⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Until Knut Hanson the rooms in the mansion that is our mind have been left largely unexplored. Published in 1890, The Hunger may have been one of the first, if not the first novel that dared to enter the deepest recesses of the human psychology and within the wrappings of an entertaining novel to give us an honest report presented in monologue form. I believe it set the tone for the modernist literary era when the psychological novel and the stream-of-consciousness technique became mainstream. From what I have learned about the author’s life, the plot may just been autobiographical. We are introduced to a young aspiring writer that struggles for recognition and survival in a world which denies him even the few material goods and conveniences needed for a modest living. As we continue on reading his financial situation worsens and the eponymous hunger becomes a steady companion for our impecunious protagonist. This is a tale of suffering, yet through all the despair and setbacks, our young artist perceives and grasps the tiniest change of fortune as a lifeline, he glories in the smallest break fate grants him. He is overflowing with gratitude for the tiniest morsel of unexpected fortune. It is truly heartwarming to see him enjoying what we all take for granted, a warm bed to sleep in, the gratifying feeling of a full stomach, the faintest recognition for his work. And although we never get to know what he writes, there are hints when it is suggested to him“...if you would write more that the people could actually understand, we could sell more of your stories” that our young writer is brilliant but perhaps far ahead of his time.
Nevertheless , there is another side to our young artist, a side that if we are honest with ourself resides in all of us. There is the sin of pride, there is the sense of entitlement, that when we don’t get what we want to make everybody else responsible. However, personally, I do not see that quite as negative for this often springs from the need to overcompensate, a natural defense mechanism of our psyche and to me makes our suffering writer even more sympathetic. In its conclusion the novel and fate of the young writer remains open-ended; however, the description and subsequent event anticipated within the last lines of the novel is very close to the American psyche and mindset and therefore to us Americans optimism prevails.
The Hunger is a masterpiece, fortunately and quite unlike the imaginary writer of his novel, Knut Hanson received the recognition he so deserved for it. ( )

[Hunger] is about a starving writer who is, you guessed it!, hungry. I loved it. The main character is a young man trying to make it as a writer, but he is so poor and unable to find work that pays, that he is literally starving. Instead of writing, he spends much of his time looking for shelter and sustenance, or walking around trying to take his mind off of his hunger. In between, he works on his writing and sometimes comes up small sums of money, either for his work or by accident. He's obviously educated and I wonder why he had no support system at all. It's also clear that some of the people he interacts with have no idea just how close he is to starving to death.

Not much happens in this book. The main character interacts with a few people, but largely the book takes place inside his head and stomach. In some ways, when I reflect back on it, I have a hard time putting my finger on why I liked it so much. I think it's because it was honest, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and because the main character is both maddening and admirable. ( )

What a rollercoaster! Reading this book took a lot out of me. Not because it's hard to read, but because the main character's (unnamed) constant changes in mood. He'll be riding on clouds at first, then he's acting as if he's the scourge of the earth. You really get caught up in it, and that all points back to the author's ability. The ending was a little abiguous to me, though. I don't like leaving my characters to an uncertain future. ( )

Brutal

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