num_pages: 187
description: Niels Lyhne is an aspiring poet, torn between romanticism and realism, faith and reason. Through his relationships with six women—including his young widowed aunt, a seductive free spirit, and his passionate cousin who marries his friend—his search for purpose becomes a yielding to disillusionment. One of Danish literature's greatest novels, with nods to Kierkegaard and a protagonist some critics have compared to Hamlet, Jacobsen's masterpiece has at its center a young man who faces the anguish of the human condition but cannot find comfort in the Christian faith. Tiina Nunnally's award-winning translation offers readers a chance to experience anew a writer deeply revered by Rilke, Ibsen, Mann, and Hesse. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
language: English
title: Niels Lyhne
titlecomplete: Niels Lyhne
characters: Erik Refstrup, Edele Lyhne, Fru Boye, Bartholine Lyhne, Gerda Skinnerup, Herr Bigum, Niels Lyhne, Fennimore Claudi, Frithiof Petersen
genres: Fiction, European Literature, Poetry, Literature, Classics, Novels, 19th Century, Danish, Denmark, Scandinavian Literature
ratings_count: 1993
places: Copenhagen, Denmark
publisher: Penguin Classics