Pan

A work neglected in our time, and one which in my opinion deserves our renewed interest, is Pan, a short novel by the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun. «The story it tells is as gripping as ever, and its descriptions of nature remain original. The work contains a harmony found only in the highest types of poetry; it is actually poetry set in prose, and boasts the best traits of each. . . In Europe Pan was for so many years a greatly treasured work, a particular favorite of young people. In a sense it is a symbolic novel: the conflict between Glahn and Edvarda is the conflict between the sexes. Their pride is the human pride that aspires to happiness and flees from it».