INTRODUCTION


An autobiographical element is evident in practically everything that
Hamsun has written. But it is particularly marked in the two volumes now
published under the common title of "Wanderers," as well as in the
sequel named "The Last Joy." These three works must be considered
together. They have more in common than the central figure of "Knut
Pedersen from the Northlands" through whose vision the fates of Captain
Falkenberg and his wife are gradually unfolded to us. Not only do they
refer undisguisedly to events known to be taken out of Hamsun's own
life, but they mirror his moods and thoughts and feelings during a
certain period so closely that they may well be regarded as diaries of
an unusually intimate character. It is as psychological documents of the
utmost importance to the understanding of Hamsun himself that they have
their chief significance. As a by-product, one might almost say, the
reader gets the art which reveals the story of the Falkenbergs by a
process of indirect approach equalled in its ingenuity and
verisimilitude only by Conrad's best efforts.

The line of Hamsun's artistic evolution is easily traceable through
certain stages which, however, are not separated by sharp breaks. It is
impossible to say that one stage ended and the next one began in a
certain year. Instead they overlap like tiles on a roof. Their
respective characters are strikingly symbolized by the titles of the
dramatic trilogy which Hamsun produced between 1895 and 1898--"At the
Gate of the Kingdom," "The Game of Life," and "Sunset Glow."