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A favorite writer, and a favorite novel — although I kind of like THE MASTER OF HESTVIKEN more. That being said, the review is preposterous. Badly written, and filled with a sophomoric masculinity.
It’s such a great read! Everyone needs to read it! I have the Big Fat Nunnally translation on my shelf and I’m re-reading the first part now.
Yes, yes, yes! Thank you for recognizing that Kristin Lavransdatter is necessary reading for guys! And not just for Catholic guys but for guys who want to be men.
Great essay. A joy to read!
Great post!
Kristin is on my list of top 5 favorite novels ever – and I just had to jump in to put a plug in for the Archer translation.
This translation simply makes this book for me. I could not get through the Nunnally translation – it felt poorer and seemed to empty the story of all meaning for me. Archer’s language seemed full of reverence and gravitas and instantly transported me to that time and place. It makes me sad to think future readers may only ever be exposed to the newer translation/version.
I am so happy to see this novel extolled. I imagine you already know of Undset’s other long medieval work, The Master of Hestviken. She considered this work, not KL, her masterpiece. If you haven’t read it already, dive in! I found it a harder read, but every bit as good.
Thank you for the information on the translations. Our book group has found through experience how much the translator of a work matters. At the very least, we all have to read the same one. I’m looking forward to re-reading Kristin KLavransdatter – this time in the Nunnally translation – and am hoping that the gentlemen in our group will be as inspired by it as Mr. Blanski is.
You may be interested to learn that Sigrid Undset was a lay Dominican tertiary, received into the Order and the Third Order chapter in Oslo on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas 7 March 1927 and professed a year later, 7 March 1928. Her “name in the Order” was sr. Olave (after St. Olaf). She fled the Germans when they invaded Norway in 1940 – went to Sweden (where she got the news that her son had been killed in battle), travelled on via Russia and Japan to San Francisco and finally to Brooklyn, New York, where she set up her base as an exile and volunteer “information soldier” for Norway. One of her favourite places in the world is said to have been Brooklyn Bridge.
LOVE, LOVE this book! In fact, this is one of the reasons I knew that my guy was “the one”. When he told me he loved to read I replied, “oh yeah. What is your favorite book”. When he replied “Kristin Lavransdatter” I was floored as it was mine as well. It is always an ongoing joke between us as to who sympathizes with whom from the book. I adored Lavrans and felt Erlend was the silent good guy but he chivalrously felt for Kristin. I just wanted her to get over herself and her sin and stop being so proud! It drove me crazy, why was she so arrogant in thinking that her sin was unforgivable? Also, the Nunnely translation is far superior to the others. I have read and enjoyed both but Nunnely is excellent. BTW, I wanted to name our second son Peter Lavrans but after our first, we had six girls. . .
Agreed. Nunnally’s translation is best, and I’ve read both.
Thanks for writing about my FAVORITE book of all time. I always saw it as “The Story of a Soul,” only for a woman who got married, lived longer, and struggled more in the world than than St. Therese. But you have given me a new perspective.
It SHOULD be more well known!
Hey April! I would suggest that Tina Nunnally’s translation is much better than Charles Archer’s. Nunnally deftly transposes Undset’s “unusually extended linguistic tour de force” into English.
Sigrid Undset is a master artist. Scholar Sherrill Harbison has observed that it is difficult to translate Undset’s work because of “her scrupulous historical accuracy of language…she struggled to find ways to give her text a tone of the past while still keeping the sound of natural speech. After much experimenting, she found the effect she wanted by limiting her vocabulary to words based on Old Norse roots, and by retaining Old Norse syntax—the order of subject and verb, arrangement of adjectives, and use of coordinating conjunctions…She carefully excludes modern abstracts, which in Norwegian are mostly of Germanic origin. By rejecting obtrusive dialect and keeping spelling and grammar ordinary, she creates a readable, natural-sounding prose with subtle reminiscences of Old Norse, more like a musical undertone than an imitation.”
The silly and superfluous faux-medieval prose-style of Archer’s translation only clouds Undset’s art. Here’s a link to Tina Nunnally’s far superior translation: http://amzn.com/0141180412
Tyler, I bought the new translation some time ago because I heard it was best but haven’t had a chance to really dip in, I ran into this article recently regarding the two translations and the value of the older one and it really made me think. I wondered if you’d seen this article or if you’d agree:
http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/literature/kristin-lavransdatter.html
I’m going to pass your article on to my husband. 🙂
This is a GREAT novel, or rather, trilogy. I read it about a decade ago in the first translation to English. I know there has been another translation and I wondered which one Tyler recommends. I have been wondering if this would be a good choice for my book group and this rousing review has convinced me that it is!