Why, oh why, isn't this book boring?

reread April 2022

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Feb 2019 review:
Undset has created an incredibly rich historical world - I found myself taken in by it almost immediately (admittedly I was a little nervous about the Norwegian names at first, but you pick up on them quick). Kristin's story of lost innocence is tragic, mythic, and timeless. This is a world where both sin and grace abound - and the lines between good and evil are frustratingly grey for our protagonists... Eager to start the next book in this rightfully praised trilogy.

I know there is a lot you could critize about this story, particularly Kristin's choice for Erlend, but I just love this book. There you have it.

This window into medieval Norway captured my imagination and drew me in to Kristin's life. Many parallels with life choices and challenges that touch most of us are evident. Kristin is determined, deceived, and daring. In a lovely way, the thread of faith, albeit tainted with erroneous belief, alerted my spirit to consider the ways I display trust in My Lord. This novel will not disappoint!

It has happened many times since I joined Goodreads and this is just another time. This is a book I would never have picked up, let alone read without the encouragement from Goodread friends. While planning this year’s reading I considered the advice from friends and decided to put The Wreath on my list, with just a wistful thought I might someday continue with the trilogy. I seem to recall a saying, “man plans while God smiles.” So much for maybe someday getting to the trilogy, the next two books are now my next two reads, all else is being pushed back.

This is an easy recommendation, it is rich in characters, scenery, and history. Fictional history, I don’t care, it reads like I’m there. It deals heavily with the personal struggles of right and wrong, both morally and religiously. The books main focus it on Kristin Lavransdatter. We follow her triumphs and failures as she grows from a child to young maiden. This books ends with her marriage and in my case leads immediately two the next book The Wife, I can’t wait to see what happens

Struggling to rate this. Like closer to 3.5...3 was too low, and Undset is a great writer.
I am very interested in the story, and there are some really beautiful aspects, but all the Catholic hype seems a little intense for this book.
I'm hoping the next 2 hold up.
Kristin became a little less frustrating by the end as she starts to understand she done messed up.

Sigrid Undset's The Wreath is the first volume in a trilogy entitled Kristin Lavransdatter set in 14th century Norway. The heroine is the daughter of a well-to-do farmer in the Gudbrandsdal Valley located midway between Trondheim and Oslo.

While in her mid-teens, Kristin is betrothed to another successful farmer named Simon Darre, but in the intervening time, she falls in love with a knight named Erlend Nikolausson and begs her father to dissolve the betrothal.

In Medieval Norway, this was not done simply without conflict within the family. It seems that Sir Erlend has lived with a mistress for many years and had children with her. As a result of this, he fell afoul of both the Church and his king. Also, whereas Simon Darre's estate would enrich Kristin's family, Erlend is by no means such a good manager of a farm estate.

Undset wrote about her ability to put herself in the mindset of the Middle Ages:

If you peel away the layer of ideas and conceptions that are particular to your own time period, then you can step right into the Middle Ages and see life from the medieval point of view -- and it will coincide with your own view. And if you try to reproduce precisely what you have seen, the narrative form will follow automatically. Then you will write as a contemporary.

This is where Undset excels. She herself is a convert to Catholicism, which helps her understand the role of the Church in that time and place.

In 1928, Undset was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, primarily for her historical novels. Based on what I have read in The Wreath, it is richly deserved. I intend this year to read the other two novels in the trilogy, The Wife and The Cross, which continue the story of Kristin Lavransdatter to the end.

reread this after 5 years (read the other translation the first time around). still wanna smack and hug Kristin all at the same time.

Let me just make several comments rather than writing a full review.

I first enjoyed this book as a study of life in 14th-century Norway. Various Roman Catholic friends like the book, and it's easy to see why, as it is from a time when all of life was infused with that faith. Even when events occur is marked by their reference to the day of one saint or another rather than the "month and day number" system we are used to. In COVID-19 times, may I say this is also a society that recognizes and is more accepting (in a way) of the fact that death is something that can happen at any time. At one point the main character (Kirstin), who is perhaps 17 years old and pregnant, is told that she could be dead in a few months (from childbirth), and I think it's accurate to say that the thought doesn't terrify her as it would terrify many a modern American. Of course death is something that could and, one way or another, eventually will happen to everyone. In part because of their faith, that were ever more-ready for that than we are.

With some trepidation... female author, female main character, a book significantly about relationships, I will say the book is (perhaps!) an insightful look into how women think about such things. (Having said that, I can well imagine some women replying "not me buddy!".)

There is nothing more universal than the passage of time, and inasmuch as this book covers around 15 years, we see the characters age and grow up. Kirstin begins the story as a young girl and ends the novel a married woman. The author doesn't spend long in her childhood but gives us the pieces we need to understand how that childhood affected the woman she became. Kirstin also watches her father, perhaps the most moral person in the book and a character modeled, I believe, on the author's own father, aging. Nothing so universal in human life.

And finally, although the book has been compared to Dostoyevsky, it reminded me also of Anna Karenina. A similar sin, and a very similar "sin begets sin" tale, especially dishonesty in this case. (I don't think it was as good as Anna Karenina though... don't tell anyone.)

One thing I disliked actually was that... the novel felt too modern in the sense that "everybody is sleeping around or dreaming that life would have been so much better if they just could have been with ______ instead". That's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but living in a world where (is my impression anyway) that is a message that television and the wider media carries to the populace with regularity, perhaps we need more the message to love and be satisfied in the wife (or husband) of your youth... not only the goal, but also a very achievable possibility.

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And finally, just a few snips:

"When I was back home I couldn't understand how anything could have such power over the souls of people that they would forget all fear of sin, but now I have seen so much that if one cannot rectify the sins one has committed out of desire or anger, then heaven must be a desolate place."

"But why should Lavrans bother with such things when was born to rule over men? He had the makings of a chieftain, he was someone men would have followed, gladly; but these are not the times for such men."

"I've done many things that I thought I would never dare do because they were sins. But I didn't realize that the consequence of sin is that you have to trample on other people."

"Ah, young child, you probably think there's nothing else that entices in the world save sensual pleasure and wealth and power. I must tell you that these are small things that are found along the side of the road - but I, I have loved the roads themselves."

I hid for a long time from this novel of medieval Norway. It was one of those books that “everyone” said I should read, but which never actually sounded enticing. People would say things like, “It’s about a woman who makes choices she regrets for the rest of her life. I didn’t like her much. The book took me a year to finish. You should read it!”

This year, though, a friend remarked that it’s “so beautiful.” Something about her tone helped nudge me out of hiding. So far, I’ve read only the first volume in the trilogy, so it’s fair to say I haven’t yet reached the ending. I want to write a review anyway--the book was so long it feels as if I should mark it’s completion.

I’m glad I read it. The author creates a world and set of characters in such an understated, alive way. A little like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, this is a book that blurs into the category of biography or memoir in one’s mind afterwards even though the heroine is fictional. I’ve never before read historical fiction that feels at once so foreign and yet so human.

It’s true that I didn’t enjoy every scene. There were times I didn’t even like the book. I wished either that Kristen had been less foolish, or that someone had looked after her better. I think I’ll have to push myself a bit to read the next two volumes, but I think I’ll appreciate them afterwards. I hope. We’ll see.

Whew! What a read! Beautifully written and translated. The characters are so vivid and the historical detail is fascinating.

Mild spoiler-y things beyond here:
This reminds me a lot of Anna Karenina in its explorations of the wealthy class in Norway. Lavrans feels a lot like Levin to me with his conscientious farming and his drive to be a good man. I knew a bit about the plot, but it was more complex than I expected. I’m all for that, even when the complexity makes me want to scream because I can see all the red flags. Kristin is such a young idiot. So was I, so I’m not blaming or judging her. Just mourning for her and all the wisdom she’ll surely acquire in the hardest possible way. But maybe that’s just what wisdom is. I’m not sure. I thought the end of this volume between Lavrans and Ragnfrid was so heart-rending and fascinating. Brother Edvin is one of my favorite characters. I have a soft spot for old, wise characters in the Dumbledore category. I do want to be wise myself. I know Kristin will have more to teach me about this in the next volumes.

Another similarity to Anna Karenina in this is the conflict between duty and desire in the heart of each character. Heidi White introduced me to this dichotomy in the Close Reads podcast and it plays out in fascinating ways for each character. I’m especially interested in this with Kristin and the contrast between Erlend and Simon. I have a feeling that Kristin’s desire for Erlend will be saddled with some intense duty. And would a marriage to Simon have been all duty and no desire? Maybe I’ll get some insight into that too.

It’s interesting as well how the duty/desire conundrum is working out for Lavrans, both with his wife Ragnfrid and with his love for and desire to protect Kristin. I really felt for him in his anguish over Kristin’s betrothals. He’s by no means a perfect character (I kinda thought he would be more “holy” before I read this), but he is a really good father. There is an interesting parallel between Kristin with Simon and Lavrans with Ragnfrid. Hmm. Lots to ponder.

Very well written, but my understanding of sin and mercy leads me to not be as sympathetic to the parents as I thought I would be. I actually was more sympathetic to the young couple still. Anyway, I don't want to leave plot spoilers, so Read It!