Forethoughts: Knut Hamsun Dreamer and Dissenter

And so I move on to a linchpin in my recently announced Totally Knut reading project, Ingar Sletten Kolloen’s newly published (in English) biography on Knut Hamsun, entitled Knut Hamsun: Dreamer and Dissenter (Yale University Press).

I said in my inaugural Totally Knut post that for me it was important with such a lengthy reading project, to get to know the author first. In doing so I would gain a valuable insight beforehand into Hamsun’s background, his motivations, his influences and his evolution both as a writer and a man; very important when one is reading the works of a writer whose career spanned well over half a century. This is the book I’ve primarily chosen to give me that insight, and so before I begin reading it I want to offer up a few forethoughts.

First of all I should probably comment on who the biographer Ingar Sletten Kolloen actually is. But rather than have me paraphrase badly, I’ll quote the information directly from the book cover’s inside flap:

Ingar Sletten Kolloen has worked as a publisher, journalist, commentator and newspaper editor, including a position as Chief Arts Editor of Aftenposten, Norway’s leading newspaper. In 1999 he published a critically acclaimed biography of the poet Tor Jonsson, Only Love and Death. Kolloen won the Norwegian Readers’ Award 2004 for the Norwegian edition (in two volumes) of his biography of Knut Hamsun. He is Adjunct professor at Lillehammer University College.

So that’s Kolloen, an accomplished wordsmith in his own right, and I’ve got to say that I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate that Yale University Press have published his biography on Hamsun at the same time I’ve begun my reading project on the man (it was actually one of the reasons I started it in the first place). I’ve been reliably informed that this biography is very much a seminal work on the Norwegian Nobel Prize writer, and if one needed any proof of that, then one need only look at the facts which Kolloen presents in his introduction at the start of the book, which very much qualify the biography’s worth. Before I present the highlights of these facts though, I want to share the principle goal that Kolloen had in mind while authoring this biography:

My aim has been to find out how Hamsun became the great writer he was; what it cost him, and those closest to him, to maintain this poet’s universe for so many decades; how his political opinions developed, what these were, the contemporary reactions to them, and ultimately, their consequences.

When I first read this sentence the alarm bells sounded. I thought this biography is going to be a quick skim through of the life and works of Hamsun, and the rest of the book is going to be dedicated to Hamsun’s turn to the ‘dark side’ in support of Nazi Germany. I’m not that stupid or niave enough to think that such a significant and highly controversial chapter in Hamsun’s life would be simply brushed over, but in a biography of a man I respect for his writing and not his political views, I’d like to know more about the genius behind the pen, rather than the political ‘devil’ that raised its ugly head during Hamsun’s later life. Thankfully however, Kolloen’s next paragraph reveals that the biography may be more of a balanced affair (phew!):

My approach has been twofold: first, to bring to light and analyse as many facts as possible; then, to depict as truthfully as possible the life of Hamsun the writer, Hamsun the politician and Hamsun the private person. Along the way I have continually had to ensure that the storytelling urge has not disrupted the factual base. This book has thus been created in the fertile space between the factual and the artistic poles.

So balance would appear to be an inherent part of this biography, which is good, and it looks to be presented in a ‘creative non-fiction’ kind of way too, which should make the whole thing very accessible, which is also good (although how accessible of course, remains to be seen).

On to the facts that I mentioned Kolloen using in his introduction to validate his biography (as if being published by the prestigious Yale University Press wasn’t validation enough ), and here are the highlights:

• The biography took a total of five years to complete.
• Considerable assistance came from the ‘world’s foremost expert on Hamsun’s letters’, Professor Harald Naess (I have and will be using the 2 volume condensed English edition of Hamsun letters published by Norvik Press and annotated by Naess himself).
• Psychiatry professor, Sigmund Karterud, was responsible for building up a personality profile of Hamsun.
• Considerable help came from the Hamsun family, and in particular Leif Hamsun (Knut’s grandson)
• Extensive use was made of Knut Hamsun’s private archive, containing in excess of five thousand documents, dating from the 1890s up to his death in 1952.
• In total, the biography made use of twenty thousand items of research including books, letters, journals, interviews with Hamsun’s mother and brother, personal correspondence direcly to and from Hamsun.

Now that’s a pretty impressive list of facts, and more than enough to convince me that this biography is worth reading. But I should add that there were other key academics and experts involved in the creation of this biography too, which makes it sound all the more impressive. Yeah I’m hooked. Did you guess?

One apparent downside though is that this English edition of Hamsun’s biography is actually an abridged version of the longer two-volume Norwegian edition (entitled Hamsun Svermeren), and I’m a bit worried that the ‘chopping’ of a whole volume’s worth of material, in order to produce a single volume English edition, is going to be detrimental to the original. That said I’m sure (hope) Kolloen’s professionalism and attention-to-detail would have ensured that the downsizing exercise would have been well considered. However, not being able to speak Norwegian I’ll never know. But I may just try and find out from someone who would know.

Moving briefly onto aesthetics and my first impressions of the overall quality of the book is good. It’s well bound and weighty, with pages that have a smooth, luxurious feel to them. An 1881 portrait of Knut Hamsun by Alfredo Anderson graces the cover, adding to the classic feel of the volume, and in the centre of the book are 8 glossy pages (16 sides) showing various photographs, ranging from family portraits to pictures of Hamsun with Nazi leaders. Effectively these pages seem to offer a chronological pictorial record of Hamsun’s life from start to finish, and the intimacy of them is startling.

So I think that’s about all I can say for now. I think you can tell from these forethoughts that I’m really excited about reading this biography, and from what I can tell it’s going to be an enjoyable experience, on many levels. It’s probably a bit premature to say such a thing already, but given the professionalism of the biographer, and the aesthetic quality of the book, I’m sticking my neck out and giving it an unqualified thumbs up. Don’t take this as a full endorsement though. Better you wait and see how my afterthoughts turn out, and I’ll hopefully have these posted in a few days time. Meanwhile you can keep track of my progress through my Reading Journal.

Yale University Press | 28 August 2009 | £25.00 | HARDBACK | 378 PP | ISBN: 9780300123562

A note about Forethoughts
‘Forethoughts’ offer an insight into what my initial thoughts and impressions of a book are, before I begin reading it. Informal, and largely written as a stream-of-consciousness exercise in a single sitting, my ‘forethoughts’ capture an important stage of the reading experience for me – the anticipatory period before the book is first opened, when my excitement is piqued for the reading experience which lies ahead.

Blissfully ignorant my ‘forethoughts’ may be, but when they’re combined with my eventual ‘afterthoughts’, the result is a unique and comprehensive record of a very personal literary ‘journey’ through a particular book; a literary journey which will hopefully be of some value to other readers.