There is a lighthearted, comical side not typically thought of about Hamsun that shines through in many of these stories.

There are several stories that seem rather unique to Hamsun, such as A Ghost, which is a rather satisfying, creepy ghost story (as the name would imply) with a moral lesson attached, or the apolitical, politically charged (and almost gonzo-esk) Revolution on the Streets featuring a professor who just so happens to be caught up in student riots while trying to go about his daily habits as if all was normal. Many of the concepts toyed with in these stories would not appear in novel form for another dozen or so years, especially the many tales of provincial life, such as Life in a Small Town or On the Prairie, that seem to be laying the groundwork for late-career novels like The Women at the Pump or Growth of the Soil. These stories read as if they were a laboratory of thought for Hamsun to test his ideas and abilities before expanding upon them in full length novels, yet the stories collected in this book are just as exciting and worthwhile as the novels. The latter story, as well as the unsettling A Real Rascal, are perfect examples of Hamsun practicing his depth of moral investigations. Stories such as John Tro or The Call of Life, read almost as deleted scenes from Hunger, while hints of Glahn from Pan appear in Ladykiller and hints of Nagel from Mysteries can be seen in the mysterious nuisance in the incredible Secret Sorrow. Much of Tales seems like early sketches of characters that would later appear in his novels.

While lacking the full impact of works such as Hunger or Mysteries, Tales of Love & Loss, made up of 20 stories pooled from his three short story volumes that are available in English only through this collection, still delivers a completely satisfying array of stories that make a perfect companion to any Hamsun collection while demonstrating his wit, humor, and probing of moral dilemmas. Early in his career, Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) briefly experimented with the short story, releasing three short volumes before abandoning the venue entirely¹ Hamsun never put a whole lot of stock into his short story writing, although it is quite good, and claims the third collection had merely been written as a gift to his second wife.

Tales of Love & Loss by Knut Hamsun