3.5 stars

I think I prefer the first book of the trilogy because I got easily bored with some of the more religious passages in this book, which are quite many. While that is completely understandable, I got bored since few characters learned anything from repetition of the same old arguments from the first book. I still love Lavrans and wish we got to see more of him, but the story follows his daughter Kristin, so tough luck.

The main issue I have with this book is that Kristin doesn't know when to let things go, rehashing her past and her sins over and over again, to the detriment of her marriage and sanity. It's rather ugly of her to throw her past Erlend's face and blame him for her follies as a young maiden, as if she wasn't an active participant. I saw red - woman, you're married to the guy you've happily slept with in the worst places imaginable while being betrothed to another, and now you're not happy that you got him as a husband?! Wasn't this what you wanted? So, needless to say, the marriage is kind of rocky at times, and at one points functions best when Erlend is far away. Somehow they always find a way to each other, usually when one of them is in some kind of trouble. They are lucky so many people like them and help them out.

I think I'll finish the trilogy sometime next year. Now I need a break from the deep dysfunction of these two. I can already imagine the horrors their sons will turn out to be (or not?).

I was tempted to give this three stars (which still means "I liked it"), but realized I'll probably be sad when the trilogy is done, so bumped it up to four. Especially enjoyed this one more for the historical fiction aspects. It is interesting that, for reasons of both culture and practicality, this is a society where big decisions are made over the course of months or years, and where people are willing to wait until the right moment to have that discussion... something to learn there as we live in a snap-judgment society that wants to change everything because of whatever was on the news today.

This is also a society where family relations are different, in more ways than one. Husband and wife might spend months or even years apart, since travel takes a long time and weather might pin you in one location until the end of winter. And of course, if you are traveling and intend to stay at your brother-in-law's home along the way, or what have you, there is no calling ahead, which does something to hospitality expectations - somebody knocks on your door in the middle of the night, you'd better answer it and have a room for them (at least if they are family). Although this changes over the course of the book, in parts you get the sense that, as long as Kristin is birthing him sons, Erlend doesn't feel a strong pull to be back at his estate living with her and their children and perhaps would actually be rather out adventuring... although this does change as the story goes on.

We see here also the relationship between the nobility and the commoners. The story does revolve around that nobility of course, which makes you wonder how everyday life differed for the commoners. And sometimes the commoner life (which is more like the life Kristin had as a child) is held up as superior in its simplicity (Kristin's pleasant experience having dinner with a commoner woman when she was out wandering, and her desire that that same woman be present for her first birth, for example).

I won't write too much more but, as with the first book, I was at least a little offput by the soap opera feel, the "who had that child with whom?" sort of thing going on in parts of the book. The fact that the man Kristin was betrothed to, and then spurned, has since become her own brother-in-law (and apparently still has feelings for her), certainly makes for some awkward moments and will perhaps factor more in book three.

But a good read.

----

A few snips I liked.

"'Kristin,' the priest said sternly. 'Are you so arrogant that you think yourself capable of sinning so badly that God's mercy is not great enough?...'"

"You have no right to ask me that, but I will answer you all the same. He who died for us on the cross knows how much I need his mercy. But I tell you, Erlend - if on the whole round disk of this earth he had not one servant who was pure and unmarked by sin, and if in his holy Church there was not a single priest who was more faithful and worthy than I am, miserable betrayer of the Lord that I am, then the Lord's commandments are what we can learn from this. His Word cannot be defiled by the mouth of an impure priest; it can only burn and consume our own lips - although perhaps you can't understand this. But you know as well as I, along with every filthy thrall of the Devil that he has bought with His own blood - God's law cannot be shaken nor his honor diminished. Just as His sun shines equally mighty, whether it shines above the barren sea and desolate gray moors or above these fair lands."

"Prayers, fasts, everything he had practiced because he had been taught to do so, suddenly seemed new to him - weapons in a glorious war for which he longed."

"Whoever has the greatest hunger forces his way forward - there is still some food in the trough. But those who might attempt to win power and wealth in an honorable manner, as was done in the time of our fathers, are not the ones who come forward now."

"From grief over the warm and ardent love which she had lost and still secretly mourned; from anguished joy over the pale, luminous love which drew her to the farthest boundaries of life on this earth. Through the great darkness that would come, she saw the gleam of another, gentler sun, and she sensed the fragrance of the herbs in the garden at world's end."

"She was brought up among men; she was able to be gentle and soft because there had always been men around to hold up protective and shielding hands between her and everything else in the world."

"'Wretched deeds accompany our arrival and our departure, Kristin. In sickness we are born and in sickness we die, except for those who die in battle.'"

Beim 2. Band wurde mir klar, warum Sigrid Undset den Literaturnobelpreis erhielt. Diese vielschichtigen Charaktere sind einfach großartig und wunderbar ist auch die Beschreibung von wechselnden Gefühlen und Beziehungen. Da gibt es kein Schwarz und Weiß, keinerlei Klischees, aber durchaus nachvollziehbare Wandlungen er handelnden Personen.
Endlich ist mir auch klar geworden, wie geschickt die Autorin die Handlung in einen realen geschichtlichen Rahmen einfügt, aber auch mit wie viel Detailwissen sie das Leben im Mittelalter für den Leser erlebbar macht.
Es störte mich lediglich, dass ich mitunter bei den vielen Personen den Überblick verlor, zumal man die Familien noch nicht nach Familiennamen unterscheiden konnte. Ein Personenverzeichnis wäre eine große Hilfe gewesen.

INCREDIBLE. I prayed with a lot in the one. Seeing Kristin’s true repentance, and seeing different people in her life speak truth was so powerful. And seeing Lavrans father her so well and point her back to the Father in turn pointed me back to Him! Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“I realized that just as they had suffered, so should we all have the courage to suffer. Who would be so foolish not to accept pain and torment if this was the way to a faithful and steadast bridegroom who waits with open arms, his breast bloody and burning with love.
"But he loved humankind. And that's why he died as the bridegroom who has gone off to rescue his bride from the robbers' hands. And they bind him and torture him to death, but he sees his sweetest friend sitting at the table with his executioners, bantering with them and mocking his pain and his loyal love." Gunnulf Nikulausson

"Help me, Gunnulf," begged Kristin. She was white to the very edge of her lips. "I don't know my own will."
"Then say: Thy will be done," replied the priest softly. "You know you must open your heart to His love. Then you must love Him once more with all the power of your soul."

“He felt faint with longing for that time-would he ever again find that nuptial joy in his heart that had filled him all spring long in Rome? Together with his three brothers he had wandered in the sunshine across the green, flower-starred meadows. He grew weak and trembled when he saw how beautiful the world was—and then to know that all of this was nothing compared to the riches of that other life. And yet this world greeted them with a thousand small joys and sweet reminders of the bridegroom.”

4.5 stars rounded up. It's not as riveting as the first one, but it's still wonderful. I got more than a little lost with the endless number of characters mentioned with similar names and all the political intrigue. My favorite character from the first volume, Lady Aashild, wasn't in it.

“But never had she felt so clearly as in this hour that it was on her father and mother all the life of this home had rested. What ever hidden troubles they might have had to struggle with, warmth and help, peace and safety had flowed out from them to all that lived about them.”

Amen.

It is my own mother that I thought of constantly while reading this. Her grandparents came from a small farming town near Bergen, Norway, and she loved to pour over dense histories of the country. (All I saw in them then was Kings with funny names like Harald and Olaf, and long unpronounceable places with lots of umlauts). Oh how I wish she could have read this trilogy.

Book Two of the Kristin Lavransdatter series (called “The Mistress of Husaby” in my 1946 library copy translated by Charles Archer) was as good if not better than book one. With every page, you’re steeped in the story’s time and place—you feel the bitter cold, smell the smoke of the cooking fires, and wonder at the difficulties of survival in the fourteenth century.

The immersion is personal as well as physical. Undset puts you deep in Kristin’s mind as she struggles with her concept of sin, with the reality that her husband does not have the attributes she so admired in her father, with giving birth to seven children, with death and plague and step-children and family crises and medieval politics.

We see life through Kristin’s eyes, but always alongside of that, we see Kristin through the eyes of those who love her:

Heart wrenching scenes of the battle in her husband’s heart, that he adored his wife but found “He longed to leave her!”

Her father Lavrans, attempting to counsel her, “You tug and strain like a young horse when ‘tis first tied up to the stake, wherever you are tied by your heartstrings.”

Even the viewpoint of her eldest child: “… mother was like the fire on the hearth, she bore the life of the home as the lands round about Husaby bore the crops year by year …”

I am hooked on the world Sigrid Undset has created, on her insights and beautiful prose, and I hope to start the third volume soon. Maybe I'll even dig into some Norwegian history! My mother would be pleased.

1928 yılında nobel' i alan bu Norveçli kadın yazarın sanırım ülkemizde yayınlanmış tek kitabı. O da Kristin Lavrandsdatter üçlemesinin 2. kitabı. Kitap Kristin adlı bir kızın hayatını anlatırken aslında geri planda Norveç tarihi hakkında çok şey söylüyor. keşke olsa keşke bilinse en azından bari bu üçlemenin diğer kitaplarını okuyabilsek.

Segundo volumen de la trilogia en torno a Cristina, Hija de Lavrans. Como ya comenté en el primer volumen, transcurre en el siglo XIV en una Noruega, sumergida en una ola de cambios sociales y económicos dónde la religión, en este caso la católica, jugaba un papel primordial.

Cristina es un personaje que ya aquí en esta segunda parte, casada con Erlend, se convierte en la señora de Husaby, y casi sin respiro comienza a traer hijos al mundo, lo que resulta agotador para el lector, porque llegado un punto, se pierde entre tanto nacimiento. Erlend, el marido de Cristina, de quién se vaticinaba que no podría ser el marido ideal a juzgar por varios momentos en la primera parte, no resulta tan malo como se esperaba pero sin embargo, tampoco resulta un matrimonio perfecto porque la mayoria de las responsabilidades descansan sobre los hombros de Cristina. Ademas, el personaje de Cristina, la gran protagonista, es a veces contradictorio y ambiguo; ella que tiene mucha personalidad y fortaleza depende emocionalmente completamente de Erlend y casi nunca llega a tomar decisiones por si misma, aunque si que tiene momentos de rebelión personal, pero le duran poco. Debido a la enorme influencia de la religión en sus vidas, Cristina vive obsesionada por sus pecados (pecados que ahora nos parecerían irrisorios) y por redimirse; quizás sea uno de los puntos más débiles para mi de estas novelas, demasiado análisis en torno a la religión y la fe, pero claro que históricamente es esencial para entender la época, ya que todo giraba en torno a ella.

"-¿Habeís creido todo lo que los sacerdotes os dijeron sobre el pecado cuando erais soltera?

Aunque este segundo volumen me ha gustado, el primero en torno a Cristina de niña y adolescente me gustó más porque continuamente estaban ocurriendo cosas; en este segundo volumen a veces el personaje de Erlend parece un lastre que no deja avanzar a Cristina, a la que como dije antes, a veces no entiendo por lo contradictorio de sus arranques y por esa obsesión insalvable relacionada con sus pecados de juventud en lo referido al sexo. Es cierto que la novela tiene un ritmo más pausado también porque el personaje de Cristina está entrando en la vida adulta con lo cual Sigrid Undset pone el ritmo de la novela a disposición de la vida que lleva Cristina en esta etapa de su vida.
Donde esta autora brilla más es en sus descripciones de la vida en la Noruega de la época y sobre todo en las descripciones de la naturaleza contrapuesta a los estados de ánimo de sus personajes.

"Varias horas después de que se hiciera de noche, cuando entraron a caballo en el patio de Formo, el viento silbaba en las esquinas de la casa, el rio tronaba, y de la montaña llegaba un ruido fuerte y confuso. El patio parecía un marjal esponjoso que ahogaba el ruido de los cascos de los caballos. Aquel sábado por la noche, víspera de fiesta, no se veía signo de vida en la enorma granja; ni gente, ni perros, no parecían haber oído su llegada".

En resumidas cuentas, una segunda parte de la trilogia que ahonda en la vida de Cristina, pero que también me ha dejado algo agotada ;-).

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The world of the fourteenth-century Norway was fascinating.

But I loved the previous part of the series better. This time, there was too much "religious talking", it was boring many times. I understand it was an important part of that time, nonetheless, I got annoyed a few times.

The political intrigue was interesting, but it was only in the background for most of the novel. And I got confused with the names (characters).

This is the second book in the trilogy.

I feel that Undset has done a good job of immersing the reader in the life of people in this time period, be it poor or rich. Definitely 'calamitous' times.

Religion was a staff to people then when life was so fragile and insecure. I am a christian but not a Roman Catholic and so it is interesting to me how the people sought intercession through those that had gone before. I believe it makes sense that the people would find solace from this.

Kristin feels deeply that she let down her father by her actions in book 1. She seems to take this out on Erlend, albeit unconsciously. She is quite a shrew at times. In the first book Kristin was the virginal fair maid. In this she seems to be a shrewish unforgiving wife.

In the last part of the book we focus on Erlend and the things he had been doing off the scenes.

There was a lot more of Norwegian history in this part which, being a historian first and a literature lover second, really appeals to me. There had been a period of relative stability and peace with King Haakon IV (1217-1263) and again under his son, Magnus known as the lawmender. However he only had a daughter and her son was proclaimed king at the age of 3. A regency ensued and when Magnus claimed to come into his majority at the age of 15. This caused great unrest. The law was that he could not claim this until he was 20. Several uprisings occurred, one of which is described in this part of the book.

I was surprised at the ending of this part as I expected Erlend was to lose his life. Kristin comes to recognise her much she loves her husband and for the first time since book 1 she puts Erlend first in her thoughts and efforts.

We have the Black Death to look forward to in book 3. Between 1349-50 it has been estimated it killed 50% of the population of Norway.

Translated from the Norweigian by Tiina Nunnally

In the second part of Kristin Lavransdatter, we see a married and respectable Kristin. The story covers quite a few years. We see Kristin enter her bridal home, Husaby, give birth to all seven of her sons and finally, fight for Erlend's freedom.

In The Wife, there were fewer of the beautiful descriptions of the landscape which I so enjoyed. Instead, we saw the day-t0-day life of a mistress. Upon entering Husaby, it is very clear to Kristin that it never truly had a mistress. Seeing her raise the value of Erlend's property, win over his servants and mature as an individual was very rewarding.

On that note though, I did not see her grow nearly as much as I hoped she would. If I'm doing the math correctly, she is in her twenties during this book and she is still quite a mess. When great things happen, she cries, when bad things happen, she cries. But I think what bothered me most is how vengeful and hateful she was toward her husband. She had gone through such strife to be with him - and now that she had that chance, all she did was hold things against him and argue with him.

There was a very strong religious focus within this book. Kristin spends a lot of her time with priests, receiving spiritual guidance. I'm not a religious person myself but this part of the book at least didn't feel forced. On the other hand, she spends more time with the priests than she does with her husband. And she is still no closer to personal forgiveness, only dwelling.

The saying goes that in a trilogy, the second book is always the weakest. And I mostly agreed with this. It felt like the reader was meant to develop deeper relationships with the Kristin and Erlend. However, I think the only character I really felt close to by the end was Simon Darre. He is the only one with clear intentions and genuine emotions.

Toward the end of the book, Kristin really devotes herself to Erlend and getting him back, even after he was unfaithful to her. I'm hoping that in The Cross we will see her relationship with Erlend mature to become a healthy one.

This has a pretty slow start which may have the character examination but not the spark and strong emotional moments of the first book, also the events seemed a bit to unconnected to me. From the second third onward, however, this was the same kind of ride as book one, plus beloved side characters returned and were utilized masterfully.
Kristin isn't a child anymore and the change is noticable: there is more politics in this book, telling the reader about the situation of Norway at this point in time, but her personal life is also changed. While never being the most care free, she needs to take a more active role, find her place as mother and wife and struggles to not grow bitter. Undset is very sympathetic towards her flawed characters and portrays them as the complex human beings they would be in real life.