A few months ago, the cover (above) of  “Kristin Lavransdatter, I : The Wreath”, by Sigrid Undset and translated by Tiina Nunnally,  caught my eye at the bookstore.  I have a few Norwegian ancestors (from way back) with similar last names, so I picked up the book.  Oh, so it’s set in medieval Norway?  Never read anything in that place setting, as far as I know.  And, it looked like a good read, so I brought it home.  I realized it was part of a trilogy, but figured if I didn’t like it, I didn’t have to read the next two books in the trilogy.

This book might have sat in my TBR pile for a while longer, if it hadn’t been for the Read-Along co-hosted  by  Emily at Evening all Afternoon  and Richard at Caravana de Recuerdos , with the goal of reading the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy over three months.  For the month of October, the participants are reading Part I: The Wreath.

Part I covers Kristin’s childhood and young womanhood in fourteenth-century Norway.  The incidents that happen,  and the decisions made by Kristen, obviously have set up what will happen in the remaining two books of the trilogy.   So, it’s hard to discuss this book in depth without giving away spoilers or foreshadowing that I thought I saw (but I don’t know yet if I’m right).

Do I like the character of Kristin?  I think I do, in spite of some of the decisions she has made up to this point.  Nobody is perfect.  It will be interesting to see in the rest of the trilogy whether the decisions Kristin makes backfires, and whether she grows from learning from her mistakes. 

Even though Kristin is the main character and a female, I felt this volume was very male-centric.  Kristin’s father, Lavrans, is a huge role during this part of her life; even more so than her mother.  Kristin’s best friend is a male.  And, then, of course, there are her suitors.   And that’s all I’ll say at this point; it’s not any more than what is revealed on the book’s back cover .

As for the historical context, as far as I can tell, it rings true.  I am no expert on medieval history, particularily of Norway.  In the introduction to this volume, I learned that the author Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) was the daughter of a Norwegian archaeologist who was a professor; and her mother was from an educated family.  Undset won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 for her work, given for the “powerful pictures of Northern life in medieval times”.

Undset thought much about the meaning of religion in her life around her, and it shows in this volume; but not in a heavy-handed and preachy way.  Rather, she attempts to show how religion was viewed in Kristin’s life and times. 

I’m looking forward to reading the next volume, “Part II: The Wife” for November.  Yes, that means I liked Part I enough to continue with the rest of the trilogy.  I want to know what Kristin’s married life will be like, and how (and if) she matures;  and to see what further developments, if any, occur between her parents’ relationship (which is examined in Part I and ends with somewhat of a bombshell).

Be sure to go to Richard’s and Emily’s links above to look for other bloggers who are participating in the read-a-long.  There is an excellent post by Eva on the entire trilogy.  I’ll try to add links to other participants’  thoughts on “Part I: The Wreath” as I come across them. If you don’t see yours eventually, let me know.  I’m looking forward to reading others’ thoughts on Kristin Lavransdatter.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 1:08 PM and is filed under books, read alongs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.