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Ladies, and gentlemen as it has been finished in record time the review of "The sentimental" /review/show... I am about to write another. I trust that with the help of Providence I will be able to conclude it. This has been another of my favorite summer readings, perhaps the third best book, and the second book by Sigrid Undset /author/show... that I liked without reservation. The other was "The Burning Bush" /book/show/1... that had a different theme. The success of Undset with this book has been due to a factor from my point of view essential, and that finally Undset has offered me what I wanted to read. It turns out that the novel "The Saga of Vigdis" although it should be called better saga of Ljot-Vigdis because of the importance that Ljot has in the saga. Among the Anglophone readers this saga is known as "The daughter of Gunnar", and tells the love-hate story of the Norwegian Vigdis and the Icelandic Ljot, that if we have to pay attention to what another Nobel Prize winner Halldor K. Laxness told us /author/show... the Icelanders were practically despised, and treated as slaves, they were even thought to be violent people, and criminals, when the curious thing is that they were the only people who decided in their assembly the Althing to convert to Christianity at the end of the tenth century. Although it had a strong pagan component. I would like to recall the wonderful prologue that Poul Anderson wrote /author/show... of his novel "The Broken Sword" /book/show/4... that like the Count of Olivares he was a worthy rival for Cardinal Richelieu this novel, despite the amoral tone that announced Michael Moorcock /author/show... With all the prologue showing us what the situation was like in the Nordic countries, and offered us a vision of Norse mythology very different from that of J.R.R. Tolkien, /author/show... in fact this story "The Broken Sword" could be Anderson's answer to the story of Turin Turámbar, /book/show/5... although I agree more with Anderson's view of the Nordic world (this made the arrival of Christianity in the Scandinavian realm so necessary) Tolkien was superior to J.R.R. Tolkien, and he proved it again. In the prologue of that novel the Icelanders were seen offering sacrifices to the elves, showing, despite Thormbrandt's attempts, the slow transition from paganism to Christianity slower than in the other corners of the Nordic world. This story that he has edited wonderfully well @edicionesencuentro even though Encuentro had written very good prologues about the work, and the life of Sigrid Undset here has written a new prologue that I think is very accurate, and tells us the fascination of Undset for the Nordic sagas, being his first works of this style, she was also greatly influenced by her father, and was not only fascinated by the Nordic world /book/show/1..., but also by the Arthurian world /book/show/3.... Something that was not easy, since Encuentro had already written two good prologues in "Kristin daughter of Lavrans" /book/show/6... and "The Burning Bush" (I could not read the Olav Audunson, because I have Aguilar's edition). In this novel Undset has finally shown me why she is worthy of the Nobel Prize. I have already told this anecdote, but I repeat it to ŷ������ users, because it never tires to hear a story told again if it is good. In a book by the Japanese Shusaku Endo (which by the way writing it cost him the Nobel Prize) called "Scandal" a fellow writer of the protagonist named Kano, as the fighter of Mortal Kombat told him that after the last novel of the protagonist he had finally managed to understand it, and that he liked the work of the protagonist. Something like this has happened to me with this book by Sigrid Undset true, which moves away from the usual t'nica of his novels, true that although Christianity is less present (although it is) Undset triumphs for two reasons, because the novel is shorter. Generally Undset tended to fill his novels with sometimes unnecessary pages. It is the case of "Kristin daughter of Lavrans" which I thought had many pages, and that Mika Waltari /author/show... (this is not going to please Undset fans, but I have to say, maybe it does not have the plausibility, nor the historical rigor of Sigrid Undset, but I like the Finnish writer better, and even if he is not a Catholic, he must have won the Nobel, because every page that the Finn wrote mattered, and created anxiety in the reader, and a spiritual anguish in the reader not to mention the wonderful characterizations, and descriptions he made, in addition to excelling in more genres than Undset), or "The Avalon" by Anya Seton /book/show/3... they had written better novels than the Norwegian writer (in the case of Seton, although it is true that Avalon I love if I must record one thing in favor of the Scandinavian writer, and that is that Seton's religiosity is not authentic, and that it is only a characteristic, which changes depending on the work, adapting to it, but I liked it better, and "Avalón" is without hesitation a real gem, which deserves to be rediscovered by critics). Johannes V. Jensen's slumber is not reached with "The Fall of the King". /book/show/2... , but it became very dry to read it. It is true that Undset sought to make a more realistic literature, which fled from Scottian romanticism, but by seeking that everyday realism caused the same disaster as the historians of the Annale school, and other tendencies, that nothing happened, and ended up distorting History, and in the case of Undset his work. In the case of Undset for example I remember when a Frenchman named Allard wanted to take one of Kristin's children, I was sad about me (like Alfonso XII) thinking there would be action, and adventure, and something would happen, but by not giving Erlend permission, and showing that Allard was a depraved person, and indignant deprived me of a series of adventures that could have been good for a book, that fell into quietism, sometimes shaken by catastrophes, or truculent events, but often ridiculous, and absurd, such as the death of Erlend for example.
Here Undset writes together with "The Burning Bush" his best story. A love-hate story, which takes place on horseback from Norway, and Eleventh century Iceland honor-revenge. Ljot falls in love with the Norway Vigdis, but due to jealousy he alienates the love of Vigdis, and allies with the enemies of his father's family (Gunnar), the Eylov and Kole of Gumelunde. Jealousy towards Kare, and the thought she doesn't love him. He makes him write satirical verses, and ends up forcing Vigdis (that naturalistic violence typical of Zola /author/show... persists in this work of Undset). That he must face the illegitimacy of a son, avenge his father, and make a pact with kings. In this case with Olaf Tryggvason first King who favors Christianity in Norway, although Undset shows us that he is not a very virtuous king. But if the story of Vigdis (who will play the role of a man), his escape is spectacular, and his revenge worthy of Mario Puzo's Godfather is /book/show/2... good. Better is the story of Ljot, who marries, kills Halstein for honor, and Odd. Despite the love of his wife he does not manage to be happy because of his love for Vigdis, he loses his children, and this makes the character better, and matures thanks to pain. Despite the contempt he feels for the character, especially at the beginning, his misfortunes make the reader empathize with him. To the point of leading us to a fatal outcome in a society that is still pagan, despite the fact that Olav favors Christianity. But a blood-stained legalism is still present in which forgiveness and piety are still absent. The priest Eirik more than a priest is almost a scheldt. I was able to empathize with the characters from Ljot that is maturing, and improving until the final outcome in which in the end he shows us that he loved Vigdis and since he lost it he could not be happy. This story felt like my own. I met in my past a person, who reminded me of Vigdis, strong, courageous, noble, independent with a strong personality. That is why this story, despite the tragic outcome, has affected me so much. I can only consider it as a masterpiece, and not only as a good cover (in fact Encuentro has made a wonderful cover of bluish features, reminiscent of the Valkyries, or Eowyn Tolkieniana of bluish features). My grade is (5/5). PS. My sympathies went with the Norwegians, because the wife of a cousin of my mother lives in Valencia, and is from Norway.
My next review will be "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood /book/show/5... I didn't like anything, but goodreads users will already discover that.