num_pages: 319
description: From the rocky, mist-enshrouded shores of Norway to the bustling streets of Minneapolis, O. E. Rölvaag lyrically chronicles the experiences of Nils Vaag, a young Norwegian immigrant. Abandoning the life of a fisherman in Nordland, a region poor but full of mystical beauty, Nils emigrates to the New World in 1912. There he sweeps saloons, lives in a boardinghouse called "Babel" for the many languages used by its residents, and begins to find his way among the people of the city.The Boat of Longing was Rölvaag's favorite of all his books and the only one set in urban America. When it was first published in English in 1933, it received wide praise from American critics. This edition includes an introduction by Einar Haugen, professor emeritus of Scandinavian and Linguistics at Harvard University and author of a critical study of Rölvaag.
language: English
title: The Boat of Longing
titlecomplete: The Boat of Longing (Borealis Books)
genres: Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 108
publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press