About this Item
Third printing of the first American edition, published in June 1934 (the same month as the first printing). With a striking wraparound illustration to the dustwrapper. Translated from the Norwegian by Eugene Gay-Tifft. The book was originally published in Norwegian as "Men Livet Lever" by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag in 1933. The final novel in The August Trilogy, after "Landstrykere" (Wayfarers) published in 1927, and "August" published in 1930. recipient of the 1920 Nobel Prize for Literature. ***Near fine in beige cloth-covered boards with brown titles on the spine, with brown titles and decoration on the front board. The boards are beautifully clean, having been protected by the dustwrapper. The head of the spine is slightly creased. No other bumps or creases. Corners sharp. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Page block edges clean, but please note there is an abrasion to the bottom edge which slightly affects the bottom edge of some of the pages. Fore-edge of page block untrimmed (rough-edged, as is often seen with American books frok this period). Internally, the book is also near fine, with no inscriptions or annotations. Pages clean. No off-setting or foxing. No stains. No creases or tears. No browning. The last couple of pages remain uncut. ***In a very good illustrated dustwrapper which is essentially complete, with just some small areas of loss along the top edge, mainly at the spine, and very slight loss at the tail of the spine. The edges of the dustwrapper have some slight rubbing and creasing. The dustwrapper has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of $3.00. Slight creasing at the top edge of the front flap. Spine colours of dustwrapper slightly faded. ***215mm x 148mm. 536 pages. ***'Knut Hamsun is one of the real Titans of modern literature.' (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper) ***'Knut Hamsun (4 Aug 1859 - 19 Feb 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 and environment. He published more than 23 novels, a collection of poetry, some short stories and plays, a travelogue, works of non-fiction and some essays. Hamsun is considered to be "one of the most influential and innovative literary stylists of the past hundred years" (ca. 1890?1990). He pioneered psychological literature with techniques of stream of consciousness and interior monologue, and influenced authors such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Maxim Gorky, Stefan Zweig, Henry Miller, Hermann Hesse, John Fante, James Kelman, Charles Bukowski and Ernest Hemingway. Isaac Bashevis Singer called Hamsun "the father of the modern school of literature in his every aspect - his subjectiveness, his fragmentariness, his use of flashbacks, his lyricism. The whole modern school of fiction in the twentieth century stems from Hamsun"'. Hamsun had strong anglophobic views, in part due to the treatment of Norway during World War I, and openly supported Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, travelling to meet Hitler during the German occupation of Norway. Due to his professed support for the occupation of Norway and the Quisling regime, he was charged with treason after the war. He was not convicted, officially due to psychological problems and issues relating to old age, but was issued a heavy fine in 1948. (Wiki) ***An early third printing, produced in the same month as the first printing, of the first American edition in its original dustwrapper. Surviving copies of Knut Hamsun's pre-war novels in their original dustwrappers are scarce now, especially in the UK. This copy is a very clean and well-preserved example. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.
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