Hunger torments him constantly, and to soothe it, he chews a sliver or sucks stone and even blackened orange peel. He is overfilled with sketches of new articles, but the editors reject his works: he chooses too abstract themes, newspaper readers are not hunters to abstruse reasoning. Following a sudden impulse, he gives his jacket to the moneylender and hands money to a beggar crippled, and lonely starving continues to ferment among the masses of well-fed people, and is acutely aware of the complete disregard of others. Heavy prolonged hunger causes the improper behavior of the narrator - he often goes against established worldly standards. When the auctions are held, he entertains himself by watching, in whose hands move his things, and if they get a good master, he feels satisfied. He has already pawned everything he had - household domestic trifles, all the books. Strange thoughts, words, images, fantastic pictures are sweeping through his mind. During the day, he likes to spend time in the park - there he ponders over themes for future work, making sketches.

The narrator is experiencing weakness, dizziness, nausea. But in order to take the place of a cashier a deposit is required, and he has no money, in the firefighters he is not taken, because he wears glasses. It seems the only way out is to find a steady income, and he starts to study advertisements in newspapers on the hiring. He wistfully reflects on how slowly and steadily he is rolling downhill. A beginner writer, he tries to earn giving articles, notes, satires in newspapers, but it is not enough for life, so he falls into complete destitution.

The narrator lives in a miserable little room in the attic, where he is constantly plagued by hunger pangs. The novel, written in the first person, is partly autobiographical it depicts events from 1886 in Christiania (now Oslo), where Hamsun was on the verge of starvation.

Written by Julia Wolf, Michelle Maita and other people who wish to remain anonymous We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Hunger hamsun novel