Tag Archives: Sigrid Undset

Superfast Birthday = Best Husband Ever

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My birthday was on Sunday, but it extended through today with a box of books that Superfast Husband bought for me! Check out this tantalizing list of books–I don’t know what to read first (after I finish The Fionavar Tapestry)!

  • The Axe, Volume 1 of The Master of Hestviken and Gunnar’s Daughter by Sigrid Undset
  • Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
  • Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
  • Dreamsongs by George RR Martin
  • Come Along with Me and Just An Ordinary Day by Shirley Jackson

And Superfast Younger Brother added to the fun with Ray Bradbury’s Now & Forever.

Considering I’ve entered my “period of confinement,” as my friend Catherine puts it, I am very glad to have all these great books to read. Superfast Baby could show up any day between now and the end of the month (official due date is 11/18, but that’s really just an estimate). I am very motivated now to learn how to read while breastfeeding.

Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

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Synopsis:
A headstrong Upper West Side yearns to escape her family’s Jewish Bronx origins and become a Broadway star.

Review:
This is the third or fourth time I’ve read Marjorie Morningstar, and every time I find myself absolutely riveted for the first two-thirds, then bored and indifferent for the final third, only to be knocked out by the epilogue. The book is rich with details and some astonishing set pieces–such as Seth’s bar mitzvah–but it’s hollow at the core. It’s as if author Herman Wouk gets tired of Marjorie’s adolescent angst, and all of a sudden the book puts on Mom’s high heels and pearls–and they’re just too big. Continue reading →

Answers–13 Opening Lines–How Many Can You Guess?

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I mentioned that I had to go on maternity leave for my reading jobs, so my On Reading posts will no longer mean that I read a book for work. I could be a stickler for consistency and just stop doing them, but they’re just too much fun–especially when I catch the fever for a really great meme like the one accidentally started by the Accidental Novelist, and picked up by Poodlerat.

Here are 13 opening lines (or two) to books that are beloved by me, the Superfast Reader. See if you can guess where they come from. I’ll update the post with the answers as the correct ones come in. Continue reading →

The Cross (Kristin Lavransdatter 3) by Sigrid Undset

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Synopsis:
As her seven sons grow to manhood in 13th Century Norway, Kristin finds her marriage tested by long-simmering resentments, and struggles with her passage into senescence.

Review:
This might be my favorite of all three Kristin Lavransdatter books, because I think Undset is operating at the peak of her narrative powers. She really brings to life a time in Kristin’s life that isn’t as readily appealing as Kristin’s passage into womanhood, and the novelty of Kristin and Erlend’s life together has worn off. In that way, reading The Cross is like experiencing a mature marriage, from what I can imagine. It’s no longer new, yet surprises and delight still exist if you have the patience to endure. Continue reading →

The Wife (Kristin Lavransdatter II) by Sigrid Undset

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Synopsis:
Now married to her beloved Erlend Niklausson, Kristin takes up her new life as the mistress of Husaby, fearful that the child that grows inside her will expose her secret shame and cause her father to reject her.

Review:
I didn’t think it was going to be possible for Undset to outdo her achievement The Wreath, book I of her Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy set in Norway in the 14th century. I feared that marriage wouldn’t suit Kristin, that her vitality and inner fire would be quenched by the mundane tasks of childrearing and household economy. But Undset is a wickedly enticing storyteller, and the Kristin that she gives us in The Wife rages with life, and her struggles are even more accessible today than those that young Kristin endured. Continue reading →

Translator Tiina Nunnally on Kristin Lavransdatter

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Amazon.com has an online book club, and they’re currently reading the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Unset. I read the first one last fall, and am looking forward to books 2 and 3.

I fell in love with Kristin, and so did translator Tiina Nunnally, who writes for Amazon: Continue reading →

The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter 1) by Sigrid Undset

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Synopsis:
Kristin Lavransdatter is a girl in 14th Century Norway, betrothed to one man but desperately in love with another. Continue reading →