Star that slips athwart the blue,
And all Beauty lost to me.
Long ago to you I gave
All there was of me to give.
J. CROSBY BROWN, JR.
Book Reviews
Victoria. By Knut Hamsun. (Knopf.)
With the translation of Victoria into English, Knut Hamsun demands again our serious consideration. He is universally recognized as the author of Growth of the Soil, Pan, and Hunger. In 1920 he received the Nobel Prize for literature; a great distinction for any writer. That fact alone should fascinate us into searching out his latest translated novel.
Victoria is a tragical romance dealing frankly with the hopeless mutual love of an aristocrat and one of lower caste. The plot is obviously commonplace; but Knut Hamsun has done with it what few other men could do: excited and maintained interest. To emphasize these qualities there must be some twist in his technique, some trick in his style. Perhaps this is it:—