richard Nelson Current, these individual pieces reflect the negative side of "Yankeeland" all too well, though they are not unilaterally anti-American, and some even recall fond images. Knut Hamsun Remembers America is recommended for its gripping and absorbing perspectives on American civilization, while reflecting Hamsun's anti-Americanism in his perceptions and writings.