Kristin Lavransdatter

On Friday I just finished reading Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. I had read an article commending this and other works by Sigrid Undset on CatholicCulture.org, so I decided to read something by her. The first book I read was her biography of St. Catherine of Siena which was both moving and excellent. I remember reading it on the bus and being physically repulsed by a particular action of St. Catherine in order to overcome her squeamishness when tending to a sick woman. What she did was truly heroic virtue!

Anyway, I decided I would then read the work for which Undset won the Nobel Prize in 1928. It is somewhat surprising that she won it considering it deals with the religiosity of the Middle Ages in a fairly positive light. I had anticipated that I was in for something good in light of the glowing reviews given to the book. In the end, however, I was not prepared for the all-encompassing experience of reading KL.

It starts with a young Kristin and her experience with her life in 14th century Norway, moving through to her betrothal and then sin and its consequences for Kristin on her life, and finally in the end her main fault - which is her overly passionate nature - is what saves her. Undset writes in fairly blunt prose which deliver rather shocking events of life quite starkly. I never got used to this and I was often overwhelmed at the events that transpired.

I did read a few reviews which heavily criticised the book for having a poor writing style and being overly dramatic. I completely disagree with these views. Undset often has descriptions of the Norwegian landscape which indeed looms large over Norway and these are stunningly described throughout the book. She also describes peoples appearance at times which do sometimes seem odd. While this grated on some reviewers, I found it gelled perfectly with the overall catholicity of the book, concerning body and soul, religion and creation, the contrast between Kristin's feelings for people versus their attractiveness and whether they match up. Also, the frequent drama that takes place is often due to the fact that life was a lot more precarious and unsettled in 14th century Norway than it is now. Birth and death were less sanitised than they are now. Tragedy was a lot less avoidable.

Finally, the presence of the Church in the book is excellent - while there are of course bad priests as well as good, and while priestly celibacy does not seem to have fully caught on yet (it was only introduced in the previous century), many priests and religious are courageous, manly and holy men. The reality of sin and its consequences is also portrayed clearly; indeed, it is one of the main topics in the book.

I highly recommend reading Kristin Lavransdatter. I've only touched on some of the things it deals with. Motherhood and fatherhood are also central topics, as are honour, family, birth, death and duty. I also echo comments I've read in other reviews that it would probably be even better for those with more life experience than I have. All the same, I found it easy to sympathise and relate to the characters, and in fact it's the first book I've ever cried to while reading. Yeah, it really is that good.