I finished the first part at lunch today and want to take a day or so to let some of my thinking crystallize before saying much, but I wanted to share a few first thoughts.

What strikes me most about the book is how modern the protagonist feels despite being written 120 years ago. I know this guy; we all know this guy. Today he’d be drinking PBRs and posting sporadically to his highly regarded blog or he’d be that insanely talented dude who’d gone to Berklee, plays six instruments, and plays one show a month, half drunk. He wouldn’t be living on the street but he’d be pretty close to it.

Hamsun’s protagonist (HP for lack of a better name) is so disaffected and disconnected we don’t know his name. His inner life is richly described but crowds around him are barely sketched in. In a few instances Hamsun colors in another character more but there’s a crudeness to the descriptions - and a focus on those aspects that repulse HP - that makes them all less real. Christiania and the surrounding area is described in greater detail - I can feel the cold seeping into me just thinking about the damp forest floor - which makes the people HP encounters seem like so many props.

Hamsun uses an interesting technique where he severely limits dialog and narrates the majority of conversations. Even when engaged with others, HP’s focus is inward. Which focus befits someone with such a pronounced case of bipolar disorder coupled with mild paranoia.

I’ve never known anyone with such rapid and frequent mood swings but I suppose they’re possible. That, or Hamsun shortened the period in order to heighten the tension. Regardless, Hamsun’s descriptions of HP’s internal mental state during each end of the cycle tells me he probably had some first-hand knowledge of them.

I’ll have more to say tomorrow when I’ve noodled over this some more.

How’s everyone else finding Hunger?