The Last Joy (Norwegian: Den sidste Glæde,[1] later Den siste Glæde[2]) is the third book in Knut Hamsun's "wanderer trilogy."[3] The novel was published in 1912, when Hamsun was just over 50 years old and had much of his writing ahead of him, but already knew the weight of age. The novel is set in the first person; the narrator has lived his life and now has the last joy of opting out of everything and just being with himself in nature. However, in Hamsuns's manner he cannot do it without revealing his self-deception.
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—like Lieutenant Glahn in Pan, he does not want to perceive his true feelings; on the contrary, he wants to distance himself from them. Thus, like Glahn, 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. Here, too, the first-person narrator acts disengaged and pretends that he does not care, but especially after Solem begins to woo Miss Thorsen it becomes clear that the narrator is simply deceiving himself. "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. Whereas Pan addresses young love's denial and intoxication, The Last Joy depicts the old. In Pan, Glahn's unreliability is a consequence of necessity; he is driven into it and it is his defense, whereas the narrator in The Last Joy simply chooses to be wrong.
The English title The Last Joy was used to refer to the novel before it was translated.[4][5] The work was translated into English as Look Back on Happiness in 1940[6][7] and as The Last Joy in 2003.[6][8]
^Hamsun, Knut (1912). Den sidste Glæde. Kristiania: Gyldendalske boghandel. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
^Hamsun, Knut (1921). Den siste Glæde. Kristiania: Gyldendalske boghandel. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
^Rottem, Øystein (2020). "Knut Hamsun". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved July 5, 2020.
^"A Nobelman of Literature". The Miami Herald. July 11, 1922. p. 20. Retrieved July 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^Larsen, Hanna Astrup (1922). Knut Hamsun. New York: A.A. Knopf. p. 88.
^ abLyngstad, Sverre (2005). Knut Hamsun, Novelist: A Critical Assessment. New York: Peter Lang. p. 121.
^Hamsun, Knut (1940). Look Back on Happiness. New York: Coward-McCann.
^Hamsun, Knut (2003). The Last Joy. Copenhagen: Green Integer.
TheLastJoy (Norwegian: Den sidste Glæde, later Den siste Glæde) is the third book in Knut Hamsun's "wanderer trilogy." The novel was published in 1912...
Victoria "Joy" Behar (/ˈbeɪhɑːr/; née Occhiuto) is an American comedian, television host, and actress. She co-hosts the ABC talk show The View, on which...
Joy Division were an English post-punk band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and...
visions of Sandie (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), a glamorous young woman who had lived during the Swinging Sixties. The cast also features Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham...
Patricia Joy Harmon or Joy Patricia Harmon (born May 1, 1940) is an American baker and former actress. The daughter of Homer Harmon, Joy Patricia Harmon...
usual recording label, to release the song more quickly. Online she wrote, "I think I'm being called home. My lastjoy would be if you pre-saved my song...
Joy Bryant (born October 18, 1974) is an American actress, businesswoman and fashion model. She has appeared in numerous films and television since beginning...
Joy Mukherjee (24 February 1939 – 9 March 2012) was an Indian actor and director. He was referred to as the 'heart throb of the 1960s and 1970s'. Joy...
"Ode to Joy" (German: "An die Freude" [an diː ˈfʁɔʏdə]) is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller...
Band of Joy (sometimes known as Robert Plant and the Band of Joy) were an English rock band formed in 1966. Various line-ups of the group performed from...
communities. This wanderer theme is central to the novels Mysteries, Pan, Under the Autumn Star, TheLastJoy, Vagabonds, Rosa, and others. Hamsun's prose...
TheLast Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. TheLast Supper is...
as Vance Joy, is an Australian singer-songwriter and former Australian rules footballer. He is best known for his 2013 hit song "Riptide". Joy signed a...
Helen Joy Davidman (18 April 1915 – 13 July 1960) was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree...
Joy of Cooking, often known as "TheJoy of Cooking", is one of the United States' most-published cookbooks. It has been in print continuously since 1936...
TheLast Dinner Party are a British indie rock band from London, formed in 2021. The band consists of Abigail Morris (vocals), Lizzie Mayland (vocals,...
McGhie, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Birgundi Baker, Allison Tolman and Ed O'Neill. Richard Jenkins as Stanley Shane Paul McGhie as Jevon Da'Vine Joy Randolph as...
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography published by C. S. Lewis in 1955. The work describes Lewis's life from very early...
Under the Autumn Star (1906) and TheLastJoy (1912). The story's protagonist takes his name, Knut Pedersen, from the author. Pedersen flees from the city's...
Global Information
