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A review by sevenlefts
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
4.0
There were many things that drew me to this book -- a fascination with the north and the cold, interest in things medieval, and a soft spot for stories about complicated family relationships told over generations. Kristin Lavransdatter has all this in spades.
But reader beware -- this story is long. I can't remember the last time it took me this long to read a book. And this edition would have been well-served with a more detailed map of geographic areas in the novel (almost characters in themselves) and with family trees plotting out the myriad ways the many characters in this story were interconnected.(Note: I've since found this chart on Wikipedia)
These minor gripes besides, I enjoyed this. Each chapter breaks down into little vignettes -- some long dialog-heavy expository sections, others elegantly described landscapes and emotional states. Although the writer was describing a culture that I'm quite unfamiliar with, and though much of the book describes a developing religiosity that bordered on the tedious a times, the humanity of the characters never failed to shine through. A sort of post-saga saga.
The title character, of course, is the center around which the rest of the novel revolves -- basically covering her life from her ealiest memories to her life's end. But it was always interesting when, every once in a while, the author took a break to jump into the heads of some of the other characters.
The author of the introduction classes this novel among the ones that few people read more than once. I'd have to agree. Once is probably enough for this novel, but I know that parts of it will stick with me for some time.
But reader beware -- this story is long. I can't remember the last time it took me this long to read a book. And this edition would have been well-served with a more detailed map of geographic areas in the novel (almost characters in themselves) and with family trees plotting out the myriad ways the many characters in this story were interconnected.(Note: I've since found this chart on Wikipedia)
These minor gripes besides, I enjoyed this. Each chapter breaks down into little vignettes -- some long dialog-heavy expository sections, others elegantly described landscapes and emotional states. Although the writer was describing a culture that I'm quite unfamiliar with, and though much of the book describes a developing religiosity that bordered on the tedious a times, the humanity of the characters never failed to shine through. A sort of post-saga saga.
The title character, of course, is the center around which the rest of the novel revolves -- basically covering her life from her ealiest memories to her life's end. But it was always interesting when, every once in a while, the author took a break to jump into the heads of some of the other characters.
The author of the introduction classes this novel among the ones that few people read more than once. I'd have to agree. Once is probably enough for this novel, but I know that parts of it will stick with me for some time.