Book Description

"Look Back on Happiness" by Knut Hamsun is the third book in the "Wanderer Trilogy." The protagonist is unable to live alone in his cabin in the woods, although he may seem to want to. Two other key figures are the unctuous Solem and Miss Thorsen, whom the protagonist cannot help but fall in love with. Here his self-imposed distance from the joys and sorrows of human life becomes a major problem. He does not want to perceive his true feelings. Thus, he is doomed to misfortune. It is different with Solem, who seems to be unreflective about everything life has to offer, and whether he gets it honestly or dishonestly makes no difference to him. "The last joy" is to sit "in my room and have it good and dark around me," and he will never have done with it.