Pan (Oxford World's Classics)

First, I like the style, straightforward first-person narration, sometimes in the present tense, sometimes contemplative and poetic. Simple, but effective, a bit like Hermann Hesse, and definitely ahead of its time.And the simple story is strangely compelling. Strange - yes it is that. Mysterious. The protagonists actions are sometimes hard to fathom and his relations with women are frustrating to me as reader. The poetic descriptions of Nature are good, and I would have liked a bit more of that.The appendix section, 'Glahn's Death' seemed superfluous to me, and I think the book would have ended better without that. All in all though a haunting book that kept me turning the pages, and which now makes me want to explore some more of this writer's work.

READ LIKE A VERY TENTATIVE ACCOUNT OF....???????

I like Knut Hamsun a lot, but I thought I'd warn other readers to avoid this edition at all costs, due to the bad translation. W.W.Worster translated this book over a hundred years ago, and although back then a literal translation may have been accepted, nowadays it feels outdated and forces at times, taking the attention of the reader away from the compelling plot of the book. Instead, look for Lyngstad's translation.

This is a little gem of a book; it captivates you from the first page. The character, Glahn, is like no-one you've ever met before - enigmatic, intriguing, with a deep melancholy. He's a hunter who lives in the woods in Norway. He's closer to nature than he is to culture, and his descriptions of the natural world he inhabits are second to none. He meets a young woman, Edwarda, and the book's mostly about their relationship - she seems to represent Culture on the other side of the divide - and ne'er the twain shall meet. They're like magnets, drawn irresistibly together; then suddenly, one or both of them flips to the other side and there's a repulsion, there's desire, such longing, there's pain and destruction and despair, as the characters repeatedly bypass each other, as their feelings wax and wane and struggle to find expression ... and the story gets more and more sinister ... This is a deeply psychological novel, an exploration of the depths of attraction, of relationships, of what is is to be human. The prose is lyrical, poetic, bare, original. A classic!

Review of quality of product rather than of the story of Pan:I obviously got a copy before the printing presses were configured...?Of the 170-odd pages, about 100 are unreadable. If you buy this supposedly great little novel, check your copy as soon as it arrives so you can return if faulty. I didn't look at it and neither (it seems) did Amazon when stock arrived from Norilana Books.

Knut Hamsun's sparse and sometimes unforgiving prose can take a little adjusting to, but the end result is so worth it, it almost defies belief. Pan is perhaps not as famous as Growth of the Soil or Hunger or even Mysteries, but it is a small gem of a book.Set deep in the forests of Norway, it follows Lt. Glahn as he struggles to juggle his unity with nature and the feelings and experiences that defines humanity. The forest itself becomes a third character, the jealous lover that skulks in the shadows and can never be wholly ignored as a separate and sentient entity. The psychological stand-off between Thomas and Edwarda is effotlessly rendered exquisite, and the culmunation of the dichotomy of nature and man that Ghlan exemplifies is treated with compassion and tenderness.This book is perfect for anyone with a passing interest in Scandinavia, great writers or who is just bored wih effusive, meaningless prose. Instant classic.

Pan was the 3rd book by Knut Hamsun written in 1894, of a series of intense novels which explored the inner nature of man through the central character in each book. He opposed the naturalistic and realistic school of fiction known heretofore. Hamsun initiated the neo-romantic school of literature. Pan is written in the 1st person, centered on Lieutenant Glahn, a man in his 30s who lives in a hut in the forests of the north coast of Norway. The action takes place during a spring, summer and autumn of the seasons. Glahn is renting a cabin in the woods, living as a hunter, walking in the woods, talking with his dog and being a man of nature. He hunts for his food daily and shoots rabbit, partridge, and also fishes. He starts to interact with the people of the nearby village, 2 women in particular: Edvarda and Eva . He is tired of civilization, he says, and has left behind the norms of cultured society, being unable to get along well with cultivated people. In narrating his story, Glahn tells both about the external events of his life out in the wilderness and about his reflections on existence, and it is clear that he is trying to become an artist. He feels at one with nature., awkward in society.He has relationships, too with Mr Mack, the merchant father of Edvarda and the Doctor. In the north of Norway is the phenomenon of the midnight sun, where the sun never goes down: Hamsun uses this to create a sensual and flirtatious atmosphere.Pan is an ode to nature as well as the brief love story between Glahn and Edvarda. There’s also the theme of nature vs. culture; Glahn is at home in the one but all at sea in the other. With other people he is abrupt, rude, challenging, strained. In nature his spirit is enriched by winds, sea currents, leaves, plants, wild life, the sun and moon. The prose is lyrical, dream-like, so that the reader becomes part of this nature worship.The god Pan in nature is the essence of this book. Glahn’s mind is a by-product of this. When Glahn is among people in the village the sentences are much shorter due to the increase in dialogue; when in nature he communes through inner monologues. Amongst the people he behaves eccentrically and bizarrely: he can both not bare being looked at, or he wishes to be at the centre of attention, with no balance. His identification with nature extends to using his gun as a phallic symbol, blocking other peoples’ access to the woman he loves by fellow males. He’s ridiculousness is that of being an actor in a cockfight. Edvarda is the virgin and he falls intensely in love with her, puts her purity and innocence on a pedestal. She is a very modern woman and she flirts madly with this male specimen. However Glahn is put off by this, and he starts treating her as if she’s ugly and stupid, not wanting her around. But when she is ignoring him he gets really mad, because she isn’t giving him the attention he thinks he deserves. He becomes childish, throwing one of her shoes into the sea, as if to deny her sexual pleasure, wanting her to remain pure. She wants to climb down off his imaginary pedestal . He is aghast at her reality, her changeableness. She smashes up the dream of love. In nature his love for Edvarda is embodied in the shivering nature of white flowers in which moths descend. But when she comes to him he freaks out. He can’t find her pro-active stance attractive .Seeing himself as the hunter, he has affairs with Eva and Henrietta, because he doesn’t feel threatened by them. He can find the physical relationship he can’t have with Edvarda. They both aren’t virgins, so he can take the lead in their relationship. Like prey.Hamsun’s writing shows a use of symbolism and nature that reveals the inner mind. Though Glahn as a character has many defects and is unlikeable, he is complex and fascinating man as atavar of nature. The style is subjective as in Hunger and Mysteries.