# Knut Hamsun

## Biography

Knut Hamsun, born Knut Pedersen in 1859 in Lom, Norway, rose from a childhood of poverty in Hamarøy to become a Nobel Prize-winning author. He experienced a wandering early life, working various manual jobs and even spending time in America, which influenced his satirical writings. His literary breakthrough arrived with the groundbreaking novel Hunger in 1890, a work that pioneered psychological literature and influenced numerous modernist writers with its innovative use of stream of consciousness. Hamsun's distinct voice explored themes of individualism, nature, and a distrust of civilization in celebrated works like Pan and Growth of the Soil. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920 for his monumental work Growth of the Soil. However, his legacy remains deeply controversial due to his open support for Nazi Germany during World War II, for which he was heavily fined after the war. Hamsun died in 1952.

## Books

- [Hunger](https://samolit.com/books/96732)