Sigurd Hoel (1890–1960)

A first person narrative of resistance against German occupiers of Norway. The narrator recalls his childhood with a boy who has become a Nazi sympathiser. As he attempts to understand the nature of loyalty and the incentives to betray one's country, he becomes the lover of a neighbour who herself is linked ton the occupiers. This is a psychological journey as the narrator interacts with the resistance members whom he hides, the traitorous woman whom he loves and the memory of his lost show more friend. The characters are complex and Hoel's simple language (which was ideal for me as a new reader of Norwegian) contrasted powerfully with these difficulties. It could be that it was my developing fluency that made the book more enjoyable towards the end but I think that it does gather pace and I imagine that even in English I would have liked more about the narrator's adult life at the expense of the details of his youth. show less

Sinners in Summertime covers the time spent on an island by a group of 4 male and 4 female postgraduates students, and was first published in 1930. They are devotees of Freud and determined not to be "self-deceivers who belong to the previous generation". The tale is a mildly satirical look at the summer spent there as the resolutions for the break fall apart one by one.

The characters are very assured of themselves, arrogant, and confident of the way their generation will direct the world. show more Of course, forced by the claustrophobia of bubble of the island, they are brought face to face with themselves and their relationships, and are all wiser by the end of the book. Anyone who has been through university is bound to recognise their peers, and perhaps themselves, in the personalities of the characters. show less

Good read, but sadly out of date

DJ has issues, but book VG overall - scarce