Kielland's third novel, _Skipper Worse_, marked a distinct step in
his development. It was less of a social satire and more of a
social study. It was not merely a series of brilliant, exquisitely-finished
scenes, loosely strung together on a slender thread of narrative,
but it was a concise, and well constructed story, full of beautiful
scenes and admirable portraits. The theme is akin to that of
Daudet's _L'Evangeliste_; but Kielland, as it appears to me, has in
this instance outdone his French _confrere_ as regards insight into
the peculiar character and poetry of the pietistic movement. He has
dealt with it as a psychological and not primarily as a pathological
phenomenon. A comparison with Daudet suggests itself constantly in
reading Kielland. Their methods of workmanship and their attitude
towards life have many points in common. The charm of style, the
delicacy of touch and felicity of phrase, is in both cases
pre-eminent. Daudet has, however, the advantage (or, as he himself
asserts, the disadvantage) of working in a flexible and highly-finished
language, which bears the impress of the labors of a hundred
masters; while Kielland has to produce his effects of style in a
poorer and less pliable language, which often pants and groans in
its efforts to render a subtle thought. To have polished this
tongue and sharpened its capacity for refined and incisive
utterance is one--and not the least--of his merits.

Though he has by nature no more sympathy with the pietistic
movement than Daudet, Kielland yet manages to get, psychologically,
closer to his problem. His pietists are more humanly interesting
than those of Daudet, and the little drama which they set in motion
is more genuinely pathetic. Two superb figures--the lay preacher,
Hans Nilsen, and Skipper Worse--surpass all that the author had