In 1926, the 67-year old Knut Hamsun underwent psychoanalysis because he
had been feeling mentally burdened and had problems working and functioning.
After his treatment he began working on a trilogy about August – the wayfarer
who charmed his way to money and friends and who got people to do things they
never dreamed of doing.
Wayfarers is one of Hamsun’s
finest novels, not to mention one of his longest – an entire 400 pages. Book
publisher "Sprotin" is publishing the book in Hans Thomsen’s translation, which
he originally had written for the national Faroese radio “Útvarp Føroya”.
August is the second piece in this trilogy of the vagabond and adventurer
named August – the dreamer and speculator who brings trouble and chaos wherever
he is, but also life and laughter. In this book he is at his highest peaks. He
reconstructs the little village of Pollin according to his own thinking, makes
huge improvements, teaches the villagers a bit of everything and sees to it
that they have both electricity and telephones. However, he doesn’t stop here.
He wants more, but the unreliable end eventually betrays him.
Knut Hamsun uses the life of this wayfarer as a sort of coming to terms
with the new times, industrialization and plutocracy. He does this with such
radiating narrative joy and humour.