Weary Men |
|
| Author:
| Garborg, Arne |
| Translator:
| Lyngstad, Sverre |
| Afterword by:
| Buvik, Per |
| Series title: | European Classics Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8101-1600-9 |
| Publication Date: | Mar 1999 |
| Publisher: | Northwestern University Press
|
| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | USD $22.95 |
Book Description:
|
With its angst-ridden, sensualist hero, Anne Garborg's classic,
Weary Men, (
Trætte Mænd) invites comparison with the classic European decadent novels of the turn of the century--Huysmans's
Against the Grain and Wilde's
The Picture of Dorian Gray. Unlike the protagonists of those novels, however, the hero of
Weary Men is treated with irony. And while it is a brilliant novel of ideas,
Weary Men has endured primarily because of the...
More Description With its angst-ridden, sensualist hero, Anne Garborg's classic, Weary Men, (Trætte Mænd) invites comparison with the classic European decadent novels of the turn of the century--Huysmans's Against the Grain and Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Unlike the protagonists of those novels, however, the hero of Weary Men is treated with irony. And while it is a brilliant novel of ideas, Weary Men has endured primarily because of the acuity with which Garborg explores the roguish main character's psychological makeup.
Originally published in 1891, Weary Men introduces a bachelor nearly middle age named Gabriel Gram, who suffers an existential crisis, considers suicide, but finally finds solace in a religious conversion of questionnable sincerity. Garborg depicts Gram's Kristiania (present day Oslo) in fascinating detail as Gram divides his time between male friends and "new women," a new generation of Norwegian women embolded to walk freely with men in public but who continue to rebuff Gram's sexual advances.