''Wayfarers'' ( no, Landstrykere) is the first novel in the Wayfarers trilogy, also known as the August trilogy, by
Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...
.
[Naess, H. 2001. Knut Hamsun. In: Tim Woods (ed.), ''Who's Who of Twentieth Century Novelists'', p. 153. New York: Routledge.] It was first published in 1927. The novel portrays the wayfarers August and Edevart's experiences while they travel around in Norway for more or less random work. The trilogy continues with ''
August
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
'' three years later, and concludes with ''
The Road Leads On'' in 1933.
The events in ''Wayfarers'' take place between 1864 and the 1870s. The entire trilogy describes the conflict between a traditional subsistence economy and a modern commercial and industrial society, as it emerged in Norway in the second half of the 1800s and the early 1900s. August is the main character that ties the three novels together. He is introduced in ''Wayfarers'' in the following manner:
::"A wandering young man came back to the village, August by name, an orphan. He was in fact from another district, but he grew up here; now among other things he had been a sailor-boy for some years and had visited many countries, and there were miracles and wonders that he could tell about his life."
[Hamsun, Knut. 2003. ''Landstrykere''. Oslo: Gyldendal, p. 10.]
The 1989 film ''
Wayfarers'' was based on the novel.
References
External links
* Catalog records fo
1991an
1998editions at the
National Library of Norway
The National Library of Norway ( no, Nasjonalbiblioteket) was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened i ...
Novels by Knut Hamsun
1927 Norwegian novels
Norwegian novels adapted into films
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