New-York tribune., 1921-03-06

cent picture of the countryside where
lsak toied is suggested In the follow
ing passage:
They had this good fortune at Sell
lenraa. that every spring and autumn
they could see the gray geese sailing
IN fleets above that wilderness and
hear their chatter up In tho air-deli-
rious talk it was. And as II the world
stood still for moment until the train
OF them had passed. And the human
souls beneath, did they not feel a weak
ness gliding through them now? They
went to their work again, but drawing
breath first--something had spoken to
them, something from beyond.
Great marvels were about them At
all times. In the winter were the
stars; in winter, often, too, che north
ern lights, a armament Of wings.
confiagration in the mansions Of God
NOW and then, not often: not com
monty but now and then they heard
the thunder. 1t came mostly In the
autumn. and dark and solemn thing
II was for man and beast. The animals
grazing near home would bunch TO-
gether and stand waiting. Bowine
their heads--what for? Waiting for
the end? And man, what Of man
standing in the wilds with bowed head.
waiting when tho thunder came? Wait
ing for what?"
"A Barge Of q Man.
lsak, "a barge Of . man." biz Of
bone and muscle, dominates the whole
work. We see him carrying immense
loads on his shoulders down to tho VII
lase and back again beforh he is rich
petually setting up new buildings:
reverently watching his farm flourish
as a'result Of his constant labor. He Is
as firmly rooted in the soil as q great
oak; he cannot imagine any life apart
from his crops and livestock.
lnger, his wife, Is less completely
attached to the lonely countryside.
She is sent away to prison for a term
for killing her newborn infant-an un-
pleasant form Of birth control which
is apparently widely practiced among
the poorer farmers in the more remote
districts Of Norway. So she gain. a
glimpse of life in large towns; and she
is sometimes stirred by vague longings
and regrets. She is attracted by
young miner. who spends some time at
the farm, helping with the work. Yet
she is good wife to Isak: an excel
lent mother to his children and a hard
worker.
The figures in the story are all ad-
mirably drawn. There is poor old
gossiping Oline, who ekes out q hard
existence by begging, intrigue and tale
bearing. There is Axel Strom, sturdy.
thrifty, laborious, second only to 1sak
himself as worthy son of the soil.
There is pert, adventurous Barbro, who
ends rather checkered career de-
murely enough as Axels wife. Isak's
older son, Eleseus, is a dissenter in
this community Of toiling farmers. He
gets taste of city life as boy and
can never bring himself to settle down
on the land. Finally after almost
bankrupting his father in an unsuc-
cessful effort to carry on q store, he
goes away to America and never re-
turns.
The little incidents which break the
vast, monotonous calm Of farm life are
described with splendid spirit. A cop
per mine Is opened up in the neighbor-
hood, and brings alternately hope and
disappointment to the little settlement
a snowstorm; he would have died but
for the timely arrival OF Oline. The
local officials wife attempts to patron
ize Barbro and experiences an un-
pleasant surprise when the girl unmis-
takably prefers dances to moral lee
lures.
But Hamsun, in Growth Of the
Soil, has given US far more than the
typical novel Of provincial realism.
With sympathy, yet with q certain
vast. impersonal objectivity, he shows
human beings playing their appoint
ed roles in the eternal drama Of draw
ing out from the earth its increase.
And in the background is always the
idea Of mighty, immutable Nature, to
whom q thousand years are but as q
second in the life Of man.
American readers Of Growth Of the
Soil are under 4 double obligation to
Mr.. w. W. Worster.> His translation
is unfailing in raciness and spirit, and
his informative sketch Of Knut Ham
suns life and work is appended to the
second volume.