Kristin Lavransdatter #1-3

Kristin Lavransdatter

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In her great historical epic Kristin Lavransdatter, set in fourteenth-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset tells the life story of one passionate and headstrong woman. Painting a richly detailed backdrop, Undset immerses readers in the day-to-day life, social conventions, and political and religious undercurrents of the period. Now in one volume, Tiina Nunnally's award-winning definitive translation brings this remarkable work to life with clarity and lyrical beauty.

As a young girl, Kristin is deeply devoted to her father, a kind and courageous man. But when as a student in a convent school she meets the charming and impetuous Erlend Nikulaussøn, she defies her parents in pursuit of her own desires. Her saga continues through her marriage to Erlend, their tumultuous life together raising seven sons as Erlend seeks to strengthen his political influence, and finally their estrangement as the world around them tumbles into uncertainty.

With its captivating heroine and emotional potency, Kristin Lavransdatter is the masterwork of Norway's most beloved author, one of the twentieth century's most prodigious and engaged literary minds and, in Nunnally's exquisite translation, a story that continues to enthrall.

1144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1920

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
38(38%)
4 stars
33(33%)
3 stars
29(29%)
2 stars
0(0%)
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100 reviews All reviews
April 25,2025
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I love this book so much! Following Kristin through her journey from an innocent young girl to a weary woman. I cried in her sorrow, laughed in her joy, and was left at the end pondering. Such a good story!
April 25,2025
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This is an engrossing novel, actually three books. There is a non-judgemental style to the wrting that makes the book so fasinating. It is hard to tell if Erland is simply a bad husband or if Kristin herself is too strict and too emotional. We know how society views it, but Undset leaves it up to the reader to make that determination.

Part of the problem with this translation is that the passion seems to be utterly lacking. It is almost like the translator is physically present. Despite this, the book still raises questions. Where does extactly Kristin's passion lie? Like a young Jane Eyre, Kristin seems to have no close female friends, and all her best relationships are with men. In fact, she seems to live for her men, maybe that is her passion. Even her serving maids are mentioned in passing. It does make you look at her differently.

Still, an engrossing book. Lovely.
April 25,2025
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Oh. How painful. But beautiful. But painful.

Externals and internals. Marriage. Children. Birth. Death. Stubbornness. Selfishness. Selflessness. Plenty and Want. Springtime, harvest; feast and famine.

And Jesus. Woven in and throughout.

Oh. I am undone. My heart is wrenched.
April 25,2025
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Simply beautiful. Sigrid Undset is was an artist with a deep understanding of human nature, natural consequences, and history--the medieval history of Norway. This novel series touched many deep cords within me. I'm awakened in new ways. I cried. I was so angry at the choices made. I laughed. I was right there every moment. The description of motherhood and all its joys and sorrows were perfectly described and came alive in beautiful descriptions. I've been pondering on what I could say about a book that touched me so personally, so deeply, and moved me. Normally, I would never read a book that covers a person's life to the end, but THIS, THIS was a well-done masterpiece.
April 25,2025
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That was quite a journey: at times like watching a train wreck, other times quite moving, but never comfortable.
April 25,2025
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I read this years ago, so I really can't review it properly.

It's a wonderful story of the life of a 14th century Scandinavian woman.

Highly recommended.
April 25,2025
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Although I've never read any other story so gut-wrenching, its brutal honesty about human nature and relationships, especially familial relationships laced with selfishness and bitterness is not crass. It remains gracious in the midst of honesty and noble in the midst of sin. The novel is a masterpiece.

Kristin is a loving and faithful wife. She is also a harsh and bitter wife. Kristin is a loving and doting mother. She's also a neglectful and self-absorbed mother. Kristin is a dutiful and penitent Christian. She is also knowledgable in the practices of paganism. She reveres her father and yet breaks his heart in every possible way. Almost every character in the book has rich, real, human complexity.

We are all often such walking contradictions. We require grace and forgiveness from one another and from God to make it through.

This is a book that will break your heart, but you will be a better, wiser person for enduring and considering through the entire epic. Just don't read it while pregnant or post-partum.
April 25,2025
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Arriving, finally, at the end of this book felt like an ending to some part of my soul. Very highly recommended.
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