Reviews

Gunnar's Daughter by Sigrid Undset

andyspancreas's review

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

perfect except for the babies in the lake tale that felt like i had a pro-life protester yelling in my ear. 

andybookreader's review against another edition

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4.0

Una splendida storia tra Norvegese, con un tocco medioevale. Grazie ad Utopia per aver riportato in Italia un testo così interessante.

hippiequeen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

mildreddempsey's review

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2.0

Trigger warnings - rape and domestic violence.

justbill82's review

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5.0

A fantastic little novel, the absolute best of Undset condensed in a two sitting read. Written in the style of prose edda, this is a compelling historical melodrama that I enjoyed every second of. An excellent primer before attempting Lavransdatta or Hestviken

linluvsbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

I read it in high school. The writing style seemed strikingly different from the trashy beach-reads I was into at the time.

I re-read it recently (2008) and again was struck by the effect of the sparse writing, which effectively conveyed both the cruelty of the weather and the characters.

littlesophie's review against another edition

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4.0

Die Hass- und Liebesgeschichte von Viga-Ljot und Vigdis wird von Undset im Tonfall eines Mythos erzählt, der dennoch ungewohnt feministische Töne in dem blutrünstigen Wikinger-Stoff anschlägt.
Relativ kurz aber ungeheuer fesselnd wird das ereignisreiche Leben der beiden erzählt, die sich an Willenskraft and Kaltblütigkeit ebenbürtig zu sein scheinen.
Zweifellos sehr erstaunlich bleibt dabei, dass in der Romanwelt, in der regelmäßig Männer wegen der geringsten Beleidigung um die Ecke gebracht werden, die Vergewaltigung einer Frau (insbesondere natürlich einer Jungfrau, aber dennoch) als unsägliche Untat gehandelt wird, für die keiner der Charaktere Vergebung findet oder auch nur sucht.

torgeiraamboe's review

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

4.0

voyage_of_a_time_wanderer's review

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4.0

A sad story set during the Saga era right at the time the Viking age ceded to Christianity. Not quite as good as Kristin Lavransdatter but fascinating to see Sigrid Undset examining many of the same themes: revenge, love, generational impacts, and the human existence, a decade before writing Kristin.

boehmek's review against another edition

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3.0

I know I'm supposed to like this book more, but it must read better in Norwegian. In English it just seemed stilted.